An unusual Indiegogo campaign will launch on Tuesday, April 21 that brings together the worlds of music, Mixed Martial Arts and bitcoin.
OSS Mentality is the brainchild of Brian Byrne, lead singer of the Canadian rock band I Mother Earth and avid MMA practitioner, and Jon Foster, former fighter and current gym owner. The idea of OSS Mentality is to create a hub of resources for MMA practitioners – including trainers, nutritionists, sports psychologists, and instructors – allowing fighters to help other fighters while providing “a positive force in the world of combat sports.
Byrne was introduced to bitcoin by Anthony Di Iorio, founder of Decentral in Toronto and co-founder of Ethereum. Di Iorio worked with Byrne to set up bitcoin payments for the Indiegogo campaign.
“Decentral is pleased to be working with OSS Mentality on the integration of their bitcoin into the fundraising campaign,” said Di Iorio. “It’s very positive to see the growing trend of organizations implementing Bitcoin strategies into their business activities.”
The term “OSS” refers to the traditional greeting between fighters to both begin and end a match or training session. It means “to persevere when pushed, never give up, have determination and grit, and withstand the most arduous of training.”
Besides providing a valuable resource to fighters looking to connect with an industry professional, it also helps to support competitive fighters when they are between fights due to injury or other personal issues.
“Like musicians who are recording and touring, fighters can do really well making a living when they are out there fighting,” says Byrne. “But during the downtimes, like when they are recovering from an injury or when they get too old to fight, OSS Mentality gives them a way to still work in the industry.”
Fighters can offer services to other fighters including fight review, video analysis, personal instruction, and workout planning.
“When you do anything through OSSMENTALITY.COM you will be giving back to the fighters who drive this entire industry,” the campaign website says.
Byrne emphasized the grass-roots component to OSS Mentality.
“This is based on the idea of fighters helping fighters. We really listened to the community and made changes that reflected what the fighters said they really wanted – what was important to them. And we’ll keep on doing that.”
Byrne added that experts offering their services through OSS Mentality are free to set their own rates and schedules. “They know their own market,” he said.
The campaign will run for 30 days and aims to raise $30,000. The funds will be used to get the OSS Mentality website running, develop an online store and pay creative freelancers. The organization has already scored sponsorship ahead of the campaign from companies such as Hayabusa MMA Gear, Headrush apparel, Rockwell watches, and Vane Protective Gear.
“We added bitcoin to the campaign to help start the conversation,” said Byrne. “We’re hoping that having that knowledge and that conversation, it will lead it somewhere else – to a whole community of people who aren’t familiar with it. It shows that we are looking at the future and currency and where it will eventually be.”
Visit the OSS Mentality Indiegogo campaign page to watch the video and find out more about the organization.
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