Tuesday, 23 December 2008

The Fighters Only Xmas Boxing Bash

I think most readers would know that we at Fighters Only are anything but a bunch of suits. Of the core members of the team, more than a couple of us regularly train in one combat sport or another, so Advertising Manager David had the idea of setting up a little 'team building' visit to his boxing gym in the name of Xmas goodwill.

David's been boxing since he was a kid, and his coach Bob very kindly agreed to open up the gym, Ryton ABA, especially for us.

Myself (Hywel), marketing manager Jim, David and our resident pro MMA fighter Peter Irving donned our boxing gloves and got stuck into a very traditional boxing workout. We got started with a thorough warm up and followed it with plenty of bodyweight exercises, callisthenics, shadow boxing before moving onto the focus pads.

Bob took Peter off to one side to, as David put it, "show him how to break someone's jaw", while David and another of the lads from the club, Chris, took turns in holding focus pads for Jim and I.


Once we'd knocked about 8 rounds of padwork out, it was into the ring and onto sparring. If you're hoping for stories of well-hidden grudges or office rivalries bubbling to the surface and resulting in heated scrapping, you'l be disappointed, but that's not to say things weren't 'energetic'.

It's been about five years since I last stepped into a pure boxing club, so it was a bit of a wake-up call. It was a very enjoyable evening and very different to the usual training you would expect in an MMA session, but it really highlighted how shaking your training up a bit can benefit your game.


Anyway, happy New Year everyone, and look out for FO in 2009. It's gonna be awesome.

posted by Fighters Only Mag Editor at Tuesday, December 23, 2008 - Read Full Post -

Tuesday, 9 December 2008

My Work Experience at Fighters Only

Since September I have been looking forward to doing my work experience at the UK's number one MMA and lifestyle magazine, Fighters Only. The experience has exceeded my expectations and I have gained a lot from it from it.

As I walked through the door on the first day, the first thing that caught my eye was the blown-up pictures of my heroes on the wall, which made me even more excited. Not knowing what to expect, I was introduced to the friendly staff and soon settled in. To mine and the staff's surprise, a van pulled up in front of the door with the latest issue of the magazine. I felt very privileged to be the only 15-year- old in the country to be reading issue 45, four days prior to release. When they found some spare time, I was able to sit down with the editor, Hywel Teague, and advertising manager David Kirkland, and gain a professional insight into the MMA journalism industry.



The next morning I was called into the boss's headquarters. In the room were the MD Rob Hewitt and the design team. There were pictures of a VERY famous fighter projected onto the board, and believe it or not, they wanted my opinion on what picture should be used for next month's issue! They even liked my ideas!


That evening I did my first ever interview with the well-respected local fighter and Fighters Only contributor Peter Irving, which was a great experience. When I arrived home that night I turned on the TV and there was MMA enthusiast and Fighters Only representative Jim Burman on Setanta Sports; this goes to show how big the Fighters Only product is.


What better way to end the week than to have a visit from Ian 'The Machine' Freeman, which I was very happy to find out about. I got the chance to have a chat with the legend and had some very animated pictures taken.



It has been great to be in an environment with people who share my passion for the sport. I started the week unsure what career to pursue but following this week I have a goal that I intend on achieving: to be an MMA journalist.



Joe McNally

posted by Fighters Only Mag Editor at Tuesday, December 09, 2008 - Read Full Post -