Gabby Viola
Gabby Viola is a world-champion professional martial artist, Team USA athlete, and nationally recognized youth leader from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A WAKO National Champion competing on the U.S. Olympic Committee pathway with international martial arts experience in France, Hungary, Portugal, Canada, Ireland, England, and Wales.
She has been a fixture at the largest events in sport karate, earning national and international titles across North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA), World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO), World Karate Commission (WKC), Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), International Combat Organization (ICO), PKC, and USA National Karate-Do Federation (USANKF). A third-generation member of the Viola family to earn her black belt and capture national honors, Gabby began training at just two years old and has been a consistent champion since her debut at the Kumite Classic. She is a proud member of Team USA and a defending gold medalist at the WAKO and WKC National Championships.
Beyond competition, Gabby is an inspiration to young athletes—especially girls—through her resilience in the face of chronic illness. At just seven years old, she was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis. While there is no cure, Gabby continues to fight for remission every day, proving that determination and discipline can overcome extraordinary challenges. She currently receives treatment through infusion therapy at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Using her platform to help others, Gabby has become a passionate advocate for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, working to raise awareness and lobby for bipartisan legislation to support patients and families affected by these serious chronic inflammatory diseases.
Gabby’s journey is defined not only by championships, but by resilience. Living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), she has continued to train, travel, and compete at the highest international levels—proving that elite performance is possible even in the face of chronic illness. Her ability to fight through her own diagnosis has made her a powerful role model for young athletes managing health challenges, redefining what strength and perseverance look like in modern sport. Beyond competition, Gabby is an inspiration to young athletes—especially girls—through her resilience in the face of chronic illness. At just seven years old, she was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis. While there is no cure, Gabby continues to fight for remission every day, proving that determination and discipline can overcome extraordinary challenges. She currently receives treatment through infusion therapy at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Using her platform to help others, Gabby has become a passionate advocate for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, working to raise awareness and lobby for bipartisan legislation to support patients and families affected by these serious chronic inflammatory diseases.
Ambassador & Advocate
| Role | Organization | Focus / Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Professional Martial Artist | United States Army | Represents the U.S. Army Fight Team, promoting resilience, leadership, discipline, and physical excellence through elite-level competition |
| Athlete Ambassador | Edgar Snyder & Associates | Represents the firm through competition, media appearances, and community initiatives—embodying perseverance, strength, and service |
| Goodwill Ambassador | Western PA Police Athletic League | Promotes youth mentorship, discipline, and positive police–community relationships through sport |
| Health Advocate | Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation | Raises awareness for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, empowering young athletes living with IBD |
| Student Visionary | The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (Blood Cancer United) | Leads blood cancer awareness and fundraising through student leadership and community outreach |
| Spokesmodel | Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (PIND) | Serves as a spokesperson for the Kick-5K / Kick-A-Thon, supporting neurological disease research and community fundraising initiatives |
| Team USA | WAKO USA | WAKO National Champion, representing the United States on the Olympic pathway under the U.S. Olympic Committee |
| World Champion | WAKO · WKC · ICO · NASKA | World titles earned across multiple sanctioning bodies, competing internationally in France, Hungary, Portugal, Canada, Ireland, England, and Wales |
Born into a multi-generational martial arts family, Gabby represents the next chapter of a Pittsburgh legacy rooted in discipline, service, and competitive excellence. Guided by the values passed down through her family’s long-standing involvement in martial arts, coaching, and community leadership, she competes with a rare blend of tradition, professionalism, and purpose.
She proudly represents the United States Army Fight Team, exemplifying leadership, mental toughness, and national pride. Off the mat, Gabby serves as an Athlete Ambassador for Edgar Snyder & Associates and a Goodwill Ambassador for the Western PA Police Athletic League, using martial arts as a platform for mentorship and positive youth development. Her advocacy extends beyond sport. Gabby is a health advocate with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, a Student Visionary for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and a Spokesmodel for the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (PIND), supporting the Kick-5K / Kick-A-Thon to advance neurological disease research.
Through elite competition, lived resilience, and a powerful family legacy, Gabby Viola delivers meaningful value to partners while inspiring the next generation—a fighter by heritage, a champion by choice, and a leader by example.
When she’s not competing, she loves playing piano, tumbling, videography, and teaching her little brother “CartWill” karate. Her goals include to travel the world as a pediatric surgeon by day and being a Sensei at night. Pretty ambitious young lady! She is a great role model for team kumite. Gabby is a Nidan at Allegheny Shotokan Karate Dojo and instructor for the Norwin Ninjas program.
