Meet The Team
John
Head Coach - 3rd Degree Black Belt
John was awarded his black belt in 2011 by Rick Young, becoming one of the first black belts in Scotland and has been training in grappling for 30 years and martial arts for nearly 40 years. He began his journey in martial arts training in kung fu and boxing before developing in the arts of Muay Thai, kickboxing, JKD, Kali, MMA, Combat Submission Wrestling & Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, competing in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu.
As a lifelong martial artist, John has travelled the world to train and compete with some of the greatest Jiu Jitsu & grappling practitioners of all time.
He brings a wealth of teaching experience to Prana with over two decades of teaching martial arts.
John is also a lifelong student of health, nutrition and fitness, where he has gained qualifications along with running a health cafe, juice bar and supplements store for 15 years.
Craig
Head Coach - 1st Degree Black Belt
Craig is a black belt under Rick Young, which he received in 2017. He started training in western and Chinese boxing over 25 years ago, before studying Muay Thai, kickboxing and JKD. He then became hooked on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission wrestling, which he has now been practising for over 18 years.
He has been lucky enough to train with many elite grappling & Jiu Jitsu athletes in that time and trained in academies throughout the UK and the world.
He has over 25 years experience working in health & fitness where he has trained world record breaking endurance athletes and delivered health workshops worldwide. He is a certified CHEK exercise coach, mindfulness facilitator, MMA strength and conditioning coach, IKFF kettlebell coach and delivers mental health programmes alongside psychologists.
Shaun
Coach - Brown Belt
Shaun is a BJJ brown belt that has been competing and training in martial arts since he was a teenager after playing rugby throughout his youth. He fought MMA at the age of 19 before travelling to Thailand to train and fight at Tiger Muay Thai under Ray Elbe then moved to Australia and trained with black belt, Diogo Consoni.
He has trained in many other academies all over the world and also spent some time in Rio training with coral belt, Leao Texeria.
When returning to Scotland, Shaun trained for many years under Rick Young and now trains and teaches at Prana under Rick Young black belts, John and Craig. He helps coach the competition team as well as teaching many classes for Prana at our Dalkeith and Prime 8 sites.
Matt
Judo Coach
Matt began training judo at age 11, achieved his 1st degree at age 16 and is now a 2nd degree black belt.
He was selected for the Scottish team and competed many times in the Scottish and British championships. Matt is an experienced coach, coaching all age groups and levels for many years now.
Also a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu, he brings a wealth of expertise to the Prana team and blends judo seamlessly with bjj and wrestling in both gi and nogi as part of our stand up curriculum.
Michael
Junior Coach - White Belt
Michael is a dedicated martial artist that has been training since the age of 14. He assists our coaches teaching both adults and juniors along with training Jiu Jitsu himself 6 days a week. He lives and breathes Jiu Jitsu and fitness plus studies health and fitness at Edinburgh college. Michael’s commitment to his crafts and patience, help him display quality Jiu Jitsu when training and teaching.
Rio
Junior Coach - White Belt
Rio has been training in martial arts since the age of 5 at Rick Young's Black Belt Academy, following in her dads footsteps (head coach John) as a martial artist. Along with martial arts, she has a love for dancing, which has seen her compete in finals of world championships for her disciplines. Rio assists in coaching juniors, showing a great ability to engage children of all ages.
