Grandmaster Des Galligan (63) speaks to the Limerick Voice about his experience in martial arts and encounter with Chuck Norris.
FROM a martial arts class in a Limerick hotel to youth work in Southill and a meeting with Chuck Norris, Des Galligan has spent almost five decades helping others find confidence, belonging, and purpose.
A ninth-degree black belt and grandmaster, Limerick instructor Des Galligan has travelled internationally, trained in South Korea and the United States, and met some of martial arts’ most recognisable figures. Yet much of the work he is proudest of has happened much closer to home.
Growing up in Limerick, Galligan remembers a community where opportunities were limited by unemployment and difficult circumstances. Youth clubs and boxing provided an outlet, and it was that sense of community that would later influence his own work.
Speaking to Galligan about his life in the sport, it becomes clear that the lessons from those classes were never confined to martial arts. “The best legacy you can leave is just leave people with a better impression of themselves and a stronger characteristic of themselves,” he told the Limerick Voice.
For the Southill native, now 63, that belief has shaped almost five decades in the sport.
His interest in martial arts began as a teenager, inspired by Bruce Lee films, books and magazines. Finding a club was not straightforward, with age restrictions preventing him from joining some classes in Limerick. He eventually began judo through a school activity before exploring other disciplines, including karate, kickboxing, and taekwondo.
What began around 1977 as an interest shared with friends became a lifelong commitment. But as his experience in the sport grew, so did his understanding of what it could offer beyond physical training.
In the mid-1990s, Galligan worked with two nuns to establish a youth club in Southill. Running twice a week, the club combined martial arts with homework support and meals, giving local children somewhere to go.
He also spent six years volunteering with former Limerick City Councillor Orla McLoughlin on school completion programmes in the area. Those experiences helped shape a decision to return to education in his mid-40s, completing qualifications in sport and exercise before studying social care. He graduated at 50 and went on to work in probation, youth justice and services. Today, he works as a student support worker at Crescent College Comprehensive.
For Galligan, martial arts can provide something that traditional team sports do not always offer. Students can progress at their own pace, develop confidence and find a positive peer group without having to compete.
“Two kind words go a long way and can change somebody’s life,” he said.
That commitment to helping young people also drew him towards the work of Chuck Norris’s Kickstart Kids organisation in the United States. Having combined martial arts with youth work in Limerick, Galligan was interested in learning more about its approach and contacted the organisation. He was eventually invited to visit and see its programmes first-hand.
The trip also gave him the opportunity to meet Norris himself. “I actually started crying. I was so emotional,” he shared.
One moment from the visit, however, stayed with him for a different reason. Galligan remembers Norris stopping in a hotel corridor to speak to a child. “He just stopped, got down on his knees, took the card, autographed it, got a photograph of the child, and then walked on,” he recalled. “That said everything.”
For Galligan, it was an example of the kindness and consideration he had tried to bring into his own work. He still treasures the upwards of 15 Christmas cards and messages he received from Norris.
He said, “I still feel so privileged and blessed.”
Now, after almost 50 years in martial arts, his own relationship with the sport has changed. Having undergone hip replacements and dealt with injuries, he is more conscious of his physical limits and no longer feels the need to travel in pursuit of another championship or prove himself through competition. “I don’t feel the need anymore,” he said.
His approach to teaching has changed, too. While he still wants to deliver a strong class, he places greater emphasis on positive reinforcement and finding small ways to recognise and encourage his students. Stickers, sweets, Easter eggs, and Halloween bags have all become part of his approach.
Galligan is still happy to give his time to anyone who wants to practise. He continues to teach a small group and makes himself available to people who want to train, whether in his garden or a local park.
He said, “We’re just here both practising martial arts in that moment and feeling good and then go home… That’s it. And that’s all I want.”
His journey has taken him around the world, but the legacy he describes remains firmly rooted in Limerick. It is not measured in belts or medals, but in the confidence people carry with them long after they leave the training floor.