The Bannon Family
The Bannon family trio of Martin (dad) along with (daughters) Shauna and Nicole will be making kickboxing history at this year’s WAKO World Championships in Hungary by being the first family trio to participate together at a senior WAKO World/Euroepan Championships.
This is not the first time though that all three have competed at WAKO world/european level in the same year. Shauna and Nicole both represented Ireland together in the WAKO Junior World championships, while Martin was part of the senior team that participated in the WAKO Europeans in the same year.
But this is a record in it’s own, as it will be the first time all three from the same family will be stepping on the mats in the same senior championships at the top senior level. They could in fact, be all fighting at the same time on different tatami’s, but hopefully this will not be the case, as the Bannon family are a force to be reckoned with once they have each other’s backs!!
Martin, father of the formidable sisters, is also chief instructor of Ireland’s famous Tallaght Martial Arts which was founded in 1993 running martial arts classes in St. Mark’s National School and added a further second school in Brookfield Community Centre in 2004. Fellow chief instructor Dave Heffernan also started a third TMA club in Tymon Bawn Community Centre in the same year (2004).
Three years ago (2014), Dave and Martin then decided to join all their clubs under one roof in Tallaght Business Park where they now run a very successful, full time fitness and martial arts centre that caters for kids, teens and adults for all age groups ranging from the complete novice to the professional fighter.
Martin is competing in the Masters -94kg point fighting discipline at this years’ WAKO Worlds, where he already boasts silver and bronze world & european titles to his name. He holds a record national titles in points and continuous fighting since 1985 (too many to keep count.
The Bannon trio have now tapered off their 8 week training camp of 6 days x week, twice daily structured specifically to peak at the right time in a just under two weeks!
Shauna is the most decorated female kickboxing athlete Ireland has ever had to date. She has surpassed the likes of Nicola Corbett and Sally McArdle who were the top female fighters in their era and still legends to this day. Shauna will be competing in the -55kg point fighting and light continuous divisions at this year’s world class event. No stranger to world titles, Shauna already has x 2 WAKO world titles, x 6 WAKO European gold medals, holds x 10 Irish National Senior titles and an outstanding 14 Junior national titles. Along with these accolades, Shauna is the first Irish female athlete to win the coveted Sport Accord World Combat Games.
“Without the constant support of my family (mum, dad and sister) I would not be where I am today in the sport. This year is the first year we are all training together for the same goal which has helped push each other to our max and stay motivated when needed”, says the double world champ.
“Without the constant support of my family (mum, dad and sister) I would not be where I am today in the sport. This year is the first year we are all training together for the same goal which has helped push each other to our max and stay motivated when needed”, says the double world champ.
Younger sibling Nicole, (19 years of age) takes her first cap on the senior national team, competing in the -70kg points fighting division but already has over 18 junior national titles in both points and light continuous fighting. She is also no stranger to world and european glory with a silver WAKO world and bronze medals in both WAKO world and european championships. She is now really eager to step up her game in the senior ranks not wanting anything less than a world gold medal. Like Shauna, Nicole started at a very young age (4 years old) under the tutorship of her dad Martin and has been competing on the international scene since 8 years of age.
The Bannon Trio are one of the strongest families in the world of WAKO. Together they have reached goals where no other competing family has yet reached. Competing as a family unit at this year’s WAKO World Championships in Budapest, Hungary will not only be a remarkable achievement for Kickboxing Ireland, but a record in itself under the famous WAKO banner!
(Special thanks to Kickboxing Ireland for supplying the information!)