Karate is a highly recognised form of martial arts and has been taught for hundreds of years. S.M.A.A. are affiliates of higashi Karate Kai and our black belt instructors are students of sensei Peter Spanton one of the world’s leading exponents of wado ryu karate for the past couple of decades. Karate offers the student a very disciplined approach to training and is very technical in its application. It is striking based art and is a great form of self-defence offering the practitioner strong foundation and great awareness in an attack situation. Karate training tempers both the body and mind giving the practitioner a steely resolve when or if they need it. It also helps people focus on the challenges of everyday life and given the student a work hard ethic for as long as they train.
Sligo Martial Arts Academy Instructors
Our academy is run by a strong team of fully qualified instructors who are dedicated to
the purpose of improving each student’s ability’s and confidence levels all the time.
Each instructor offers their own unique perspective on training which allows for
students to gain from the different teaching styles of the instructors. All of
our instructors have been garda vetted and have experience in teaching martial
arts for a number of years. All coaches are I.M.A.C and I.S.C. qualified.
Michael Downs
Top Instructor
Micky is the head coach of S.M.A.A. Micky trains and coaches full time. He has been training over 20 years and teaching for over eleven years. Micky is a certified 4th Dan black belt under Peter Spanton of Higashi Karate Kai and he also holds an Alliance Jiu-jitsu Brown belt which was awarded to him by world champion Michael Langhi. Micky is a level 1 I.S.C. Certified Coach, a T.F.W Level II certified Instructor and also an assistant level 1 in Olympic lifting. Micky is also a qualified referee.
Francie Mahon
Instructor
Francie is a 5th Dan black belt under Peter Spanton and a blue belt under the legendary Royce Gracie in B.J.J. He has been training over 35 years, teaching for 25 years and is highly regarded Martial Arts Practitioner in Ireland and the U.K. Francie also has a degree in social studies and has a vast knowledge of working with young people both in and out of the martial arts world. He has completed at the highest levels both nationally and internationally for his sport and was a national champion a number of times. He is also a fully qualified referee and judge and holds an I.S.C. level 1 certificate.
Michael Clancy
Instructor
Michael Clancy or Cykie as he is known to everyone is also 5th Dan black belt in Karate. He has been national champion a number of times in both Karate and kata events and he has fought internationally throughout his career which spans over 35 years. Michael is also a competitive runner and brings a lot of experience to the Academy.
Morgan Smyth
Instructor
Morgan is a brown belt in Brazilin jujitsu and is a head coach at the Alliance Ireland Club. Morgan has competed at national level a number of times and is a highly recommended coach. Morgan is also a co-founder of the Sligo Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club (BJJ) along with his brother Ryan Smyth.
The Sligo Martial Arts Academy also has an assistant instructor programme to encourage students to develop in to fully qualified instructors and this is on-going.
All of our Instructors have been Garda vetted.
All Instructors are I.M.A.C and I.S.C. qualified.
