In IFMA we like to talk about being a family and for some of our athletes that term has even more meaning than most!

These triplets from New Zealand all competed at the IFMA Youth Championships last year. Yes, that’s one fit and healthy family. We don’t imagine there is a lot of chocolate or ice-cream in their fridge even though they are so young.

Tokomaru, Tainui, and Aotea Taylor are just 12 years of age, but have already travelled the world for their love of muaythai. They won one gold medal and two bronze at the Youth Championships, a very good haul for anyone let alone one family.

Their trainer Bevan Taylor (and very proud dad! It’s like we said, they are a real muaythai family!) said: “They are training their butts off to all come away with a gold next year at the IFMA championships. So proud of our Kiwi warrior kids in the Black Gloves Junior team…They all fought with pride against the best in the world and proved they’re as good as anybody on the planet.”

Not only are they a close-knit family, but their small coastal community of Kawhia rallied round and fundraised for them to travel to Bangkok this year. Their dedication to training and commitment to sport inspired local people and businesses to contribute.

Muaythai has a long and proud history in New Zealand and the NZ federation has contributed far beyond its size to the IFMA family, sending the best athletes and officials to international tournaments. As well as that IFMA Vice-president Sue Glassey also from New Zealand has been the driving force behind the huge support given to women in muaythai.

We look forward to seeing the triplets in action again next year! We’re sure they and all of the juniors from New Zealand will do their country proud once again.