MEET OUR INSTRUCTORS
Kamal Shalorus, also known as “The Prince of Persia”, Kamal has fought the absolute best in the world in the WEC, UFC, and ONE FC promotions. Kamal was born on the border of Iran and Azerbaijan in a small village consisting of farmers and shepherds. A natural athlete, Kamal began training at an early age where he excelled at amateur Wrestling, and from there his career was born. He began traveling internationally for wrestling and won two world championships before representing the United Kingdom in the Olympic Trials. Kamal eventually made his way to Austin, Texas, where he began fighting as a Mixed Martial Artist. With less than 7 Fights, Kamal fought seasoned veterans Bart Palaszewski and Jaimie Varner, before entering the UFC. Kamal’s resume includes Raphael Dos Anjos (the former UFC lightweight champion), Jim Miller (the most UFC wins in the lightweight division), and Khabib Nurmagomedov (the UFC lightweight top contender). Kamal can now be find competing for ONE Fighting Championships or teaching his students at District Martial Arts.
Scott Dance has been training in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for over 16 years and coaching for more than 10 years. Scott teaches Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and no gi Jiu-jitsu, and focuses on helping students prepare for competition.
Scott has extensive competition experience with wins in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, UAE Jiu-Jitsu Foundation, Fight to Win, Metamoris, ADCC Trials, and many other regional tournaments. You can find Scott on the mat every day either teaching or training.
Sam Shawa started his martial arts training at the tender age of 8 years old. His passion for the art blossomed, as he pursued training in the fields of Taekwondo, Kajukenbo, Boxing, Aikido, Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ). He has participated in multiple BJJ competitions around the country. The last fifteen (15) years, he has dedicated to honing his skills in BJJ under the tutelage of Rodrigo Medeiros, who promoted him to a black belt. He is well known for his in-depth understanding of martial arts, easy going nature and powerful grips. Sam specializes in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and no-gi submission grappling.
Noel is a big believer that he owes all of his success and everything that is good in his life to combat sports. His journey began as a weight loss journey that turned into a lifestyle after getting punched in the ring for the first time. Noel’s 30 bout career pointed him in the direction of coaching and being able to help another person make it into the ring. Carvajal approaches boxing and training with an analytical mindset along with empathy and intense pride for the sport, his athletes, and himself. Noel is a heavy believer in conditioning and using evidence-based approaches to shape the skill set of any fighter. You will always find Noel searching for ways to improve his coaching to bring the very best to his athletes.
Alex Schwab is a Manassas, VA native and former University of Michigan football walk-on. Alex began training martial arts in 2013 at an MMA gym in Naperville, IL, and joined Scott and his team at District Martial Arts in 2016. Here, he fell in love with BJJ, and has been passionately training and studying it ever since. Alex’s favorite part of coaching is being able to demonstrate how BJJ involves both mental and physical skills – like solving a puzzle while working out!
Charles DiGisco has been training in all disciplines of Mixed Martial Arts since he was a Senior in High School. By way of New Jersey, Charles moved to Washington D.C. and attended American University, after which he stayed and worked for the Department of Defense. Charles has competed in all disciplines of MMA and most recently was awarded his Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He can also be seen as a color commentator on UFC Fight Pass as well as the DMV promotions, Cagezilla and Cowboy Fight Series.
Another New Jersey native, Mark Cirello is a former NCAA Division 1 wrestler who trains in all areas of Mixed Martial Arts. Mark attended Blair Academy in NJ, one of the most elite prep schools for wrestling in the country, before moving to American University where he competed for four years in three different weight classes. A true renaissance man, Mark is also an accomplished artist, specializing in surrealist-realist paintings. When not on the mat teaching or training, Mark can be found in front of his easel painting his next piece! Cirelloart.com
A New Jersey native with around 20 years of wrestling experience. Between the years of 2012-2017, David successfully competed at Virginia Tech as a D1 wrestler in the 165lb weight class division – A school consistently ranked top 10 in the nation for its wrestling program.
More recently, David has expanded his mixed martial arts training since joining DMA in 2019. Primarily focusing on MMA and familiarizing himself with BJJ.
David has a passion for fighting and is eager to share his wealth of knowledge with the DMA family.
Sensei Gori was stabbed through the heart during his first year at college and survived the attack, due to his martial arts training, he was inspired to dedicate his life to teach others how to defend themselves.
