David H.

I began as an Assistant Instructor under Grand Master Ernie Reyes in 1981, the year BLACK BELT magazine inducted him into their Hall of Fame as "Instructor of the Year" as one of his first Black Belts. I've worked my way up to 7th degree and in 2016 will test towards becoming an 8th degree Grand Master.

I have managed clubs for both Gold's Gym and 24-Hour Fitness and was the Asst. Fitness Director for the City of Bowling Green, KY during college.
I also worked as a Certfied Personal Trainer for Fitness One in California while going to San Jose State. My wife and I have owned and operated the Ernie Reyes' West Coast/World Martial Arts Association school in Gallatin, TN for 22 years.

In addition to my own instructors, I have trained quite a bit in the Grappling arts with people like Mike Swain, the first American to win the World Championships in Judo, 4x Olympian and 1996 USA Olympic Judo head coach; Grand Masters Wally and Leon Jay of Small Circle Jujitsu (Wally Jay was one of Bruce Lee's instructors in the 1960's); and Ralf and Cesar Gracie of the famed Gracie family of BJJ.

In Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), 5x UFC World Champion Frank Shamrock and Bob Cook (Head MMA coach of current UFC Heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and many other top contenders including Daniel Cormier) personally taught the Black Belt/instructor Grappling and MMA class at my instructor's (GM Reyes) school on a weekly basis for over a decade and I go out 1-3 weeks each year to train with them. In August, I had the pleasure to train with Daniel Cormier as he prepared for his title fight against Jon Jones for the UFC Light-Heavyweight World title and I was preparing for my World title win (for my age group at least) in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu.

David Hughes has been training in the martial arts since 1971 at the age of 6. He holds Black Belts in 6 different martial arts styles and is currently a 7th degree Master Instructor in the Ernie Reyes' World Mixed Martial Arts system. He was one of the early students and black belts under Grand Masters Tony Thompson (former World Heavyweight Champion fighter and Co-founder of the ISKA, the world's largest kickboxing sanctioning body)and Ernie Reyes (Black Belt Hall of Fame "Instructor of the Year" and honored as "One of the greatest martial arts masters of the 20th century") since the summer of '77) and performed with the original West Coast Demo Team (rated as the #1 martial arts action team in the world) during the early '80's.

He attended San Jose State University and Western Kentucky University and has a background in exercise physiology and kinesiology. He is also a certified tactical trainer. His vast knowledge of multiple styles and body mechanics give his students a solid martial arts education.

Over the years, he has won an international championship in full contact and placed in the top five at the world championships in Open/Creative Forms competition (in major orgs. including ISKA and NBL). His greatest competitive success has been as a world-class Grappler and a World Jiu-Jitsu Champion. He was the silver medal winner at the 2010 NAGA World Grappling Championships (the largest grappling tournament in the world combining the best fighters from BJJ, Judo, Wrestling, Jujutsu, and Sambo) in the Expert Super Heavyweight division in April 2010. More recently, he became the gold medal No-Gi World Jiu-Jitsu champion for his age group (50+) and the silver medalist in the Black Belt Heavyweight Gi (50+) division iat the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Dec. 2014. In total he has won six medals (1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) at the NAGA World Grappling Championships and the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships in the Expert or BJJ Black Belt Gi and No-Gi divisions between 2010 and 2014.

I personalize and customize sessions to meet a student/clients individual goals and needs. I am available for private lessons in Jiu-Jitsu and No-Gi Grappling for both self-defense and for sport, as well as MMA and traditional martial arts. I work with students of all experience levels from new beginning students to professional fighters.