Mayo martial artist receives global award
The gifted Mayo-based martial artist has been recognised internationally for his achievements.
A Mayo-based martial artist has been recognised as one of the world’s best.
Dubbed 'The Chilean Bruce Lee', Raul Sanhueza now calls the county home and operates a martial arts school just outside Castlebar.
Grandmaster Sanhueza was honoured and has been included in a new book. He is the only Irish and Chilean representative.
Raul has also been lauded for his abilities and his community work in Ireland for the last 20 years and passing on his Kenpo and Jujitsu skills to children and adults. He previously won a gold medal representing Ireland at the World Martial Arts Awards.
Raul is also the creator of the ‘Muaykenan’ system, which marries his disciplines into a new form of self-defence training.
Raul and his wife Hannah met in Galway and later moved to Mayo.
“As a native of Westport, I brought Raul back here to build our new dojo after the Covid pandemic forced us to start over," Hannah explained. "We took on the challenge of restoring the old N5 garage in Ballynew into something special and give the surrounding communities and the greenway to Turlough what it deserves.
“We are really proud that Raul has been recognised for the work he has done,” she added.
Originally from Santiago, Chile, Raul is the son of a martial artist and the discipline is hugely popular in his home city.
“In one street we have 10 martial arts schools. Five on one side of the street and five on the other,” he told the .
“It got really popular back in the '60s when Bruce Lee came out and everyone wanted to be like Bruce Lee. In fact, they call me the ‘Chilean Bruce Lee'," laughed Raul.
Raul’s school now boasts more than 100 students from all over the county.
“My dream is to become the best martial arts school in Mayo,” said Raul.
