Josh breezed in with another ICE COLD, calm, collected performance. He followed his game plan to the letter and tapped out his opponent 1:30seconds into the first round. That’s Josh’s strength really – he follows the plan and works with corner instruction like a pro. Gentlemen – we salute you!

Thanks to our outstanding corner team for helping make it a great night and to the Kokoro Army for showing up en force! More Kokoro matches on the horizon and a large number of bookings still in negotiation for the year.

STRIKERS will maintain their strong striking skillset whilst aquiring a solid grappling base.

GRAPPLERS will continue to grapple regularly and put their skills to use against active striking opponents, all the while developing their own striking skillset.

ATHLETES may well already have a head start in this exciting combat sport since strength and conditioning is a significant element of success. Athletes know what it means to dedicate themelves to a goal and the long road of self development.

Give us a call to discuss your options (087) 792 8363.

Adopt, Adapt, Improve. It’s not just for Boy Scouts.

As an experienced fighter, you may be wondering how to get involved in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Would you like to test yourself in MMA competition? Now’s the time to give us a call. We’ll help you tailor existing strengths to the sport of MMA.

Thanks to Legends Gym for attending as guest competitors. We sincerely hope that this will be the first of many sessions together. A great bunch!

Congratulations to our winners (names posted later) and to all that “put their money where their mouth is” and turned up to participate on the day. Awesome!

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Shane was very much looking forward to challenging for the title on Saturday and is certainly disappointed. However, he’s more concerned for Kevin’s health and wishes Kevin a speedy recovery. Walker has assured Shane that Carney vs. Thomas will happen at the next available opportunity.

It seems that Carney vs. Thomas may well be a jinxed fight. They’ve missed each other due to injury and schedule conflicts for over two years at this stage.

We’re disappointed that the fight is not to be on Saturday and know that the scores of Kokoro members who bought tickets are going to be disappointed too. Right now though, our thoughts are with Kevin and we hope he’ll be back to full health soon.

Kokoro members that have purchased a show ticket solely to watch this title fight can return their ticket to Kokoro Gym for a full refund. Of course, all purchased tickets are still valid and it promises to be a great show. We hope those that have bought a ticket will choose to support the national MMA scene by attending the show despite the cancellation of this match!

The show will boast a solid card of pro fights and is touted to be on of the highlights of this years MMA calendar.

The full interview is 30 minutes long and is available here.

The event will now take place in Ballymena on the same day. As soon as tickets become available we’ll let everyone know. There’s a solid card planned for the event, with an all pro line-up, including several title fights. No doubt the Kokoro army will be there in force as Shane Thomas makes his bid for the Irish Featherweight Title.

Spartan 5 “Resurrection” will take place on Saturday June 26th in the Leighinmorhr House Hotel in Ballymena.

Everyone seemed to have a great morning last week when the Star reporter spent some time on the mat getting a feel for MMA training.

These things are hard to read and it’ll be interesting to see whether his experience left him with a positive or negative view of the sport we know and love. The article is due to be published in this Sunday’s Star.

Take 30 guys, tell them they’ll need to spend the next three hours sparring, then sit back and watch the magic unfold. That’s how it was at today’s level assessment.

Not to disrespect those that have gone before but WOW! This was hands down the best display of technical awareness we’ve experienced during a Kokoro Level Assessment. We implemented our Starter Concepts Programme about 6 months ago. We held the belief that slowing down in the short term – and building a solid foundation from which to grow – would pay dividends in the long term. Today we were proven correct.

To those that participated today, you deserve 100% respect for your performance and I can’t wait to spend more and more time sparring with you on the mats over the months and years to come.

Kyokushin is about putting yourself through tough training whilst paying attention to technical detail. Kyokushin training forges a mental and physical strength that can endure even the very toughest of trials.

Bartek is an oustanding striking technician, a Kyokushin Black Belt and great coach. If you haven’t tried his Kyokushin sessions you should. Get to know the training that has most influenced the standup game of George St. Pierre, Bas Rutten, Semmy Schilt and a whole host of the world’s best fighters.

Trial session on Friday, April 16th. Try it for Free.
Fridays at 19:00 (5€ for members).

As we continue to build and expand on the training opportunities available to our members and fighters, Daragh will now run a supplementarty Kickboxing Session at the gym. We hope you’ll take full advantage of the opportunity to develop your standup game under the keen eye of Kokoro’s own Daragh “Blunt Force Trauma” Kennedy.

First session on Thursday, April 15th. Try it for Free.
Thursdays at 18:00 (5€ for members).

Kickboxing, Dirty Boxing, Clinch Takedowns, Shoot Takedowns, Submission Wrestling and Ground ‘n Pound will all be addressed across a two-day camp with six coaches bringing their own personality and training ideas to the table.

With around 20 people from the Dublin gym and 20 visitors from the gyms of our friends throughout Europe, this is a great opportunity to see how the other half live and test ourselves in a sparring context with “fresh blood” in a safe, fun and controlled environment. We’re fully booked but you can still reserve a place on the waiting list with a 40€ refundable deposit.

The Spring Level Assessment is all about finding out where we stand on that curve.  There are still places available for those that want to book a spot, put themselves to the test and get feedback on their performance.