Kearn Nedd remembrances from B.J. Penn and more

The tragic loss of Kearn Nedd's life has had a profound effect on the GTA and the martial arts community at large. Thanks to everyone for their sentiments. Yesterday we received an email from a kind observer who linked us to B.J. Penn's Twitter page, where the UFC star had tweeted word of Kearn's story. Thanks to Kelsey for the info and for the heartfelt email. As well as Penn, the blog MMAMania helped spread Kearn's tale to MMA fans south of the border and beyond. Locally, many in the mainstream press deemed Kearn a hero. One must-read tribute that summarizes the sentiments felt by fellow martial artists comes from our own Michelle Sturino, blogging for Fan 590's Cage Side. She writes:

"Martial arts teaches and offers us so much. It gives the weak strength. It gives the insecure confidence. It gives the timid courage. It gives the uneducated knowledge. The unfortunate part about receiving all of these gifts through the art and the sport is that sometimes, regardless of how much you know or how much you train, a coward with a weapon will have the upper hand. MMA may be a sport that a lot of people don’t understand and don’t want to understand because at times it’s glorified by chokes and knockouts. But what those people will never understand is that WE ARE a community. Our gyms are tight nit FAMILIES, brothers and sisters who sweat, bleed and cry together. Today we mourn the loss of a brother, but he’ll always remain an important part of our family."