David MacDonald began training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) on the east coast of Canada in 1997. He quickly became addicted. Since moving to Brisbane in 2003, he has developed his expression of BJJ as one that emphasizes constant pressure in attack and a high level of technical proficiency. He received his BJJ black belt from Matt Cooper (with Anthony Perosh and Carlos Machado) on May 4th, 2013. Along the way he captured a Gold medal at the Australian Federation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (AFBJJ) Pan Pacific Championships in the Brown Belt Masters division in 2012, and Silver in the Black Belt Masters division in 2014. In addition to his accomplishments in BJJ, David is also a physiotherapist with a PhD from the University of Queensland. He is a skilled educator, research scientist and communication consultant. He draws on that unique skill set to inform his teaching in BJJ. His goal with every class, is to present the information so that everyone can understand it; not just the techniques but their advantages and limitations. Anyone who attends a class with David will understand why he is one of the top tier teachers of the art.

David on teaching and training BJJ:

“I love BJJ. It is a never ending puzzle where one move connects to another and to another. There is always something more to learn – always. When I am training, everything else fades away. No matter what kind of day I am having, what challenges I face in my life…. all the noise just stops. There are tremendous mental health benefits. The physical benefits are undeniable. A lot of people begin BJJ to get in shape. Then they begin to take better care of themselves to get better at BJJ. They start eating better, getting more sleep etc. I have never seen anything like it. My goal is to help as many people as I can to train BJJ and experience all the benefits it has to offer.”