Pro-Kick Gym And Billy Murray

The ProKick Gym in Belfast is the home of Billy Murray - Ireland's most successful ever Kick-boxer. He established the gym in 1993 and in the last five years has coached over 400 students.

The ProKick name and reputation has been recently franchised. Four other gyms bearing the name now exist in the province. They too promote the disciplines and levels of training and dedication needed to follow a martial art. They also offer the chance for a young hopeful to become the next Billy Murray. His tale could almost be a boys' own story. Billy began kick-boxing after being attacked by a bunch of thugs as a school boy. He vowed never to let that happen to him again. He quickly progressed through various martial arts disciplines - including Karate and Ju Jitsu - before finding Full Contact Kick-boxing suited him best. By 1987 he became an amateur world champion. He decided to step up to professional level.

Earlier, in 1986, he had also started promoting sporting events. Spotting a gap in the market, the young entrepreneur began to bring the cream of the world's martial artists to compete in Belfast. He even promoted one of his own big title shots - a 1988 European clash with Dutchman Toni Habberland. By doing so he also started a trend within kick-boxing of competitors switching easily between competition and promotion. By 1989 he was ISKA World champion - an honour he would hold in various weights for almost a decade. Billy remains undefeated - and frequently threatens an all-star comeback.

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