On an industrial estate in Barugh Green, there’s a kickboxing community where world-class champions are made.

The Combat Academy has one of Europe’s most successful fight teams made up of 30 amateur and professional kickboxers. Collectively, they’ve accumulated endless belts, medals and titles from across the national and global stages.

But there’s more to it than just what they do on the mats. Some of the club’s biggest successes are what their fighters have achieved as people.

The Combat Academy teaches life skills and emotional resilience. It’s a place where social connections are formed and employment opportunities are made. It’s turned the lives around of young men and women from Barnsley and beyond.

“Martial arts changed my life in so many ways that I wanted to go deeper into that. I wanted to give these young, talented fighters the opportunities I never had as a kid, giving them access to the support and training they didn’t have,” says Mick Crossland, founder and chief instructor of The Combat Academy.

A former world champion kickboxer from Barnsley, Mick set up his own martial arts centre of excellence in Wombwell in 2011.  

Having started martial arts at the age of six, Mick had been a professional kickboxer for over a decade before he got into coaching.

He was also juggling training for his bouts with a full-time job as a youth worker in the Barnsley and Wakefield area.

“In my job, I felt like my hands had become shackled. There was so much red tape, so much paperwork and we were expected to be more like teachers and social workers. As I got into coaching, I found that the kids benefitted more from martial arts than any of the work we were doing as youth workers.”

Over the last 13 years, The Combat Academy has grown exponentially in both size and impact. They’ve scaled up to five sites, with centres in Rotherham, Chesterfield, Northampton and Sunderland, plus a new Barnsley HQ at Barugh Green.

Thousands of people of all ages have been through the doors, with a current membership of around 1,800 members. They train kids from the age of three, with a big focus on teaching respect, courage, honour, self-belief and responsibility from an early age.

“When kids are younger, it’s all about building emotional resilience. In kickboxing, you can kick or knee an opponent, so there are six weapons coming at you rather than just two hands. Even if you’ve got all the physical ability in the world, you’ve got to be able to cope with losing or getting hit in martial arts to stick it out for the long term. Adults sometimes try and take away a lot of barriers for kids to overcome in life, so it has been harder for us to help some kids build that resilience and positive mindset in recent years.”

From the age of 11, children can progress through the junior, cadet and senior amateur ranks before deciding whether they’ve got what it takes to turn professional once they reach 18.

While the fight team might be male dominated, there’s also a thriving ladies’ group who come to The Combat Academy to exercise.

“It’s been so empowering to see so many women get involved. They might never be prize fighters, but they come because they’re surrounded by positive people. They might want to lose weight or feel more confident in their skin, and kickboxing is a fun way to work out without feeling like you’re exercising – well not until the day after when your muscles are aching,” Mick says.

Mick is joined by a team of dedicated and experienced instructors, most of whom have trained at The Combat Academy since they were a white belt beginner. Many are part of the fight team, with Mick offering them a full- or part-time job to run alongside their training.

“In the kickboxing world, these fighters are a big deal. They’re held in such high esteem. But in the real world, people wouldn’t look twice if they walked down the street. They work so hard in their kickboxing training and have all the qualities of leadership. But because they’re not always academic, or they’ve been failed by an education system that doesn’t work for their needs, they’ve got low job prospects.

“Being an instructor teaches them how to communicate and articulate themselves in different situations. How to have banter in a room of men, and how to speak to parents of the kids they teach. How to inspire and motivate other young people. We have a lot of the Eastern philosophies of martial arts and it’s a respectful sport. People are more humble, with fewer egos. We all fight each other but we’re all friends,” Mick says.

Two of their current success stories are Blaine ‘Wonderkid’ Wilson and ‘Gorgeous’ Gasan Gindra, two young lads in their early 20s who are making waves as professional kickboxers. They both picked up world titles at the Kings of Combat event held at Barnsley Metrodome in June.

Blaine holds the title of the most decorated amateur kickboxer in the world. The Shafton lad started kickboxing at the age of seven, encouraged by his uncle, and says he wanted to fight straight away.

He had his first title fight aged 11 and won every version of every award thereafter. He was the undisputed champion at junior, cadet and senior level, winning all 44 bouts and claiming 11 amateur world titles.

As an amateur, Blaine fought all over Europe, travelling to countries like France, Germany, and Italy to take on eager opponents. He’d not even left school and people were already calling him a legend.

At 18, Mick encouraged him to turn professional. But he opted to try and make it as a boxer rather than continue with kickboxing. He was touted for huge things, but after two years, he recently made the switch back to kickboxing to pursue his true passion.

“I just missed the kicking element to be honest. It’s faster and more exciting. The money isn’t as good but I wasn’t happy and that was more important for me. Now I get to do what I love.  I love to fight, train and be around the other lads. I don’t know what else I’d be doing with my life if it wasn’t for kickboxing,” Blaine says.

Now 21, Blaine made his professional kickboxing debut at the Kings of Combat event. Mick says nobody gave Blaine a chance as a ‘newcomer’, but they shouldn’t have doubted the wonderkid. He won his fight, knocking out French opponent Nicolas Rivas to become the world featherweight champion in the 57kg division. His next big fight is scheduled to take place in Tokyo.

‘Gorgeous’ Gasan is one of the most talked about fighters in the game. He’s charismatic, loves to put on a show and usually brings a crowd of 300 people to watch him fight.

The 22-year-old has been practicing martial arts for 15 years. A highly energetic kid who struggled to concentrate, Gasan started karate aged seven and reached black belt level by the age of 12.

“Karate was my passion at the time but as I got older, I wanted something more. I didn’t get the buzz like I used to. I moved across to kickboxing and I feel like I’ve got a purpose in life now, plus I get paid to do it.”

When Gasan was 15, Mick offered him a job as an instructor at The Combat Academy for after he finished school. Unbeknown to Mick, Gasan’s parents had been deciding whether to move back to their native Latvia. With a new opportunity for their son, and a potential bright future ahead, they chose to stay and Gasan’s sporting career has seen him become the chief breadwinner for his family.

At 19, he was three-times world champion and pitched as the country’s number one amateur. An offer came in to do a certain fight against a professional kickboxer, which meant Gasan had to decide whether to turn professional or not.

His would-be opponent’s promoter planned an eight-man knockout style tournament with a lucrative £10,000 prize fund to entice Gasan to sign. The tournament would take place over the space of a year, with a potential three fights if he got through each stage.

“You usually need to have had 20 fights or so to jump to such a level, so we had to get permission to do so. They called him the underdog, but he beat all three opponents, with two KOs, and won the ten grand after the last fight in March,” Mick says.

Gasan was back in the ring in June for the Kings of Combat final fight of the main card, where he faced an experienced Greek opponent who’d had 28 professional fights compared to Gasan’s three. To make it even more of a Goliath triumph, Gasan broke his hand in the first round, and was also sporting a broken nose picked up in training.

But the triple G continued his undefeated run to claim the 60kg world title after three three-minute rounds.

Only a year into his professional career, Gasan is an inspiration to the young amateur fighters he coaches at The Combat Academy. He’s learnt so much from people like Mick and is passing down his knowledge and experience to the next generation.

“I coach them from their first fight to their tenth fight, and when they get to where they want to be it makes me so happy. It feels mint. A real joy. I’d rather work than go out with my mates.”

Find out more at www.thecombatacademy.org.uk