The National Kickboxing Academy (NKA) was established in 2005 by its Founder and Head Instructor, Nathan Barden. Having trained in Great Britain under the WKU (World Kickboxing Union) and fought professionally in Europe, he found that although there were plenty of high quality Thai boxing gyms in Queensland such as Joe Hilton’s ‘Sunshine Coast Thai Boxing Centre’ and ‘Nuggets Thai boxing Gym’, there were no specific Kickboxing Gyms aimed solely at Traditional and USA style Kickboxing.

With the help of qualified and traditionally trained martial artists like Jim Mardi from the UK, the National Kickboxing Academy was formed. (A more indepth profile of instructors Barden and Mardi available under PROFILE section).

The NKA philosophy is: Just because you are a master in a given subject doesn’t mean that you know everything or can’t learn new skills so that you can then adapt or apply them to your given subject.

We encourage all martial artists from varying disciplines to join us to further their learning and combine kickboxing with their current style(s). Whether you’re an aspiring champion, just looking to keep fit or learn some general self defense in a fun and friendly environment, then the NKA is the place for you. The NKA has a structured syllabus for those wishing to progress their Kickboxing knowledge so that all students can one day hopefully prove they have what it takes to become a true Black Belt! And this is no mean feet. It takes years of dedication, hard training and the proficiency of instructing to achieve such status. But when achieved, it is an accolade that you can be proud to uphold, deep in the knowledge that you have earned your right to wear a Black Belt.