This year marks the 10th anniversary of Kaizen Academy, the mixed martial arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu School co-founded and run by Lancaster University alumni Adam Gregory, Kieran O'Brien, Michael Wood and Joe Butler.

Adam and Kieran met while studying at Lancaster University — Adam in Management and Architecture within the OWT department, and Kieran in Politics, Philosophy and Religion. Both were active members of the University’s martial arts scene, training in Chinese Kung Fu and Taekwondo, and attending early MMA sessions held at the Lancaster University Sports Centre.

It was there they first met Michael, then a school teacher, but also a Lancaster native who had been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (often on the sports centre’s squash courts with his friend Fred Greenall (who are also both co-owners of the standout 'Scramble Leeds academy'). They conspired together to bring a new standard to martial arts instruction to the Lancaster area. Shortly after Kaizen Academy opened, Joe Butler, another school teacher, joined the coaching team initially heading up the kids' programme, but quickly establishing himself as a cornerstone of the gym's wider development.

Over the past decade, Kaizen Academy has grown into a thriving community-led centre of excellence for Mixed Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Kickboxing; a veritable hive-mind that leverages the full capacity of, not just the coaching staff, but full roster of talented athletes, technicians, strategists and researchers who all cover-each others blind-spots, woven into a strong socially productive cultural fabric, that is more than the sum of its parts.

As a result the academy has produced multiple British and European champions in Jiu-Jitsu, as well as athletes who have gone on to compete at the highest levels of the sport, including Polaris, one of the world’s leading professional grappling events. Among its standout athletes are Joe Kearns, who has achieved the status of number one ranked heavyweight and light heavyweight amateur MMA fighter in the UK — and European BJJ champion Andrea Brink Siem (also a Linguistics PhD graduate and teaching staff at Lancaster University) and multiple time European Champion Jim Brackenbury...a testament to the academy’s high-performance training environment.

Beyond competition, Kaizen Academy prides itself on fostering a strong sense of community, discipline, and personal growth. Many former students have also gone on to open their own academies in Jiu-Jitsu and boxing, seeding Kaizen’s philosophy of continuous improvement and shared learning elsewhere "to Dwell, is to Garden" (and thanks to Mike's mum for always doing the gardening!)

As Kaizen Academy celebrates its 10-year anniversary, its founders, coaches and members reflect on a decade of progress — from humble beginnings in Lancaster University’s sports halls to a thriving academy that continues to inspire and empower athletes across the region ~ and reminding us all of how much meaning and fun is to be had when people from all walks of life ~ put our minds together! Oss!