Martial Arts Archives | Wolfpack Martial Arts | Kickboxing Edinburgh and Livingston

8th March 2023

On the 14th January Wolfpack hosted the Elijah Everill Seminar in our Livingston location, and what a weekend it was. I picked Elijah up from the airport on Friday morning where we quickly detoured to starbucks before heading to the club.  This time round it was a little different with Elijah offering one to one training on the Friday before the seminar taking place on Saturday; a session for younger kids and another for juniors and adults.  A key part of Elijah’s success is never compromising on his own training and was more than happy to jump into my adults session on the Friday night. Sparring anyone and everyone, there was a real buzz in the room and you could tell everyone was excited to get stuck into the seminar on Saturday. 

There’s a reason why this is our third or fourth seminar with Elijah – not only is he very much the man still working away on the mats but his delivery, timing and execution of the seminar matches the way he fights, energetic perfection.  The kids were hanging off his every word with a great blend of fun and hard work. Everyone got something from it, beginners and seasoned international competitors alike. 

The second session was no different working on a mixture of movement foundation, blitz attacking and scenario based concepts broken down for all to digest.  In both sessions Elijah jumped in to spar with everyone giving everyone the chance to see why he is the best, yet everyone walked away with new knowledge and a smile on their face.

We already can’t wait for him to return in the second half of the year. Thank you mate for another great experience.

Kevin Baldwin
Head Coach


28th October 2019
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Wolfpack Martial Arts were very proud to host the first International Women’s Sparring Camp. Head coaches Kevin and Natasha had decided they wanted to improve the quality of female sparring in Scotland. So, they decided to host a women’s invitational camp. We had attendees from all over Europe; as close as England and as far as Hungary.

The first visitors flew in from Germany and trained with us in our Friday night sparring class. More women arrived on Saturday morning where Kevin hosted a mini-drills and skills session on Saturday morning. After a quick break, the women had two solid hours of sparring with some of the highest-level competitors in the world.

Following the second session on Saturday, these women and a couple of our regular Wolfpack members were privy to a private complimentary tour of the Scotch Whisky Experience. This was a great opportunity for our vistiors to experience some Scottish culture and taste some whisky. We would definitely recommend this to anyone visiting Scotland!

After this, we were treated to a discounted Nando’s – which everyone thoroughly enjoyed after a hard day’s training.

One of the ideas which gave rise to this weekend of training was bringing up the standard of women in kickboxing and providing role models for this. This meant that Wolfpack hosted a “give-back” session: younger females from Wolfpack Martial Arts were invited to take part in a two-hour training and sparring session with the other women so they could see the potential in what they themselves could achieve.

The last training session for the girls was two doors down at CaveFit. This was where they took part in a conditioning-style workout organised by Sophie. It was organised into teams, and to no-ones surprise, it got very competitive! Everyone loved this style of workout and it was great to see everyone working hard.

Lunch was held at the Village Hotel, quickly followed by access to their leisure facilities: a heated pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi is always a welcome sight. What a perfect way to end the weekend!

We’d like to thank all the companies which got involved, please visit their websites for more information about them.

https://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/

https://cave-fit.com/

https://www.village-hotels.co.uk/hotels/edinburgh/

 

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21st October 2019
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October saw Wolfpack travel down to Bristol to take part in the Bristol Open 2019. We had a squad of 17 fighters competing over two days.

Light contact and points tag teams and open weights took place on the Saturday. There were definitely some battles! Adam Lough was our fighter of the day for coming away with a gold medal in his -63kg light contact and for stepping up to the adult divisions to compete in the tag teams with partner Grant McEwan and for them coming back with a bronze in their section.

 

 

On Sunday, it was point fighting day. We had most of the Wolfpack kids fighting and so, our highlight on this day was Aroush Shiek. This was due to the great improvements that she has made and we’re very proud of the way she fought.

 

 

Head Instructor Natasha Baldwin was also leading by example winning gold in her -70kg points fighting division. Other winners included: Aiden Lennan, Ollie Schofield and Maia Bisley. Congratulations everyone!

Our total medal count was:

  • 8 gold
  • 10 silver
  • 16 bronze

This placed us 8th out of 110 clubs, a massive improvement from last year where we placed 17th. Next year our aim is to be in the top 5!

Well done to everyone who competed, we can’t wait for the next one.

To see more photos from the event, head over to our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/wolfpackmartialarts/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2692208157489815


19th July 2019

Wolfpack Martial Arts recently returned from the White Tiger Challenge held in Knock, Ireland.

We came away with 12 golds, 6 silvers and 11 bronze! Congratulations to all the competitors and we can’t wait for the next one.

Below is a video created by Jessica Smith, one of our instructors at Wolfpack, which we think has captured the essence of what it means to compete and travel as one of our team.

We hope you enjoy.

 


14th June 2019
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Next up in Fighters Corner is Robbie McMenamy, one of the best fighters to come out of the Emarald Isles. There really isn’t anything Robbie has not won – check his unique style out on YouTube.

We caught up with him to ask a few questions.

 

KPB: How long have you been training and what made you start?

RM: I’ve been training for 24 years since I was an 11 year old fat kid. I started because l liked the game street fighter and wanted to be Ryu. After that Jackie Chan movies spiked my imagination also!

