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John
Shiels |
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Is this man set to revolutionise the fight industry? John Shiels, is certainly no stranger to the fight game having represented Gt Britain in both karate and kickboxing. A 6th dan and Chief Instructor of Bujinkai karate, John has been studying martial arts since he was five years old and was Irish School Boys boxing champion. Having also studied judo and jujitsu, he went on to represent his country in the British karate team for 8 years. In recent years John’s attention has turned to his business and he now runs the very successful Fighting Fit dojo in Banbury (www.fighting-fit.net).
It is however John’s latest venture, which he believes, is set to revolutionise the fight industry. The Free2fight website, which will get its major launch at Seni 2008 aims to give fighters the chance to showcase themselves and put themselves forward for fights. So was it John’s own experiences as a fighter that provided the inspiration for the site? “ Well, it really came about as a culmination of many things, but ultimately it was my own experiences, when early on in my career, as a full-contact fighter that gave me the idea. All too often at the end of the night, tired and weary and wanting to get home you were chasing the promoter round just to get your petrol money. That cannot be right, if someone is willing to work hard, get into shape and step into the ring, or on to the mat, to help make an event then they should be given what they deserve. After all if you think they are good enough to appear on your show then they are good enough to be paid! At the moment whilst there is a supply of fighters willing to fight just for the experience, promoters will always exploit the situation. Free 2fight will work by giving fighters the opportunity to say “This is me, this is what I am prepared to do and this is how much I want to be paid to fight. It will put the power back into the fighter’s hands. They will get offered more fights and will be able to choose carefully who they fight as they will be able to view the other fighter’s record, which also hopefully means fairer matches. Currently, it is often difficult to establish just how much experience an opponent has had. On Free2fight you will be able to look at their profile, checkout who they have fought in the past, maybe even watch a clip of them fighting. How does John think promoters will feel about the site? Why wouldn’t any promotion team want to be part of something that will help everyone. I think once they have got over the shock of there being an alternative to them and that they will no longer hold the same amount of power, that they once had, I think they will realise the benefits to themselves. They will be able to use the site to source fighters from all over the world, regardless of who they are registered to. It will open up a whole new world to them. Instead of having to ring around in order to match up fights they will have access to thousands of willing participants who they might never of otherwise have heard of. This way instead of Joe Bloggs from London having to fight John Smith from Brighton for the third time they will now have the chance to find new, international opponents, giving them the opportunity to not only gain wider experience but also to be looked after financially at the same time. |
Continued.. Will the site throw down the gauntlet to fighters who are not on it? Yes it will add a big challenge to those fighters, as it will give greater respect and kudos to those who are real champions. Even if fighters are no longer actively looking for fights, people will be able to view their history and see what titles they have held etc. On another level a fighter might like to catch up with someone they had previously fought. It is difficult after having battered each other around for five rounds to say “Do you want to go for a beer in the bar” but six months down the line you might like to find out what they are up to. An added bonus is that I will be promoting the site in many main stream magazines, FHM etc. So anyone looking for a martial artist that can say for example jump over a car, will only have to look on the site and contact them directly” Could Free2fight end up as an association in its own right? No, definitely not. The aim is for the site to become a modern martial arts encyclopaedia, a who s who with a hint of Friends Reunited thrown in. I wont let it go down the route of becoming an association because that always involves people s opinions and this site will remain a completely neutral platform for people to input information; a simple, effective easy to use networking facility. As soon as you do down the avenue of becoming an association you just turn into another governing body Is this a free service? No, but for £24 a year (less than 50p per week) members get registration on the site. So it s a no brainer for any one who wants to get into the fight scene not to join the site, I think it s within most people s budget. So yes there is a fee but I m guaranteeing members that this isn’t just something run in my spare time, from the kitchen table, once a week. This is a really professional site, that is going to be promoted professionally in the mainstream film and press industry, and there is real money behind it, truly bringing martial arts to the masses. So I think for what people will get, the fee is negligible Given what’s just been said about the site hoping to attract performers as well as fighters, could the name possibly be prohibitive? Well, perhaps but I supposed it was based upon what I believe to be the ethos of the site, which is if someone wants to fight and they are good enough, then they should be free to do so and not restricted or governed by some of the current dictatorships that exist. But I am keen to re-emphasise that regardless of what it s called the site aims to be the real fight club so as well as fighters there will areas for referees, officials, ring hire, equipment suppliers, everything in fact for those who take part in or put on martial arts shows So is he expecting promoters to have their own presence on the site? I want all the promoters to be on there and if they have any common sense they will, because of the access it will give them to the thousands of new people they will have to choose from. I hope they will see the benefits and not try to live in their own pigeon holes saying, my association is the best and I m not going to be involved with anyone else . Could this site force some of the smaller shows out of business, if they can t afford the fighter’s fees? I don t see that happening because currently fighters will fight for nothing, and the site simply aims to put fighters and promoters together. It will help to make the industry more professional. At the moment people at the top don t seem to realise that the fighters are the products and those products need to be looked after. So hopefully this way young fighters who often, at the moment, give up fighting, due to lack of support, will have longer more productive careers. All too often at the moment our best kickboxers go off into boxing where there is possibly away to earn a living. We all know that those who actually step up to the plate and compete in any form of combat sport are a small percentage of those who train, but a small percentage that need to be looked after . So where does he see the site being in five years time? The goal is for the site to have grown into a truly global platform. I would like every one who s involved in martial arts to be registered so that they won t miss out on the masses of opportunities offered there. To be honest if people are not prepared to be on the site for the sake of 50p per week, then they do not deserve to be part of the new martial arts sphere! I see it not so much as why should I be on the site but rather why would I not be on the site . |
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