As the sport of MMA grows so does the world that surrounds it. Martial arts fight wear has become as well known as the fighters themselves. A new UK brand started by MAI’s own writer Alan Orr is set to make a big impact. Lets find out more!
MAI: What is 10th Legion Fight wear all about? 10thLegion: At 10thLegion fight wear we are all fight fans and in turn have watched and followed the growth of the sport of MMA. This has been good for martial arts as it opens the gates to a bigger audience, but in turn we must not forget or turn our back on traditional martial arts and more martial art sports such as Thai boxing, Kickboxing, San Sao, Karate etc With this all in mind we wanted to develop a fight wear brand for all martial arts practitioners and fans. Clothes for training and for everyday.MAI: Where did the name come from? 10thLegion: We wanted a name that was more that just a throw away name. We also wanted a name that was not just purely fight related. So what we looked for was a more historical name that was linked with combat and integrity. Also in order to build a brand identity we wanted a name that we could build ideas from. The 10th Legion, were raised by Julius Caesar and used by him throughout his campaigns as his elite shock troops. An elite honoured crack commando unit. On more than one occasion his hardened veterans saved the day. In order to be the best you need to be backed up by the best. A group that you know you can trust and rely upon. So for us the 10thLegion was the prefect name for our brand. It gives us a cool background story to work from and lots of room for creative development. Our graphic designer Aaron Baum is one of the best brand designers around and helped realise our ideas.MAI: What look are you going for?
MAI: Sponsoring fighters is a big part of fight wear brands. What is the approach of 10th Legion Fight wear? 10thLegion: We are sponsoring fighters. But what we are doing is sponsoring fighters from all walks of martial life. MMA fighters, Thai Boxing, traditional martial arts fighters and events. Also we aim to be more involved with the development of our sponsored fighters profiles. We are there for the fighters and their teams, all working together. We have teamed up with ‘The Strength Company’ to offer a more complete sponsorship deal to our guys. They stock top range functional fitness equipment that is ideal for martial arts training. They are the sole UK suppler of Lifeline equipment! That also means we are able to also give free seminars to the Teams / Clubs of our sponsored fighters on all areas of functional training. We also have, trainer of champions, Eddy Millis in LA helping our fighters with promotion in the USA. We are working with up and coming fighters and also some big names in MMA, from small shows to Cage Rage and the UFC.
MAI: You talked about the brand development, so what is the plan? 10thLegion: There’s a lot we can’t talk about right now. But things that will be happening very soon will be; starting our very own fight show – 10th Legion Championship Fighting. We hope to help showcase UK talent with our brand.We are designing a comic book based on our world of the 10th Legion that will be a lot of fun. We have a great artist Neil Fardon who we are working with. We want to enjoy the process and show that in the things we do. MAI Competition – Win a 10th Legion T-Shirt and a Strength Company Lifeline TNT Cable Set by answering this question. Who raised the original 10thLegion? Send your answers to 10th Legion Fightwear at Clifford House 7-9 Clifford Street YORK YO1 9RA – Remember to include your size, email, full name and address! We will randomly pull out a winner from your entrees Closes 31st Dec 2008.
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10th Legion Fightwear
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by Alan Orr: First
published in UK Martial Arts Illustrated Jan 2009
