David Holcomb is the founder of The Martial Arts of Life and lives in Dayton, Tenn. with his wife Diana, of 23 years, and their two daughters Isabella and Anastasia
David has a deep passion for his faith, family, friends, work and martial arts. He began training in Isshinryu Karate in 1982 and exclusively studied it until 1994. Upon graduating college he moved to Belo Horizonte, Brazil to work for just over a year with the YMCA. During his time their he studied formal Judo and brasilian jiu-jitsu. He became very familiar with Capoeira. As a YMCA world service worker, he taught gymnastics at one of the local YMCAs and instructed capoeiristas on flipping and rotation. He was blessed to build some wonderful friendships and see the beauty of other martial arts.
Upon returning from Brazil and getting married in 1996 to Diana, his wife, he began his business career as a YMCA Director in St. Louis, MO. Over the next 15 years in addition to his daily work, he trained and ultimately opened World Arts of St. Louis, a multi-art school. David taught Isshinryu, while other instructors taught American Tae-kwon-do, Kyshu Jitsu, Kempo, Chen Style Tiajiquan, Judo, and Capoeira. It was truly a beautiful place that respected the beauty and power of many styles.
In 2012, David and his family, returned to Dayton, TN-his childhood home-to work at Bryan College as the Bryan Scholarship Fund Director. After five years working at the college he approached the leadership of the college for approval to develop the Bryan College Martial Arts Academy. A varsity level sport/academy that would be unique in its efforts to train, develop leadership and compete annually with scholarship-ed students that would represent Bryan College within the Martial Arts tournament circuit. The program is currently in its second year and has twenty students training a minimum of six hours a week up to twelve hours. David splits his time between raising money to scholarship students that attend Bryan College and being the Director of the Martial Arts Academy.
You should know that David has a great passion for the holistic development of every person and whether it is a peer, supervisor or student, he hopes to apply his concepts of "martial arts of life" in all of his interactions. David will always tell you that life is a process and he is willing to continue to cut, sand and polish every area of his life, even when it hurts. Please feel free to interact with David by contacting him and sharing your story. We all have a story to tell and David hopes that in some way you might use some of the knowledge he has gained through a myriad of people, places and experiences to help you on your journey. Godspeed!
