Instructor Martin Byrne Teaches Kickboxing to the Blind (2/6/10)

Instructor Martin Byrne recently held a 90 minute kickboxing session with a group from the Nottinghamshire Royal Society for the Blind. The group, who all have significant visual impairments, have proven that you don’t have to be able to see to believe, and believing is the first step to achieving. Martin Byrne commented, "At all of my clubs we take great pride in making kickboxing available to everyone, it gave me great pleasure to share the sport I feel so passionate about with a group of individuals that are often restricted in what sports are available to them." The class was held at the University of Nottingham Sport Centre by Martin and his assistant instructors Michelle Redman and Jimi King. The group were aged between 19 and 67 and all had various levels of sight ranging from tunnel vision to total blindness. Within the class the students learnt and practiced a wide range of punches and complex kicking routines which most fully sighted people would find challenging. One student, Mohammed, had no idea what Kickboxing was prior to the session and due to his complete sight loss had never seen it on TV or had the opportunity to participate in anything like this before. Mohammed said, "At first I was a little hesitant, but I got more and more confident as the class went on I’m now really looking forward to the next class.". The story was featured in a recent edition of The Nottingham Evening Post (see below). For more information on Martin's regular and special classes in the Clifton and East Leake areas of Nottingham, please call Martin on 07979 965404 or click on the links below.

Clifton - Nottinghamshire        East Leake - Leicestershire

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Dan & Joanne Maguire to Join Forces in Clubs (11/4/10)

Husband and wife team Dan and Jo Maguire have decided to fulfill a long standing ambition by teaching classes together at their more popular clubs in Loughborough (Leics) and also Carlton and Chilwell (Notts). They have decided to concentrate their efforts on the bigger more demanding classes in an attempt to offer the students an unrivalled experience within martial arts. With over 20 years combined experience in Kickboxing Dan and Jo can now offer their students more varied and interesting classes involving excercises and training methods which would otherwise be difficult to teach alone. The students at these clubs can also expect a greater level of personal attention with not one but two fully qualified, experienced instructors. For more information call Dan on 07968 031552 or Jo on 07976 551313 or click on the links below.

 
-  CARLTON  -  LOUGHBOROUGH  -  CHILWELL  -

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Success at Black Belt Grading (28/03/10)

The following people all succesfully passed their recent 'Black Belt' grading examination which was held in Birmingham on Sunday the 21st of March 2010. These students / instructors were all tested to the fullest and are very deserved of a big CONGRATULATIONS from all at East Midlands Kickboxing and the PKA, well done guys!

Black Belt - 1st Dan

Kumar Kapoor - Chilwell / Long Eaton

Kerry Merryweather - Market Harborough

Shaun Bamford - Market Harborough

Black Belt - 2nd Dan

Mike Kingscott - Long Eaton

Stewart Mills - Long Eaton

Keri Tew - Market Harborough

Michelle Redman - East Leake

Black Belt - 3rd Dan

Rob Gundle - East Leake

Instructor Lee Jones completes 'Kilomathon' for Cancer Research (14/03/10)

Ilkeston and Burton Instructor, Lee Jones, recently completed a mammoth undertaking in running the worlds first organised Kilomathon. The event, a first of its kind was held on the 14th of March (Mothering Sunday) and was 26.2 kilometres as oppose to a marathons 26.2 miles, hence the name Kilomathon. Lee was running both as a personal test of his stamina and also for charity, namely Cancer Research UK. Lee ran from Nottingham University to Pride Park in Derby in good time and raised money for a great cause along the way, Well Done Lee.

 
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Black Belt Success For Instructors (15/02/10)

 

Susan Cox  Club Instructor  2nd Dan

Joanne Maguire   Area Instructor   3rd Dan

 

At a specially arranged grading on the 30th of January, held in the Temple Martial Arts Centre, Birmingham, Instructors Susan Cox and Joanne Maguire were both tested to the limit for their 2nd Dan and 3rd Dan Black Belts respectively. They both endured a tough non-stop four hour examination including a theory exam for Joanne. We are therefore very pleased to announce that both Susan and Joanne passed the grading receiving their results late last week. A big well done to you both from all at East Midlands Kickboxing and the PKA.

