Meet the Coaches
Steve Pearson
Head CoachSteve began training in 1987 and was awarded his 1st Dan Black Belt in December 1990. He is also a fully qualified Taekwondo and fitness instructor.
Steve's focus during his training has been very much tournament and competition based as his list of title successes suggests. Steve has 14 years of tournament experience in both Taekwondo and open martial art events.
He has won the British Taekwondo championships for several consecutive years and many other national and international martial arts titles. As well as this he has won the world open Taekwondo championships in 2000 and with his years of tournament fighting knowledge and experience.
Steve specialises in what actually works on the mat and is an excellent fitness coach and motivator. Steve has regularly sought out and trained with the best coaches he could find, and in 1994, used this knowledge and experience to set up the Steve Pearson School of Martial Arts (now the Range Academy), teaching Taekwondo, Kickboxing and more recently, MMA.
During its existence the club and teaching have evolved, incorporating more effective tournament, fitness and self defence techniques, and perhaps most importantly, incorporating scientific methods to ensure students train as safety as possible.
Steve has himself continued to develop, by achieving a 4th Degree Black Belt, and working closely with his fellow coaches and club technical advisor, one of the leading Mixed Martial Arts exponents in the country, Mark Weir.
Mark Dearnley
BJJ & Grappling CoachMark is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and is our specialist BJJ/grappling coach.
Mark is a lifelong student of Martial Arts and holds a BJJ black belt and 4 other black belt grades across the striking arts of kickboxing and taekwondo.
His main role at Range Academy is specialist Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling coach.
He has competed in BJJ and full contact tournaments, and won a national competition in Superleague Kickboxing.
Mark has taught with Steve for over 3 decades, including running his own kickboxing club in Cheltenham for a decade before coming back to teach in Stroud at Range Academy.
A longtime student and training partner of Range Academy Glos Mark Weir, he also coaches the striking work of UFC middleweight contender Christian Leroy Duncan ("CLD") — who recently secured a co-main event win in front of 20,000 fans in Oklahoma City, a result that moved CLD into the UFC's world top 10.
Outside the gym, Mark is an executive coach and supervisor, and prides himself on helping others develop — a philosophy that runs through both his coaching career and his martial arts teaching.
Marcus Young
K1 Kickboxing CoachMarcus is a K1 Kickboxing Instructor at Range Martial Arts Academy, bringing nearly three decades of martial arts experience to every class.
His martial arts journey began in 1998 under the guidance of Steve Pearson, where he progressed through the ranks to achieve his black belt. Throughout his competitive career, Marcus has competed in points fighting, continuous fighting, and full-contact kickboxing.
Over the past 28 years, Marcus has trained across a range of striking and combat disciplines, including Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and MMA. This broad experience allows him to provide students with well-rounded technical knowledge and practical coaching.
Marcus has been teaching martial arts for over ten years and is passionate about helping students of all ages and abilities reach their potential. Whether a student is training to improve fitness, build confidence, learn self-defence, or compete, Marcus strives to create a positive, supportive, and enjoyable training environment. His goal is to help every student develop their skills, grow in confidence, and enjoy their martial arts journey.
AMy Smith
Women's Kickboxing CoachAmy started her martial arts training at the age of 7, achieving her Taekwondo black belt in 2001 at the age of 14. Before branching into kickboxing, Amy competed in local Taekwondo tournaments achieving various trophies in sparing and patterns.
She still continues to train multiple times a week in kickboxing and strength and conditioning.
Amy's main focus is teaching the ladies kickboxing class, and she also steps in to teach the kids' classes on occasion. She helps women build confidence and skill, empowering them to train and believe in themselves.
Her favourite aspect and passion is teaching self defence.
Lucy clark
Women's Kickboxing CoachLucy started her kickboxing training in 2000. During her 26 years of martial arts training, Lucy has achieved a blue belt in kickboxing and competed in kickboxing competitions.
She has previously trained in mma and bjj to broaden her martial arts experience, but her continued focus of training is kickboxing several times a week. For the last three years Lucy has been teaching the ladies kickboxing and self defence class.
With her role as a physiotherapist outside of the martial art gym, Lucy shares this knowledge of exercise to provide adaptable training sessions suitable for all abilities. Thereby encouraging students to enjoy the sport and being active, believe in themselves and grow in their ability.
Stan Marshall
MMA & Grappling CoachStan began training in mixed martial arts in 2007 and has dedicated himself to developing his skills across multiple disciplines, with a particular focus on MMA, no-gi grappling and striking.
He has competed in K1 kickboxing, as well as at amateur and semi-professional level MMA, bringing valuable experience from both competition and years of dedicated training into his coaching.
Stan’s main role at Range Academy is as an MMA and no-gi grappling coach, helping students develop their technical ability, confidence and understanding of the sport.
He trained for several years under Mark Weir and has also trained extensively alongside UFC middleweight contender Christian Leroy Duncan, supporting his development as a training partner before CLD’s rise to the UFC.
Stan has previously coached kickboxing and MMA in Spain, and has been teaching alongside Steve at Range Academy in Stroud since 2018. He also holds a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu purple belt.
Outside of martial arts, Stan works as a private medical insurance broker, but continues to be passionate about helping others improve through coaching — sharing the knowledge, experience and discipline that martial arts has given him over nearly two decades of training.