Issue 001
March 2005
WITH MORE MMA and grappling than ever before, Seni hits Birmingham again this April. Seni05 Europe’s Martial Arts Expo will be held at the NEC on Saturday, April 23 and Sunday 24, bringing together a unique and spectacular fusion of displays, live showcase events and interactive sessions under one roof.
Perfect for fans of the martial arts and combat sports, it features more than 2,000 participants providing all sorts of dramatic entertainment. With more than ten feature areas across three zones, there is an abundance of different events.
Pain And Glory is set to return to the exhibition with some of the best international and UK talent in match-ups across four fight genres K-1, MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai with each section featuring three bouts. Pele Reid, Lee Hasdell and Mark Russell are all set to fight under K1 rules and although the MMA fightcard has yet to be named you can guarantee it will feature some of the UK’s finest up-and-coming athletes, such as James Thompson, Ross Mason and James Zikic. Tickets are now on sale for £25, £40 and £75.
Royce Gracie will be attending the Seni05 show to launch his new books Superfit and Self Defence. He will also give a seminar on each subject on Saturday SuperFit at 11am-12.30pm and Self Defence at 3.30-4pm. Each session will cost £30 or £50 for both.
The Gracie BJJ Invitational was a tremendous success at Seni04 and will be repeated at this year’s event.
Many world-recognised BJJ black belts as well as some big Gracie names will be travelling to the event, which will be held on Saturday in the tournament arena part of the show. For applications to compete, contact Marc on 07947 376177.
For boxing fans there is The Real Fight Club, which will open Seni05 on Friday, April 22. A charity evening of white collar boxing, tickets are priced £25, £50 and £100.
Other events include The Shaolin Monks, 3on3 Escrima, The XMA UK Challenge, The Seni Sanda King and Seconds Out Pro Boxing.
For further information, visit www.senishow.com.
Martial arts extravaganza
THIS YEAR’S annual Arnold Martial Arts Festival is taking place from March 4–6 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.
The world’s largest martial arts multi-discipline extravaganza, it includes hundreds of different events, including the Arnold Schwarzenegger Gracie World Submission Championships featuring professional gi and pro no-gi tournaments as well as an amateur gi/no-gi competition.
There are also bodybuilding competitions like the Arnold Classic, Ms International, Fitness International and Figure Championship; Expo classics like arm wrestling, bench press and gymnastics; powerlifting and demonstrations.
Expo tickets are $10 per day for stage events, martial arts preliminary rounds, cheerleading and gymnastics competitions, while VIP tickets are priced $350 and get you the best seats in the house for the main events, a ticket for the buffet-dance party with Arnold and more.
Battle in Brigg returns
FOLLOWING ON from the success of Battle in Brigg last year, Pride & Glory is back with Battle in Brigg II on Saturday, February 26. As with the previous event, the fight card will be made up of amateur, semi-pro and full professional fighters, including Will Elworthy, Daren Keogh, JP Hayward and Saif Kahn.
It promises to be as great a spectacle as the last event, with some promising, young, skilled fighters looking to make a name for themselves within the sport. One of these fighters will be David Smyth, our featured amateur fighter for this month.
Pride & Glory is one of the few promoters who hold these feeder events, which will hopefully find new, rising stars within the sport and propel them on to their main events.
Pride & Glory will also be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Luke Walmsley Sports Foundation. This foundation was set up by Luke’s parents after Luke, aged 14, was fatally stabbed at Birbeck Secondary School in Lincolnshire on January 4, 2004.
