Mark Alexander Law (born November 1944) is a British journalist and author, known for his book on

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

called ''The Pyjama Game, A Journey Into Judo''.

Career

Law began his career as a reporter on

Woodrow Wyatt Woodrow may refer to: People *Woodrow (name), a given name and a surname Places Canada *Woodrow, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community United Kingdom *Woodrow, Buckinghamshire, England *Woodrow, Cumbria, England United States *Woodrow, Color ...

’s group of provincial papers before moving to London to work as a show business press agent for Theo Cowan representing major performers, producers and writers in film, theatre, television and music. He then joined the

Milton Keynes Development Corporation Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) was a development corporation operating from 1967 to 1992 oversee the planning and early development of Milton Keynes, a new town midway between London and Birmingham. Establishment MKDC established o ...

as a publicist for the new city. In the late-1970s, he worked as a sub editor on the ''

Telegraph Magazine ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fou ...

'', later becoming a writer and commissioning editor before joining the ''

Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

'' as a feature writer, and later moving to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' and then to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' as a features editor. He was the comment editor of ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'' until September 2004. He is also a former columnist for ''The World of Judo''.

''The First Post''

Law created and launched

The First Post ''The First Post'' was a British daily online news magazine based in London. Launched in August 2005, it was sold to Dennis Publishing in 2008 and retitled ''The Week'' at the end of 2014. In its current format, it publishes news, current af ...

after being asked by a group of private investors led by the late Martin Finegold to create a publication for the UK and US which ranged from non-partisan comment pieces on international politics and social affairs through arts and sport to viral gags and animation. The daily online news magazine was launched under his editorship in 2005. In 2007 the site was singled out for special commendation in the Best Editorial Team category of the 2007 Awards given by the Association of Online Publishers. The venture was bought by

Felix Dennis Felix Dennis (27 May 1947 – 22 June 2014) was an English publisher, poet, spoken-word performer and philanthropist. His company, Dennis Publishing, pioneered computer and hobbyist magazine publishing in the United Kingdom. In more recent times ...

in 2008 but Mark Law continued editing until the autumn of 2009. In October 2011 the site was incorporated into Dennis Publishing’s

The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...

''The Pyjama Game''

He is the author of ''The Pyjama Game, A Journey Into Judo'', published in June 2007 by

The Quarto Group The Quarto Group is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the United States and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Quarto creates and sells illustrated books for adults and children, across 50 countri ...

, for which he was named as Best New Writer in the 2008

British Sports Book Awards The Sports Book Awards (previously National Sporting Club Book Awards then Telegraph Sports Book Awards) is a British literary award for sports writing. It was first awarded in 2003 as part of the National Sporting Club. Awards are presented in m ...

. The book was published in the U.S. under the title ''Falling Hard: A Journey Into The World Of Judo''. Tn ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', Robert Twigger, author of ''

Angry White Pyjamas ''Angry White Pyjamas'' is a book written by Robert Twigger about his time in a one-year intensive program of studying Yoshinkan aikido. Summary The book is set in Tokyo in the mid-1990s. Twigger is living with two friends in a tiny apartmen ...

'', referred to ''The Pyjama Game'' as "an excellent history of judo combining theory, story-telling and first-hand practice". Taki, of ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'', also called it "the greatest judo book ever."

Personal life

Law lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

References

External links