Self Defense with David M.

Dave is an advanced black belt and instructor, and co-head of school at The Martial Way. He oversees the dojo structure and operations. Dave was interested in martial arts at an early age and later was drawn to aikido during Steven Segal’s early years, particularly aikido’s philosophy of leveraging an attacker’s energy and momentum, combined with the power of unified body movement, joint locks and take downs. He first started aikido in 1998 with Aikido Kokikai of New Jersey. He joined the South Jersey Aikido Academy in 1999 and later transformed the school to The Martial Way in 2019. What Dave most appreciates about The Martial Way is that we take our training seriously but we don’t take ourselves seriously. We work hard as individuals to get better and help each along the way. Dave trained for a couple of years in boxing under a former golden gloves boxer, tai chi for five years under Master William Ting and dabbled in jujitsu. He trained in four different styles of aikido including kokikai, aikikai, iwama ryu and tendo ryu. He is also trained in aikido weapons – aiki-ken and aiki-jo. When he travels for work or vacation he likes to visit other schools and has visited schools in several states and in other countries including the Philippines and Iceland. Dave focuses on core body posture and movement, power with unity of body movement, and practical real-world situations and attacks. He believes in focus, intensity, fun and having positive learning mind.