The Sidekick Podcast: Recent Episodes
Tank
Interviews with the top sport martial artists to find out, who they are, why they are in this specific type of martial art and the secret to their success
Our Guest in Episode 20 is Danny Harrison.
Danny is a true legend in our sport.
As well as being one of the best fighters the UK has ever produced, he is also putting back into the sport with events such as Combat 32 and Television programmes like Fighting Talk and Martial Arts Mavericks.
Danny fought on some of the best teams in the world and travelled all over the globe fighting for Team Hayashi and Team Swat.
We are very proud to have on the Podcast, Danny Harrison
In Episode 19 we speak with Craig Harrington.
Craig is a World Champion that started later than most on his martial arts journey, yet his dedication and determination saw him rise to the top in a relatively short space of time.
We speak with Craig about World Championships, changing fighting styles and the pressures of fighting at an elite level.
As well as fighting all over the world, Craig, and his wife Rachel, run Absolute Martial Arts and are passing on their knowledge to their next generation of fighters.
We are very proud to have on the podcast, Craig Harrington
Craig O'Shaughnessy is a multiple world champion and has competed at the highest level for more than 15 years now.
Craig has competed all over the world and has a number of WAKO world cups to add to his world titles.
We speak with Craig on all things point fighting, how he trains leading up to tournaments and how he has shed around 35 kilograms to get himself in the best shape of his life.
We are very pleased to bring you, Craig O'Shaughnessy!!!
Kevin Baldwin is known all over the globe for his coaching skills in the kickboxing world..
As a well respected member in the kickboxing community, Kevin has taken his skills to the next level by travelling all over the world to further his knowledge in our sport.
His students at Wolfpack Martial Arts are persistent winners and have a reputation as being some of the toughest fighters on the circuit.
We are very pleased to announce our next guest in Episode 17 will be the Crazy Wolf himself, Kevin Baldwin.
In Episode 16 we speak with Andy Gray.
Andy is a multi national and world champion and has applied his skills all over the world.
As well as his achievements in martial arts he has raised vast amounts of money for charity with his crazy challenges.
Now, Andy has his own podcast called Hobby of a Lifestyle. Here he speaks with some of the most inspirational people in the world as they tell their story and explain their success.
We are very pleased to have on the podcast, Andy Gray.
Jamie Goulding is one of the best martial arts instructors in the country today but a lot don't know of the success he had as a fighter.
Jamie was a massive part of the freestyle karate scene in the 90s and 2000s. As part of Joe Tierney's squad, he won countless amounts of national titles and topped them off with his world titles.
Jamie is now the chief instructor at Goulding's Martial Arts and creating champions of his own.
We are delighted to have on the podcast, Jamie Goulding.
Marcus Lewis has been in and around the world of martial arts his whole life. From a young age he was opened up to this by his father, the infamous Alfie Lewis.
Marcus is now a young man and has won countless amounts of world titles across a number of associations and his achievements in sport karate are amongst the best that there has ever been.
Marcus is now the next rising star of the MMA world. He has picked up two amateur belts and has recently signed his first professional contract with Cage Warriors
It is a pleasure to bring to you, Marcus Lewis
Mark is known by almost everyone on the circuit and has been competing, both domestically and internationally, since the 80's.
With multiple world titles across several associations, Mark is one of the most decorated fighters to emerge from the UK and now his work with the WKA is taking mat sports to the next level.
We are very pleased to have on the podcast, Mark Watton
Morgan Plowden is a massive star in female points fighting across the world.
Her achievements see her as one of the most successful women to ever involve themselves in Sport Karate and it was a privilege to speak with her and hear her martial arts journey from its conception, up to the modern day.
Morgan speaks about who she watched growing up, who she admires and what its like to achieve the titles that she has.
We are very excited to bring to you, Miss Morgan Plowden.
In Episode 11 we speak with the legend, Jadi Tention. Jadi needs no introduction. He is known to almost every Sport Karate fighter across the world and is regarded by many as the best fighter ever in our sport.
Jadi has won everything there is to win within the sport and now his fighters are following in his footsteps. His influence in the sport is unrivalled and with multiple blackbelts, he is a true mixed martial artist.
This episode felt like an inspiration when recording it and listening back after editing felt like I'd been in a talk with a motivational speaker.
We are very lucky to have on the Pod, Jadi Tention
Damien is one of the most respected people in sport karate, not only for his role as a coach but as an organisation figure on the tournament scene in Ireland.
Damien is part of the small organisational group who are the nucleus of the Irish Open and has also got his own tournament in the west of Ireland that attracts the best fighters from across the globe.