 
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Fighting For Wishes - Final Results (12/01/10)

 

Money Raised For Charity = £1048.00 !!!   We are proud to announce that the final amount raised at the Fighting For Wishes 2009 fight night was an outstanding £1048.00. Pictured right is Area Instructor Joanne Maguire presenting Maggie Falconer from When You Wish Upon a Star with the cheque, Maggie was very pleased to accept the cheque and kindly took the time to explain to Joanne and her students how the money raised will be used to help make the wishes of sick and terminally ill children come true.   See Official Fight Result Here.     View Photos of the Event Here.

  

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Charity Fight Night Huge Success (22/12/09)   On Tuesday the 22nd of December our first ever charity fight night took place at the Chilwell Olympia Sports Centre in Nottingham. Twenty two fighters battled it out in eleven three x 1 minute rounds of light continous action all fighting for one cause, the charity, When You Wish Upon A Star. The competitors braved the icy weather and travelled from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to take part in the event, many of them bringing friends, family and fellow class mates along to offer them support. Over a hundred spectators were in attendance to shout and cheer them along. All the fighters showed great grit and determination in their bouts, particulary the younger competitors, the first time tournament fighters and the more mature. Of note was the match up between Kumar Kapoor (54) and Mick Baxter (49), both proving that age is no barrier in sport kickboxing. Fight of the night went to Andy Maher of Long Eaton and Andy Walker from Chilwell, both the guys showed excellent skill and control putting on a real show of sportsmanship. For a full run down of the results listing all the winners and runners up see the Fight Night page. Event organiser, Area Instructor Joanne Maguire was very pleased with how the night went and offers much thanks and gratitude to all the fighters, spectators, helpers and officials in attendance. An estimated £1000 plus was raised for charity (exact figure to be announced soon), a huge sucess for all concerned.   For more information please vist ...... www.whenyouwishuponastar.org.uk and for all the official results visit ...... Fighting For Wishes Fight Night 2009

 

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Christmas & New Year Class Timetable 2009 / 2010 (21/12/09)

 

As the year draws to an end we would like to remind you all of the the class closure dates over the Christmas and New Year period. As always the classes will shut down for two weeks, instead of publishing seperate dates for each and every class we have simply listed the final classes of the year date and first classes back in the new year date as shown below.

    

Last Classes of 2009 held on... Monday 21st December 2009   First Classes of 2010 held on... Tuesday 5th January 2010

It is with great pride and gratitude that we thank you all for your on-going support for our classes during the last twelve months, huge achievements have been made by alot of you this year and despite difficult financial circumstances for many, what with the current economic climate, our classes have generally remained very busy. To all our existing students we would like to wish you a very Happy Christmas, see you all in 2010.

 

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Fighting For Wishes 2009 - Charity Fight Night

Fighters Match Up's Announced (10/12/09)

  

 

The fighters match up's have just been announced for the up-coming Fighting For Wishes event which takes place on Tuesday 22nd December 2009. The event, which is being put on to raise money for the charity When You Wish Upon a Star, is being hosted by Area Instructor Joanne Maguire at the Chilwell Olympia Sport Centre in Nottingham. For more detailed information about the Fight Night please visit the Events page and for all the fighters match up's please visit the Fight Night page.

 

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NEW - Follow Us On Twitter (24/11/09)   East Midlands Kickboxing is now on Twitter, if you already 'tweet' then please visit our page for student updates, notifications, news and events. If you do not have a Twitter account then please visit www.twitter.com  to create one today. It's completely free and accessible through your home or work pc or mac and is becoming more popular on mobile devices like your mobile phone meaning that you can send and receive tweets on the go. For our twitter page please visit www.twitter.com/emkickboxing or click on the image on the right, tweet, tweet!

