Professor Womack

David Womack had always been drawn to the world of grappling and martial arts. Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, he started wrestling in 1980, competing for various teams including Longdale AAU, Moody Middle School, and L.C. Bird H.S.

After high school David was craving some competition in his life. He tried joining a couple wrestling clubs, But the adults at the club were there to coach, not wrestle. After a few weeks of being a tackling dummy for some heavy weight 12 year old’s, David was feeling pretty discouraged. But then he saw the first two Ultimate Fighting Challenges and it blew his mind. He had never considered choking or joint manipulation while wrestling, it was like the next level of grappling. So, he set out on a journey to find a martial arts school that taught that style. He researched and checked out a bunch of dojos, but the closest he found was an Aikido school. He trained there a couple times but it just wasn’t what he was looking for. But, he was ready for something and was just about to sign up when something lucky happened. He was at the gym, Body Creations, pushing weights around when he overheard someone mention shoot fighting (ken Shamrock) to the gym manager Kirby Kay. David looked up and saw a flier for a shoot fighting program on the bulletin board. He introduced himself to the coach, Gary Miles and expressed interest in the program. Gary invited him to come by train and the next day, in June 1995  David nervously showed up to train with Gary and the guys. Even though David felt as if he could outwrestle all of them, he was made to tap out five or more times. He thought that it was amazing that they were able to beat him with these techniques. From that day on David was obsessed and was the first one to show up and the last one to leave every day they trained. And that’s how David found his passion for martial arts. It only deepened as he began to branch out into different styles. He achieved black belt ranks in Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and American Open Style Karate, and even became a 3-time National Sombo Champion.

But it wasn’t just competing that David was passionate about – he also loved to teach. Over the years, he coached at various locations including Total Victory MMA, Combat Sports Center, Prodigy Martial Arts, and M.O.D. Martial Arts. He also gave self-defense seminars and taught at daycares and recreation centers.