He is one of the best referees in the world, representing Ireland at the WAKO World Championships and representing our sport at the Sport Accord Games in Beijing.
In a world of multiple associations, Damien is a genuine force in trying to accommodate all fighters and coaches, whilst making the tournament scene a fun, yet highly competitive place to be.
As an instructor, he has coached numerous world champions and Irish Open winners and despite the massive amounts of work he does outside of the dojo, he still manages to bring fighters though to compete at the highest level.
It was an absolute pleasure to have Damien on the Podcast and we wish him well in the future.
Robbie is known to almost every sport martial artist on the planet as one of the best competitors to ever enter into the sport. He has won countless world titles across multiple associations and is regarded as the best fighter to ever come out of Canada.
An original member of the infamous AllStar team, he has competed against, and beaten, the best fighters in the world. His dedication to the sport is amazing and and is now giving back by teaching the fighters of tomorrow how to use his skills in their own way.
We are very proud to present, Canada's poster boy, Robbie Lavoie.
Avery Plowden is widely regarded as one of the best point fighters in the world today. His pedigree speaks for itself with multiple world championships and overall grands wins in some of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, including the US Open, Warrior Cup and Diamond Nationals.
Avery is now a graduate of Michigan University and is working his job as a lawyer as well as keeping his training regime up for when all tournament start to go ahead again.
we are delighted to have on the Pod, Avery Plowden.
Lee Charles was nicknamed 'The Punisher' for his hard approach to his fighting career. Initially a points fighter, Lee progressed into a very good light continuous fighter before moving on and into full contact.
His achievements speak for themselves with National Titles in both Sport Karate and Traditional Kumite. He has six world titles in both light continuous and full contact and is renowned all over the world for his skills.
Lee is now making a name for himself as an actor and has starred along side some of the biggest names in the world including, Dave Bautista, Pierce Brosnan, Gary Oldman, Margot Robbie, Simon Pegg, Shaun Michaels, Amber Heard and Michael Bisping.
Lee is also head coach and senior instructor of Black Dragon Martial Arts in the Wirral on Merseyside and looking to expand his brand to other parts of the country.
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm3124775/
Kenn Forrest is renowned all over the world for his hard, physical approach to continuous fighting.
He has countless national titles, 3 World titles and is an inductee into the Martial Arts Illustrated Hall of Fame.
Listen to how Kenn started in martial arts, reminisce about past events and talk about his passion for teaching and passing on his knowledge to others.
Alex is currently one of the top fighters in the world and is now establishing himself as a top coach as well.
He is a leading figure at one of the largest associations in the country, the British Chinese Kickboxing Association (BCKA) and has some of the best fighters on the circuit.
Alex's achievements see him as one of the most successful fighters in the world. He has won countless national and world titles across a number of associations and has 3 Irish Open titles to his name.
We are honoured to hear Alex's story from his first class to the current day, who he looked up to as a budding youngster and what the future holds for him.
Bev is widely regarded as one of the best female fighters that sport karate has ever produced. With 10 World Titles, 11 Irish Open wins and 3 Irish Open Grand Championships in her trophy cabinet.
Bev has been involved in sport martial arts for more than 25 years as both a fighter and a coach and is the most decorated fighter to come out of Daz Ellis' famous NSKA gym.
Bev is now a partner in NSKA with Daz's eldest son, Gaz and the gym and association is thriving under their instruction.
We are are thrilled to bring you this podcast and are very thankful that we were invited down to the gym to record this.
Chris Aston has been the leading fighter for WAKO for the past 10 years. He has pretty much won every international tournament there is to win, not only in his own section, but in open weights as well.
Chris is a 15 x WAKO GB champion, 2 x WAKO European Champion and a 3 x WAKO World Champion. These make Chris one of the most decorated fighters on the WAKO circuit.
In this episode we take a look at how Chris is coping with his training through lockdown, see what his goals are for he future and learn what its like to be the only every member of the Kiraly Team that is not Hungarian.
We are delighted to present, Chris Aston.
Lorraine Riley has been a pioneer in women's sport martial arts in the UK for the past 30 years, both in fighting and now as the senior coach of Senshi Academy.
Her achievements see her as one of the most successful women to ever involve themselves in our sport and we are honoured to hear her story from the first lesson up until the modern day.
We hear who she looked up to as a fighter, where her journey has taken her and who she sees as the top female fighters of today.
Ian 'Hurricane' Hollett has been one of the best fighters in the world for the past 20 years. His trophy haul includes multiple world titles, an Irish Open title and is respected the world over.
Listen to Ian talk about where he come from and how he started, how he prepares for big fights and who he looked up to as an aspiring fighter.