 

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Success For Students at Black Belt Grading (8/11/09)

 

East Midlands based students were successful in passing their black belt gradings recently and received the good news by post last week. Edd Moore, Lynne Olsson, Maeve Keane, Mandy Maclean and Nicola Rigby all passed the Black Belt 1st Dan grading on Sunday 8th of November in Birmingham. Special Congratulation should be given to Area Instructor Danny Ryland (Pictured Left) on passing his Black Belt 3rd Dan, a huge achievement by any standards. We are sure that you all worked extremely hard to achieve your results and wish you every success in your ongoing commitment to your training within your classes. The next Black Belt grading will be held in March / April of 2010, exact dates will be announced next year. If you are thinking about taking your Black Belt grading then start preparing for it right now, good luck!

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Three New Classes Opening in Autumn (1/10/09)

 

Nottingham City Centre - Nottinghamshire

 

Thursday the 15th of October will mark the grand opening of a brand new class in Nottingham City Centre, this will be held at the Sport Nottingham Leisure Complex, Notts County Ground, West Stand Meadow Lane, Nottingham, NG2 3HJ. Eventually we hope to run two sessions here, children at 7.00pm and adults at 8.15pm, however initially until we have the numbers we will be running a merged class for all at 7.30pm. If you are an existing member looking to up your training or a new starter hoping to take up the sport and would like more information please visit the Notts City Centre's dedicated club page by clicking the link. This class will be taught by the highly experienced instructor James Turner, for more details please call Regional Instructor Dan Maguire on 07968 031552.

  

Aspley - Nottinghamshire

 

The second brand new class opening in Nottingham is in Aspley, this will be held at David Lloyd, Aspley Lane, Nottingham, NG8 5AR. This will be the sister club to the nearby Bramcote class, allowing students from both areas to cross train or make up any missed classes. If you are an existing member looking to up your training or a new starter hoping to take up the sport and would like more information please visit Aspley's dedicated club page by clicking the link. This class will be taught by the highly experienced area instructor Joanne Maguire, for more details please call Joanne on 07976 551313.

 

Burton on Trent - Derbyshire

 

Another new class opening very soon is Burton on Trent, this will be held at Fitness First, Wetmore Road, Burton on Trent, DE14 1TR. The class will run every Wednesday evening from 7.30pm till 8.30pm. If you are an existing member looking to up your training or a new starter hoping to take up the sport and would like more information please visit the Burton on Trent club page by clicking the link. PLEASE NOTE : Fitness First gym membership is NOT required. This class will be taught by not one but two experienced instructors, husband and wife team, Lee and Jo Jones, for more details please call Jo Jones on 07977 472386. Exact starting date to be confirmed.

 

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All New Kidzone Webpage Goes Live (16/9/09)

  

  

We now have a dedicated area for our junior members, the Kidzone! This page will initally offer our younger members online games and martial arts based video clips from youtube although eventually there will be much more content. In addition to this we have details of the government ran Change 4 Life campaign for healthier kids along with information about our Anti-Bullying policy. Click on the image above to visit the Kidzone page and watch out for updates very soon.

 

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Senior Instructors Tie The Knot (3/7/09)   On Friday the 3rd of July at 2.00pm Instructors Joanne Harrison and Dan Maguire were married in a private family only ceremony at Risley Hall in Derbyshire. Everything ran smoothly on the day and the happy couple managed to escape the rain on what eventually turned out to be a glorious warm and sunny day. They shared their celebrations with over sixty guests who attended the evening reception later that day, including many fellow instructors. Two days later they jetted off on their honeymoon with their children Skye and Dylan. Jo and Dan would like to give a big thank you to all who attended on the day and especially to instructors Lee and Jo Jones, James Turner, Susan Cox, Neil Fletcher and Dean Braisby who helped by covering their classes for them whilst they were away.

www.sumpterstheimagemakers.co.uk

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PKA Kickboxing National Championships
Great Results For East Midlands Fighters
(17/05/09)

