Inside ‘Forged In Fire’ Doug Marcaida’s Personal Life and The Question About His Marriage

Doug Marcaida is a Filipino martial artist and bladesmith who for the past 25 years has mastered the art of making various weaponry for use in martial art. He is an edged-impact weapons combat specialist and maker of some of the deadliest blades the world has ever seen.

Doug is also popular as a weapons judge in History’s Channel’s reality show, Forged in Fire. His expertise in weaponry is one that leaves many wondering how a person can have so much love and passion for blades.

Biography and Profile Summary

Age/Date of Birth:	N/A
Height:	5 feet 8 inches (1.7 m)
Ethnicity/Race:	Filipino
Nationality:	American
Wife or Girlfriend:	N/A
Parents:	N/A
Net Worth:	$3 million

Is Doug Marcaida Married or Dating Anyone?

Doug Marcaida’s relationship and marital life is no exception as far as his secretive lifestyle is concerned. Despite being active on Facebook and Instagram, most of his posts are always on his designs, works and TV shows.

The Filipino-American has, however, occasionally mentioned as well as posted photos of his children on social media which tells us he is possibly married.

Based on bits of information gathered from his accounts, Doug has three sons out of whom he identified the last two as DJ and Jaden respectively. The media is, however, yet to ascertain whom Marcaida had the kids with, wife or girlfriend(s).

Who Exactly Is Doug Marcaida Of “Forged In Fire”?

Doug Marcaida is a Filipino-American. He is from the Philippines by origin but from the United States by nationality. He is precisely a native of Rochester, New York. Having discreetly kept his private affairs away from the media, we are yet to obtain Marcaida’s date of birth and other related background information. He, however, appears to be middle-aged.

Aside from his biographical data, Doug Marcaida is known to the public as a very skilled martial artist and edged weapons handler/maker. He came to the spotlight after he began showcasing his exceptional weapon-handling expertise in History Channel’s Forged in Fire, a show that tests some of the best hands in the field as they attempt to re-create some of time’s most iconic bladed weapons.

Important Facts About Doug Marcaida’s Career 

Doug Marcaida is a man that has tried his hands in a number of career fields, from holding a combat training contract with the U.S army and developing a special martial arts style, to becoming a reality TV star, creating uniquely deadly edged weapons, and more. A detailed look at his career development tells us more…

Marcaida’s Military Service and Martial Arts Style

Before joining the Forged In Fire crew, Doug worked in the United States Military on contract. He served as an armed combat training instructor with the U.S. Air Force where he employed a martial arts style called “Kali”. Kali is a Filipino MA style that includes the use of knives, sticks, batons, improvised weapons and open-hand methods. It was this practice that exposed Doug to the art of knife-handling as he initially had skills in only hand-to-hand combat.

Doug subsequently developed his own style of Kali called the ‘Marcaida Kali’ with the aim to protect, instead of to harm people. To buttress this objective, the dangerous weapons handler pronounces the word ‘Kill’ as ‘Keal’ which he said stands for “Keep Everyone Alive”.

To further propagate his special MA skills, Doug Marcaida has invested in schools in the United States. He presently runs three martial arts schools in New York and one in Romania where he teaches his ‘Marcaida Kali’. The MA guru also hopes to open more schools in the coming years. Meanwhile, he holds training sessions, workshops, and seminars where he teaches his martial arts skills.

Doug Marcaida on “Forged In Fire”

As earlier mentioned, it was Doug Marcaida’s appearance on History Channel that earned him media fame, among all his career endeavors. The Forged In Fire show stars four master bladesmiths, with Former Army Ranger Wil Willis serving as the host. These bladesmiths face the challenge of forging a variety of edged weapons which a panel of judges (Doug inclusive) put to test. The contestant who survives the elimination stage and moves on to the final episode walks away with $10,000. The show which premiered on June 22, 2015, is in its seventh season as of January 2020.

As one of the judges on the show, Doug Marcaida represents the end-users of the weapons. He doesn’t just see them as weapons, but rather as works of art. According to Doug, each weapon among other criteria must pass the tests of strength, portability, and durability. It should also meet some aesthetic qualities such as neatness and beauty. Isn’t that one of the coolest jobs anyone can possibly have?

His Knife Designing Career

Aside from being an expert weapon handler, Doug Marcaida also makes weapons himself. He precisely specialized in designing and making knives of different varieties. Seeing how perfect Doug presently is in weapon artistry, one would think he acquired the expertise from the word “go”. But that’s far from the truth as Marcaida had no blades-creation skills prior to his joining Forged In Fire. He actually learned from a fellow judge, J. Neilson.

Having fallen in love with the profession, Doug went on to become one of the developers of exceptionally unique knives including the DART (Direct Action Response Theory) Karambit and the DART XT. The DART Karambit is a small curved knife that fits well in the hand). He also designs for FOX Knives Italy.

Marcaida owns a website where he advertises his works. His tools have also been used in some movies like Blade, 300 and the Bourne series wherein he also served as a consultant in that area.

What We Know About Marcaida’s Arm Injury and Surgery

Early in 2017, Doug Marcaida sustained an injury on his right arm which caused him to undergo surgery. He consequently had to stand aside from shows for a few months to allow the wound to heal.

Although Doug did not particularly give details of how he sustained the injury, he revealed via a Facebook post that he got hurt while carrying out a weapon test. The martial artist has since recovered and returned to the show.