It's good to see members of the feline community developing a taste for the sweet science.

The year is 1999 and Father Dave - parish priest and community worker from Dulwich Hill in Sydney - is raising funds for his Youth Centre the only way he knows how - he's fighting!

Channel 10's 'Today/Tonight' picks up the action as Father Dave puts on a night of pugilistic mayhem that includes a 'Celebrity Death Match' between himself and his good friend, kickboxing champion Paul 'Pitbull' Grima. 

When we first opened the Youth Centre in Dulwich Hill in 1994, Father Dave issued a public challenge to any and ever tough-guys in his community: 'Do five rounds with me in the ring. If you win, I'll buy you dinner. If you lose, you join me in church the following Sunday!' Even though not many came forward to take up the challenge, plenty of media people got involved - the most exciting of which was the team from popular kid's TV show, 'Wonder World'.

My celebrity death-match with the World Supermiddleweight Champion

http://www.fatherdave.org/ Father Dave Smith verse Marty Lawrence in the 2011 Masters games in Adelaide. Original, full version. 
Music by Mordechai. 
http://www.mordechaimusic.com/

Father Dave Smith vs. Marty Lawrence in the 2011 Maters Games in Adelaide ... except that this video has been a little pimped out!

July 1st, 2006 - a Pankration Death Match between 'Fighting' Father Dave and the 'Mountain Man', Geoff Scully.

'Fighting' Father Dave's professional debut against veteran pug, Jimmy 'the Devil' Pat.

Father Dave publicly challenges any of the local street kids to a 5-round fight. If they win, he buys them dinner. If they lose, they join him for church. Channel 10's "Real Life" reports.

The year is 1996 and Father Dave - Parish Priest and community worker from Dulwich Hill in Sydney - is training for a shot at the NSW kickboxing title. Channel Ten's 'Today/Tonight' picks up the story. 

My pro debut against Jimmy Pat, October 11, 1996

ABC's "Total Sport" looks at women who have taken up fighting as their chosen sport. Interviews are with Marie Coulter, boxing and kickboxing champion Holly Fernley, and with young Sarah Irwin and her trainer, Father Dave. 

'Father Dave's Fight Club' gives young people a channel for their aggressive energies. Father Dave uses the boxing and the fighting arts to get young people off drugs and out of juvenile crime. A Fairfax Digital Production, 2006.

'Fighting' Father Dave turns pro as a boxer in order to raise funds for his Youth Centre in Sydney's inner-west. ATN 7 News Australia reports. Get a free preview of Father Dave's book, "Sex, the Ring & the Eucharist" at http://Fatherdave.org

http://www.fatherdave.org This 3-minute documentary was put together by my friend (and fellow Holy Trinity parishioner) Dave Mitchell.

Dave's interest was in my friendship with Sheikh Mansour - our local Islamic cleric. He wanted to know how - in the midst of so much nation-wide Islamophobia - the two of us ever became friends.

This is a low-budget doco, but I think Dave did a magnificent job in getting the message through. And the message is this: that Christians and Muslims can be friends.

I do believe that prejudice is always based on ignorance, and in this case the media has done a great job of reinforcing stereotypes and maintaining ignorance.

Change begins when we move beyond talking about our Muslim neighbours and start talking to them. That's what I discovered, and that's the story behind 'Fists of Affection'

Fighter, Father, Activist, Parish Priest - 'Fighting' Father Dave is the only Australian in Holy Orders to have boxed professionally. He is best known for his work with at-risk young people in the inner-city suburb of Dulwich Hill.

The next million dollar baby?

http://www.fatherdave.org/ - 'Living Black', Australia's premier Indigenous current affairs program, recently visited Father Dave and his Fight Club to see how his work is impacting the local community, in-particular that of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders. www.sbs.com.au/shows/livingblack

Rev. John Sylte vs. confirmationcandidate Magnus Storebø, at confirmationcamp, Norway 2009.

This is a fantastic clip about a group of guys whom we might label as hi-tech nerds, except that they meet once per month to beat eachother up. No doubt inspired by the movie, 'Fight Club', this is a fantastic glimpse at a real life fight club and at the male need to fight.

The Good Fight is a film about masculinity in a modern world, spirituality and the lore of the boxing ring. Set in Dulwich Hill, Sydneys inner west, the film delves into the gritty existence of a local Fight Club led by an unlikely character, Father Dave Smith. Directed and Produced by Citt Williams & Beck Cole for Australian Film, Television & Radio School, 2001.

The Good Fight is a film about masculinity in a modern world, spirituality and the lore of the boxing ring. Set in Dulwich Hill, Sydneys inner west, the film delves into the gritty existence of a local Fight Club led by an unlikely character, Father Dave Smith. Directed and Produced by Citt Williams & Beck Cole for Australian Film, Television & Radio School, 2001.