5x World Champion • European Champion • Team GB • Head Coach & Founder
Book Free TrialWhere It Started
5x World Champion • 4x European Champion • 25x British Champion
Chris didn't choose kickboxing. His parents chose it for him. He was seven years old, getting picked on at school, carrying extra weight, and short on confidence. Martial arts was supposed to help.
It did more than help. From the very first session, something clicked. The discipline gave him structure. The training gave him an outlet. The progress gave him belief. What started as a parent's decision became the thing that shaped his entire life.
Chris trained under Lee Matthews in Telford for close to a decade, earning his black belt at just twelve years old and his 2nd Dan by sixteen. After school, he took a coaching position in Stoke-on-Trent for eighteen months before deciding it was time to build something of his own.
In 2010, Astons Kickboxing Academy opened its doors in Shrewsbury.
In 2010, Chris founded Astons Kickboxing Academy with a simple mission: give every student, from age 4 to adult, the same quality coaching, discipline, and support that shaped his own career.
Today the academy is Shrewsbury's leading martial arts school, producing national and international medal winners while helping everyday people build confidence, fitness, and self-belief.
Chris has stood on podiums all over the world. He estimates over 300 trophies across a career that spans junior and senior competition at British, European, and World Championship level. One of his favourites: a sword, won in Edinburgh.
His toughest opponent was an Austrian fighter called Roman Brundle, six foot eight with a reach that made him almost untouchable. But the rivalry that defined Chris's career was with his own coach, Christian, who competed for Hungary.
Christian beat Chris twice in World Championship finals and twice in European Championship finals, each time by a single point. When Christian announced he would retire after one final World Championship, Chris met him in the final again. This time, Chris won.
Chris channels everything he learned on the world stage into building the next generation of confident, disciplined kickboxers in Shrewsbury.
Today, Chris channels everything he learned as a competitor into coaching. Astons Kickboxing Academy isn't just a gym. It's a development programme for young people and adults who want to build confidence, discipline, and resilience through structured martial arts training.
The academy's competition team is growing fast. At a recent tournament in Swansea, Astons placed 7th out of 100 clubs across the country, with a team made up entirely of juniors aged six to seventeen. They came home with nine gold medals, nine silvers, and two bronzes.
Around fifteen students now compete regularly, with more stepping up each season. For Chris, competition is important, but it's never the point. The point is what training builds in a person: the habit of showing up, the ability to handle pressure, and the confidence to believe they belong.
Start Your JourneyChris regularly visits schools to talk to pupils about kickboxing, his career, and what it really takes to get good at something. It’s the story of a seven-year-old who was pushed into his first class and went on to become a five-time World Champion, told by the person who lived it.
The message is one every pupil can use, whether or not they ever step on a mat:
Visits can be shaped around your school, from a whole-school assembly to a talk with a single year group or class. If you’d like Chris to visit, get in touch and we’ll find a date that works.
Enquire About a School VisitOr call Chris on 07854 857 937
That seven-year-old who was pushed into his first class never could have imagined any of this. But every student who walks through the doors at Astons is proof that the same transformation is possible for anyone willing to commit.
I've got about ten kids going for their black belts next year. That's what this is all about: watching them become something they didn't think they could be.
Four words sit at the heart of everything we do at Astons. They're on the wall, they're in every class, and they're what we send every student home with.
Every student starts as a beginner. We build self-belief one small win at a time, on the mat first, then everywhere else.
Showing up, listening, and doing what needs to be done even when you don't feel like it. Discipline starts at home and is reinforced in every session.
For parents and coaches, for teammates and the wider community, and for themselves. Respect is expected from the first class to black belt.
A structured belt syllabus means every student always has a clear next goal, and the pride of earning it, not being given it.
Most of our students are children. Their safety and wellbeing come first, before medals, before gradings, before everything.
All of our staff are DBS checked and the academy meets every legal requirement for working with children and young people.
Every class is structured, age-appropriate and coached from start to finish, so students can push themselves in a controlled setting.
You're welcome to stay and watch any session. If you ever have a question or concern, speak to Chris directly.
Chris regularly visits local schools to talk to pupils about kickboxing, his career, and what discipline and hard work can achieve. About school visits
Questions about safeguarding? Email Chris or call 07854 857 937.