In 2025 She was selected to represent the U.S. Army Fight Team to fight at international events. That year she won the Kumite Classic, WAKO Nationals, U.S. Open, Pan-American Internationals, and then the ICO World Championships in the United Kingdom. In 2026 she became an athlete ambassador to Edgar Snyder & Associates Law Firm.
Gabby Viola
Favorite sport karate & kickboxing Achievements
| Year | Title / Achievement | Details & Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 🏆 ICO World Champion | Swansea, Wales • 9 Gold Medals • Tournament record |
| 2025 | 🏆 WAKO Century Cup Champion | Gold – Open Weight • Gold – Weight Division |
| 2025 | 🏆 US Open NASKA Champion | Gold – Open Weight Sparring |
| 2024–2025 | 🏆 WAKO National ChampionGold | Gold WAKO National Team Trials – Older Cadet Sparring Division |
| 2024 | 🏆 WKC Junior World Champion | Multi Gold Albufeira, Portugal |
| 2024 | 🏆 WAKO Junior World Champion | Bronze Budapest, Hungary |
| 2023 | 🏆 WKC World Champion | Orlando, Florida • Gold x3 (Classical Kata, Traditional Kata, –47 kg Sparring) |
| 2023 | 🏆 AAU Jr. Olympic & USANKF National Champion | Double medalist in Kata & Kobudo |
| 2023 | 🏆 POWER AWARD – Competitor of the Year | Point Fighter Live • Highest overall vote-getter • Warwick, Rhode Island |
| 2022 | 🏆 WKC World Medalist | Killarney, Ireland • Silver (Classical Kata), Bronze (–45 kg Sparring) |
| 2021 | 🏆 WKC World Champion | Orlando, Florida • Gold (–40 kg Sparring) |
| 2020 | 🏆 NASKA World #1 Ranked Champion | Girls Sparring – World Tour Ranking |
Pittsburgh’s world champion martial artist packs a fierce punch
-BY GARRETT BEHANNA
/ 📺 CBS PITTSBURGH (KDKA)
– They say good things come in small packages. But here in Pittsburgh, even small packages pack a punch.
“I actually won my world title in kumite, but this year, I’m going to try and get the world title in kata, too,” Gabby said.
Gabby has been training at the dojo since the age of two. She trains by herself seven days a week and then takes additional classes five days a week as well.
She even passes on what she’s learned to those even younger than her, including her brother.
“I like teaching. It’s harder to teach my little brother,” Gabby said with a smile. “He doesn’t listen to me, but the rest of them do.”
Gabby’s father, Bill, told the Fan N’ATion crew how surreal this experience has been, seeing Gabby develop into a champion, because of the time he spent with his father. Now, the elder Viola is sharing his expertise and passing that down to his children.
“We call it a family. I don’t look at our students as clients that come through the door. They’ve become one with us. It’s embedded in our culture here,” Bill said.
“All my family has done it, and I really enjoy doing it. If I have a family one day, I would want them to do karate,” Gabby said.
North Huntingdon girl succeeds in karate despite health challenges
-BY JOE NAPSHA
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd 2022 /📰 PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE REVIEW
A North Huntingdon girl has earned her first-degree black belt in karate at age 11, persevering through an inflammatory bowel disease that can be debilitating.
“Gabby has what I call ‘zentensity,’ a body-mind connection that pushes past what you thought was possible,” her father said.
Having a black belt runs in the family. Both her father and grandfather have their black belts, as well as four of her aunts — Addie, Jacque, Ali and Joce Viola. Fewer than 100 people who have trained at Allegheny Shotokan over the past 50 years have earned a black belt, her father said.
“I wanted to be like my dad. My black belt is better than any trophy,” said Gabby, who shared the honor with six teammates who also took the test.
The youngster, a fifth grade student at Norwin’s Hillcrest Intermediate School, has been “kicking before she could walk,” her father said.
“She literally grew up in the dojo,” said her mother, Jennifer, of the karate school. “It was like her playground.”
Gabby, who trains three or four times a week, said she underwent a six-hour test in which her skills were judged to earn her black belt. She had gone through a four-month process which involves learning the history of martial arts, Japanese terms, hundreds of techniques, endless combinations, self-defense maneuvers and physical endurance.
Gabby has accomplished this while suffering from irritable bowel disease, her father said. It is an incurable form of colitis, an autoimmune condition that attacks the healthy tissue in the intestine. She has dealt with bouts of severe bleeding, dehydration, abdominal pain, cramping and joint and skin inflammation, her father said. She has had to endure a number of setbacks and emergency room visits.
“Martial arts teaches perseverance, and she decided that nothing would stop her from earning her black belt,” her father said.