KPB: There’s not much you haven’t won. What motivates you these days?

RM: Nothing motivates me more like good competition from another good martial artist which unfortunately seems to be hard to find these days.

KPB: Who are your favourite, most entertaining fighters to watch these days male and female?

RM: Male: Davide Colla and female: Martina Rossi.

KPB: The sport changes so often, as a fighter what core systems do you think are key to success?

RM: I think the core values have disappeared if I’m honest and it’s had a massive effect on the sport.

KPB: Favourite tournament?

RM: It used to be Best Fighter back in the day. Now it would be World Combat Games as it is the best in the world and only a few can confirm this.

KPB: If you had the chance to create a dream team with fighters from any era who would be in it?

RM: I would choose Nikos Memmos, Morten Spissøy Drew Neal, Gregorio Di Leo and Emanuele Bozzolani. Women I would have Luisa Lico and your Natasha.

KPB: Lastly will we see you teaching again in Scotland?

RM: If that’s an invitation then yes, I’d love to come back!


23rd May 2019
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On the 15th of May, Wolfpack Martial Art’s coaches Kevin and Natasha Baldwin were flown out to Atlantic City, USA. Natasha was to take part in the prestigious Ameri-kick International competition after a hard six week training camp. She  prepared meticulously for this event and it definitely paid off!

Natasha performed excellently, coming away with 6 gold medals in:

  • WAKO -65kg Point Fighting
  • WAKO -65kg Light Contact
  • NASKA team event winner
  • NASKA Point Fighting
  • NASKA Middle Weight Grand Champion
  • NASKA Overall Grand Champion

She fought over three days, and on the third day competed on the night show, in a special WAKO Open Weight gala where she only just missed out on a gold by one point in the last minute.

 

We congratulate Natasha for her tremendous achievements, and would like to thank Natasha’s sponsors: TOPTEN (Owner Peter Kruckenhauser pictured with Natasha, below) and club sponsor CVS Recovery for their continued support.

 


13th May 2019
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Wolfpack head coach Kevin Baldwin, assisted by junior instructor and current British Champion Adam Lough, ventured out of the lair and over to SASA.

SASA is a department of the Scottish Government that specialises in antibody production and molecular biology.  They had been invited along to teach a class to the employees there. The reason being that SASA were having a Well-Being experience day. This included everything from yoga to a petting zoo, with some kickboxing thrown in there too!  The employee’s  were split into two groups: one before lunch and a second group afterwards. The participants really threw themselves into the sessions working hard from start to finish.  

The coaches thoroughly enjoyed themselves, stating that it was a great day working with really good people. After receiving some great feedback from those who took part, Wolfpack Martial Arts are now talking about hosting a regular kickboxing class on site at SASA.


8th May 2019
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On the 4th of May, Wolfpack Martial Arts coaches (Natasha and Kevin Baldwin) presented sponsorship money to fighter Jennifer Lauder.  

Jennifer is a valued member of the squad who had been on a great winning streak this year, already picking up medals both domestically and internationally with the Wolfpack Fight Team, such as gold at the Golden Glove event in Italy and gold at the WAKO GB Nationals.  

Under the watchful eye of her club coach, Dave Parkinson of Iron Fist Academy, Jennifer has qualified to represent team England at this years WKC World Championships in Niagara. 

We look forward in helping her prepare for the event and are happy we can do our little bit; world championship trips don’t come cheap! We wish her the best of luck, and it has been a pleasure to be apart of her journey so far.


4th April 2019
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On the 20th of April Wolfpack Martial Arts are hosting a WAKO GB kickboxing referee course. This qualification allows individuals to build experience and referee at subsequent WAKO tournaments. The course itself will be taken by WAKO GB Chief Referee Peter Markland, as a ref he has travelled the world and his reputation proceeds him. His delivery promises to be very entertaining yet informative!

It is a great opportunity that we are glad to be a part of, and we hope to see as many of our students, friends and family at this course to be a part of our kickboxing team. We would like to remind our senior students that a referee course IS required before any black-belt grading.

Places are £25 per person, and the qualification only needs renewed after two years. We can’t wait to get involved!

For further details, please see the original post on the WAKO GB Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wakogreatbritain/photos/a.1112390595444985/2632774120073284/?type=3&theater


3rd April 2019
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At Wolfpack Martial Arts, we believe that martial arts helps to build strength of character, independence and self confidence in any individual, at any age. Parents send their children to our classes from ages four onwards, realising that there are so many benefits that kickboxing training will bring to their little ones from fitness to key life skills.

However, this is not to say that parents do not have a place within our syllabus teaching! We are lucky to be surrounded with a great team – our instructors, students and parents all working together to create a real family-friendly atmosphere within our club.

An example of this would be within our Lil Dragons class (ages four to six) that we run every Saturday morning at 10am. We recently had all of our parents come and take part in the class, running through the forms that each child will need for their next belt. It is always good for parents to get involved, to be role models for their children and helping them out where they need it.

So, there is always place for parents to get involved with their child’s martial arts journey.

To start yours, drop us a message via our social media outlets or the “Contact” form on this page and one of our team will be in contact shortly.