North-east martial arts group comes out fighting to claim national titles

An Oldmeldrum-based martial arts group has come out fighting after making a winning decision to take the plunge during the pandemic.

Called Aberdeen Korean Kickbox and Grapple, it was established by experienced martial arts professional Danny Collins in 2011 and launched as an official martial arts group in August 2020.

Since then, rapid growth has seen numbers swell to more than 200 students aged from seven to over 60 years old.

Based in Oldmeldrum, the group already has four dedicated coaches and delivers classes across the north-east including Newmachar, Aberdeen, Stonehaven, Laurencekirk and Gourdon.

The martial arts group punches well above its weight in the competitive arena too with teenage student Watson Clark and student-turned-instructor Lewis Ironside achieving no less than four Scottish low kick and K1 titles between them.

Danny’s own martial arts journey began when a chance meeting whilst recovering from a football injury fired his curiosity for traditional Korean martial arts.

Since then, the former personal trainer and qualified sports coach has not looked back and has worked as a full-time instructor since 2003.

Commenting on the meteoric rise of Aberdeen Korean Kickbox and Grapple, founder and head coach Danny Collins said: “After amassing more than 20 years of experience and two black belts in Korean stand up martial arts, the time was right for me to pursue my own vision and deciding to run my own group full-time has enabled me to do that.

“In spite of the challenges of the pandemic, our growth journey so far has been amazing, and we have some incredible talent among our students, indeed both our title holders are keen to turn professional showing their passion and commitment to what we do.”

Visit www.akkg.co.uk for more on the group.

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