She undergoes monthly infusions of medication at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh as part of the treatment regime that includes medical trials, diets, medication, steroids, tests and therapy.
Despite the risk of having a flareup of major symptoms after a period of remission, Gabby has competed nationally. She won a gold medal at a World Kendo Championship’s National Championships for martial arts in 2019 and earned a spot on Team USA. She has been recognized as a five-time state champion and ranked first in the North American Sport Karate Association for black belt sparring in 2020.
As for earning her second-degree black belt, Gabby said she must wait until she is 16 to take that test.
She is joined in her family’s love of the sport by her 4-year-old brother, William Viola IV, who trains in the “Nursery Ninja” program and holds a yellow stripe belt.
Gabby is an ambassador for the sport, promoting it to other youngsters.
“They should try it. It is fun, and it is good exercise,” Gabby said.
Karate kid Gabby Viola kicks back at bowel disease
-BY MARY PICKELS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 7th 2018 /📰 PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE REVIEW
Her blonde ponytails and bare feet flying, the purple belt she’s earned in karate cinched at her waist (the same belt dad Bill Viola Jr. earned many years ago), Gabby Viola appears happiest when in motion.
She kicks, jabs, spins, all with a look of determination surprising for a 7-year-old.
Gabby has been learning karate since the age of 2, and began competing at age 3.
North Huntingdon Township’s Allegheny Shotokan Viola Karate Dojo is, after all, the family business.
Viola puts his daughter through her paces as her mother, Jenn Viola, and brother, Will, 10 months, watch. Gabby is a member of Team “Kumite,” an all-star travel team composed of martial artists from Allegheny Shotokan.
In July, Gabby placed first in sparring in the 7-year-old advanced category at the U.S. Open ISKA World Championships at Disney World.
Just a few months ago, it was unclear if Gabby, who will start second grade at Stewartsville Elementary School this fall, would be able to continue competing.
Struck suddenly
Having already worked her way up to her purple belt in karate, Gabby has her eye on acquiring her brown belt next.
“She competes at the highest level of her age. … She goes up against kids with black belts and she beats them all the time,” her proud dad says.
“If my (students) are at that caliber I put them in that division all the time,” Viola adds.
Gabby’s goal is to earn her junior black belt by age 10.
“Then at age 14, she would go after her black belt,” Viola says.
In May, after taking first place at a tournament in Albion, Pa., Gabby suddenly began bleeding after using the restroom.
Her parents immediately took her to the hospital, where she underwent a battery of tests.
“They (doctors) thought she had a bacterial infection,” Viola says.
After a colonoscopy and biopsy, she was diagnosed with indeterminate bowel disease .
The illness, Viola says, has elements of both Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis.
“It was very scary at that point,” he says.
A treatment of oral steroids for inflammation has not helped.
The family recently visited Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a second opinion and to get more information. Gabby is trying a different round of treatment, her father says, and the family is hoping she will go into remission.
A new normal
Gabby’s diet has had to change since her diagnosis.
“I can’t have gluten, dairy or grain. And limited sugar. I love chocolate,” she says.
“So we’re working hard on that right now,” her father says sympathetically.
“We’re a very proactive family. We are trying everything, looking into holistic approaches. We want to touch on every possible solution,” Viola says.
Another student at the karate school has the same diagnosis, and his parents are able to share some advice with the Violas.
“She has a buddy here who can help her,” Viola adds.
“There is no cure. You can only fight to get it into remission. That’s what she’s fighting to do,” he says.
No stopping her
Gabby’s participation in the U.S. Open ISKA World Championships, Viola says, “was a game-time decision.”
“We were worried at first she wasn’t going to be able to do it because of the diagnosis,” he says.
Gabby, however, never saw her health issue as an impediment.
She says she was confident she would do well, and believed she would take first place.
“It didn’t matter if she won or lost. We were just proud of her that she did it,” Viola says.
‘Kicking’ for others
On Sept. 3, Gabby will once again participate in the Kick-A-Thon to raise funds for the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegnerative Diseases event at Pittsburgh’s Boyce Park.
The goal is to “kick” Parkinson’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Huntington’s Disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s Disease, according to the event’s website .
Viola, who lost his grandmother to neurodegnerative complications, developed the kick-a-thon , along with former state Sen. Sean Logan, who developed the 5K after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.
Her family believes she can be an inspiration to the other students in the dojo.
“She’s so little and she’s so strong. … That’s why we’re sharing this story. We are all about hope,” Viola says.
“What does karate teach you, Gabby?” he asks his daughter.
“Be tough, and have courage,” she says.
Mary Pickels is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary at 724-836-5401, mpickels@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaryPickels.
