Club climb up off the canvas to thrive again

Kaos Kickboxing club, based in Merridale, are on the rise again – according to passionate coach and owner Dylan Fitzpatrick.

The club offer a range of sessions to youngsters and adults, both male and female throughout the week.

Former gas engineer worker Fitzpatrick, 31, who is now working as a full-time coach at the club, is proud of how the club has been able to pull together after harder times in the past.

He said: "We offer pink collar boxing for women and charity box challenges for men.

"But we're not just a place where people come to fight.

"I get a lot of messages from people who don't want to smack people and those that don't want to be smacked.

"Many people don't have the minerals to fight, but we're not about that here.

"I have people come wanting to get into shape in our strength and conditioning classes which are proving popular."

The club now has roughly 40 regular members and Fitzpatrick believes it is testament to hard work.

"It can be extremely busy at times then other weeks it would be calmer," he said.

"Sometimes we have to open on mornings so people can come and train after the school run.

"The classes are open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am for a couple of hours.

"Then we run kickboxing classes from 7pm-8pm on Mondays and women's pink collar boxing on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 8-9.

"I have one other floating coach who helps out a lot, Ebrah Hashmi, if I need someone in to help run a class he won't let me down.

"It isn't about the money for him."

Fitzpatrick founded the club in 2006 but after location struggles a few years later – he had to take a backwards step.

"In 2009 my brother Eddie picked up the club and looked after it for a while but he stepped down in February last year," he said.

"Since then the club has rocketed and we're getting all sorts down there for different reasons.

"In the beginners' class for kids we have them start as young as four and five and then the advanced classes are anything from orange belts up.

"We had a grading recently and it is good to see all of them rewarded.

"But every day can be a different challenge."

The former kickboxer was proud as two of his regular pink collar students, Janet McNally and Annette Kirwan both saw success in the ring earlier this year.

"We've had a couple of stand-out moments in terms of the actual fights," he said.

"Janet won an area title fight at Villa Park despite dislocating her shoulder in the second round, so that was a great achievement.

"Then we entered Annette into her first ever fight at an event in Derby and she edged it, bringing the club our second title."

The coach is keen for the club to continue its growth and are keen to encourage big business to get involved in backing their cause.

Anyone looking to sponsor the work going one at Kaos kickboxing can contact Fitzpatrick on 07772658708 and also get in touch on the Facebook page by searching 'Kaoskickboxing Kaos'.