 

Congratulations to all the East Midlands based fighters that took part in the PKA National Championships which was held in Solihull, Birmingham on Saturday the 16th May 2009. The event was very well organised and ran smoothly throughout the day with no hold-ups or delays. The venue itself was fantastic and is already tipped to be the location for next years event. As well as jigsaw mats, bleacher seating, and electronic scoreboards a professional photographer was also in attendance, the photos taken are now available to view, and buy, online for a limited time at www.spoffs.co.uk/pka. Many medals were won by East Midlands fighters, too many names to mention, for full listings of the results in each category please visit www.pka-kickboxing.com/pka-kickboxing-latest-news.

However there are a few success stories really worth mentioning, firstly Pete Harris of Castle Donington who took part in the ‘men’s under 70kg sport kickboxing – low grades’ category wowed his team mates by going on to win gold in his event showing experience far beyond his current grade of green belt. Also worth a mention is Kumar Kapoor of Bramcote, who at 53 years of age was one of the more senior competitors on the day, although initially nervous, having had no prior competitive experience, Kumar performed to the very best of his ability finally losing to Steve Winters from East Leake. Finally Ash Bray of Hinckley who competed in the only pre-arranged ‘full contact’ fight which took place at the end of the day, Ash took the highly experienced Ivan Malinka through all 3 rounds only to lose on points by the closest of margins. Well done to you all.

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Regional Instructor Dan Maguire Promoted to 4th Dan (17/05/09)

 

The North Solihull Sports Centre in Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham was the venue for this years PKA Nationals which saw many East Midlands based fighters compete and many medals won. However, as well as the medals a few other presentations were made including the announcment of the promotion of East Midlands Kickboxing founder and PKA Regional Instructor 'Dan Maguire' who was awarded with his Black Belt 4th Dan. Also receiving promotion to 4th Dan were fellow instructors Adam Bagshaw, Duane Reid, Steve Bennett, Simon Parnaby, Paul Clare and Matt Fraser, even higher accolade was given to Garreth Jones, Dean Williams, Norman Dixon, Dave Gentry and Antinio Santo who are now at 5th Dan level, congratulations to you all.

  

Dan Maguire achieved his Black Belt 1st Dan in April 2000, 2nd Dan in October 2001 and 3rd Dan in February 2005. As 4th Dan grades and above are only awarded on an honory basis, this presentation came as a real suprise.    "I'm really pleased to receive my 4th Dan and would like to thank our principal Mr. Haig for the promotion, hopefully this will inspire others to aim high and encourage my students to continue their training for many years after they have earned their first Black Belt"

  

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Promotion For Instructors (24/03/09)

 

P.K.A. Principal Mike Haig has just announced the promotion of three senior instructors within the East Midlands Kickboxing group. Former Club Instructors Joanne Harrison and Danny Ryland have now been promoted to 'Area Instructors', Former Area Instructor Dan Maguire will now assume the role of 'Regional Instructor' alongside Adam Bagshaw and Garreth Jones who share the East Midlands region.

Joanne Harrison Area Instructor

Danny Ryland Area Instructor

Dan Maguire Regional Instructor

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Latest Coaching Team Members (26/04/09)   Congratulations to the latest students to complete the two day Coaching Team Course. Alex Churton, Charles Wilson, Dean Braisby, James Jewson, Lynne Olsson and Tristham Richards are the latest members of our ever expanding team. Official presentations will be made within the classes in due course, look out for their photos on the instructor page (under Coaching Team Members) which will be updated very shortly.

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Scott Adkins Goes Down a Storm in Nottingham (23/11/08)

More than seventy students attended the Scott Adkins Power Combinations Seminar, we would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for coming along and of course we must thank Scott himself for making it a great day for all involved. Afterwards Scott posed for pictures and signed copies of Combat magazine with him on the front cover for everyone that came, a true star and down to earth to boot, above are some pictures from the seminar.

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