JASON FARRELL, FOUNDER / OWNER / HEAD STRIKING COACH
Jason Farrell began his journey in Martial Arts when he was 6 years old in Bowie Maryland. Starting off in Tae Kwon Do and eventually earning his Black Belt by the age of 12. He spent 3 of those 6 years in competition and was undefeated in all his matches. Jason moved on to trying many different Martial Arts over the years hoping to find one he could stay with forever, including Kempo, Kyokushin Karate, Silat, and even spent 2 years in Kendo. The one Martial Art that Jason would always seek out was Muay Thai. Over the years he would find many schools that “claimed” they taught Muay Thaibut after participating in the classes Jason always felt they were mostly Karate classes repackaged as Mauy Thai.
It’s important to Jason to find systems that flow naturally with each individual. You cannot pigeon hole everyone into the same style for a couple reasons. Not everyone fights the same way; we have different body types, stances, athletic abilities, etc. Also, if your whole team has one style it can be figured out and beaten. If every student that walks through the door gets the same thing, then we are basically building a factory of clones. It’s important that each student’s training is as unique and special to them as it is to Jason.
Jason began his Coaching career at an MMA gym in March 2008. Shortly after he was brought on to teach the Muay Thai/Kickboxing program at another larger Mixed Martial Arts gym. He spent 5 years as a Coach at both of these gyms before opening Level Up. Level Up would become one of the first All Striking gyms in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. Since opening Level Up, Coach Jason has lead his fighters in over 100 fights.
Since Level Up has been opened; Jason has produced:
- Professional World Champion – Emerge Fight Series
- WBC Amateur Muay Thai Champions
- Undefeated Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Champion
- WKA Maryland State, National, and North American Champions
- WKA Kickboxing World Gold Medalists
- WKA Muay Thai World Gold Medalists
- WKA Kickboxing World Silver Medalists
- WKA Muay Thai World Bronze Medalists
- IFMA Champion at the World and Pan-American Championships in the Adult A-Class division
- IKF World Champion
- IKF East Coast Classic Champion
- WAKO National Champion
- WAKO Pan-American Champion
- Warriors Cup Champions
- A Heavyweight Revolution Fight Series Muay Thai Champion
- Multiple fighters fight on Glory Kickboxing and Lion Fight Promotions
- MMA Fighters competing for Shogun Fights
- Only Gym in area to ever have 4 Fighters at WKA Worlds (All Double Gold Medalists)
Coach Jason is now one of the areas sought after striking coaches. Multiple Pro Fighters from MMA gyms are now working with him privately to improve their striking abilities. Coach Jason works diligently with his athletes to become world-class competitors at the regional, national, and international arenas. He was one of the Team USA Coaches in 2014 for the Unified WKA/WTKA World Championship in Tuscany Italy. The Team would go on to bring home 16 Gold, 17 Silver, and 6 Bronze Medals, 6 of those Medals including 2 Golds belonged to Level Up. He also coached during the Unified World Championships in 2015 (Spain) and 2016 (Italy), bringing home a total of 4 Gold Medals. In 2017, Coach Jason’s Level Up athlete competed at the IFMA World Championships in Belarus, bringing home a Silver Medal in the adult A-class division. Later that year, Jason will go on to coach at the IKF World Championships, bringing home another open-division champion. In 2018, Coach Jason would travel to Canada with 2 Level Up athletes and capture 2 WKA North American Titles. Fast forward to 2022 (and a whole pandemic), Coach Jason traveled to Wales in the United Kingdom and his athlete captured a Professional World Championship title on Emerge Fight Series, a worldwide fight promotion!
“I’m a detail guy. To me it’s all about technique and strategy. I teach my students HOW to fight, I teach them how to be able to think and adjust in the ring. You can go to any Martial Arts school in the world and they can teach you every move there is, but if they can’t teach you how to put them together you are wasting your time.”
Meet Our Staff!
Administrative Staff
Kevin
Membership Counselor / Front Desk Associate
Jennifer
Membership Counselor / Front Desk Associate
Leo
Membership Counselor / Front Desk Associate
Coaches
Kevin
Boxing Coach
Adrian
Assistant Striking Coach
Lydia
Fitness Coach
Alex
Fitness Coach
Erin
Assistant Striking Coach