Education:BEng, MA
Experience:20+ years coaching martial arts
Age:43
Weight:85Kg
Email:[email protected]
Liam-Og Griffin
Head Coach
Biography:
Starting at age 7 with Shotokan karate, Liam-Og studied under his parents (Liam Snr and Teresa), until eventually earning a Black Belt at at 17. During that period, he competed in both kata and kumite, with some highlights including the FSKA International Championships, California 1997, FSKA European Championships, Poland 1999 and WSKA World Championships, Japan 2000. It was during this period, he also began to coach classes, beginning with kids beginner karate classes. Adding an NCEF fitness Instructor and Personal Training qualification to his resume, he expanded his classes to include Cardio Kickboxing and other fitness/martial arts fusions.
In 2004, Liam-Og moved to Florida on a J1 Visa and took the opportunity to study XMA (Xtreme Martial Arts) under Mike Chatarantabut (of Blue Power Ranger – Lightspeed Rescue fame). This led to a fascination with Action Movie Choreography and a host of independent film projects with AClique Productions in Cork.
It was in 2010 that the opportunity came about to open a full time martial arts gym with his sister – Marlene. Starting out as an independent venue for a range of different styles of martial arts, including Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Capoeira, BJJ, Judo, Sambo and Escrima, K2C Martial Arts & Fitness Centre was hive of activity. It was eccentric and novel, but also slightly chaotic. Liam-Og was invited to take part in an MMA bout on Cage Warriors 42 in Cork’s Neptune Stadium. Naiveté gave him the delusion that he could use Karate, Stunt Choreography and what he saw while watching some UFC fights to beat any opponent, but the beating he received on fight night delivered a dose of reality that would shape the next decade.
From 2011, Liam-Og’s focus shifted to MMA, first as a competitor, later as a coach. K2C became an affiliate of SBG and before long, students of SBG Cork began to flourish.
While he still dabbles in martial arts choreography, his main focus is now developing MMA competitors with multiple World Champions and professional athletes achieving greatness with the benefit of his experience.