He began training in Classical Japanese Martial Arts under the strict tutelage of his Sensei, Hanshi, Hamada. Chairman of Dai Nippon Butoku Kai in 2002. He holds black belt ranks in Karate, Judo and has extensive training in Self-Defense.
Sensei Gori has over twenty years of experience teaching adults, youth and children.
Originally from Barrington, Illinois, Cameron began his wrestling career in the 7th grade and ended it competing for the D1 program at Iowa State University. While at Iowa State, Cameron compiled a record of 24-4 (2012-2015) attaining the highest ranking national of 26th at the 174lb weight class. He was coached by Coached by Kevin Jackson (USA Freestyle developmental coach at Colorado Springs (OTC) Olympic Training Center), Trent and Travis Paulson (Assistant coaches at University of Virginia), Troy Nickerson (Head coach at University of Northern Colorado), Angel Escobedo (Head coach at Indiana University). Transitioning from wrestling, Cameron now is focused on expanding his grappling knowledge, specifically Jujitsu.
Outside of coaching and training, Cameron is an avid reader, as well as a Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror author.
Tony Guzman is a San Diego, CA native and U.S. Marine Veteran who is a longtime Martial Arts practitioner and enthusiast. Tony grew up Wrestling and Boxing then transitioned to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA and Muay Thai as he traveled the World and Country. He has over a dozen years of experience and is a Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Tony’s approach to Muay Thai is keeping things practical and efficient. Developing his own comprehensive system and style he is excited to share with the DMA community. When off the mats Tony is a Government Contractor working as a Software Engineer and has the coolest Corgi.
Carter first began training Jiu Jitsu in 2009 in his hometown of Charlottesville Virginia, and trained regularly until 2011. In 2015 Carter resumed his training under Scott and Sam, and was the first contracted member of District Martial Arts at its founding. Carter received his purple belt in September of 2020, and began teaching in early 2021. By day Carter is a high school math teacher at James Madison High School, the job to which he attributes his intimate knowledge of triangles.
Our fearless yoga teacher, Cole, grew up with 3 siblings in Richmond, Virginia where she began practicing yoga in middle school. It was there she learned yoga to be not only a physically challenging practice but also, a mentally restorative one.
After graduating from UVA, she made her way to DC where she completed 280 hours of power yoga teacher training at CorePower Yoga. Since then she has been teaching at both CorePower and DMA. She hopes to encourage students to allow their bodies to stretch and heal every Saturday morning with her!!
Nick started training in judo in 2009 at Hayashi Sports Clinic in New Orleans, LA. He soon decided that he needed more hugging combat sports in his life and added Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2012. Since 2013 he has been training with head jiu jitsu coaches Scott Dance and Sam Shawa, first at NOVA MMA and since 2017 here at District Martial Arts.
He also trains Muay Thai and MMA, and hopes one day to be able to kick someone in the head.
Nick’s jiu jitsu philosophy focuses on establishing standing control and executing a takedown to enable submissions.
Growing up in Saudi Arabia, Grace began her athletic career in swimming at just 3 years old. In 2005, she began swimming for the Jordan Olympic Team, traveling while competing, and in 2011 began her D1 swimming career at American University.
Her love of martial arts came after she retired her cap and goggles and switched them for a pair of boxing gloves and a Gi in 2017 at District Martial Arts. One blue belt later, she has no plans of stopping.
Off the mat, you’ll probably find Grace near a stage or with a camera in her hand!
Matt has been training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for ten years, with experience teaching beginner, all levels, and women’s classes. Matt’s martial arts background is rooted in traditional and modern Chinese martial arts (Xingyi boxing and Sanshou kickboxing) but was drawn to jiujitsu due to its intense but relatively low-impact sparring environment. His favorite aspects of jiujitsu are being able to train hard with opponents of all sizes and skill levels even as a little old guy; also that in jiujitsu, no one kicks you in the head. He is raising two junior grapplers and enjoys passing along his skills to train the next generation.
Antonio has been boxing for over 16 years now. His training technique is based on traditional, practical uses for combat and self-defense. Antonio approaches boxing as a science, breaking down the mechanics to give a firm understanding of proper form and technique, offensive and defensive tactics, and how to formulate an effective fighting strategy.
Some of the many reasons why Antonio likes to coach:
· Wants to teach students how to defend themselves
· Boxing is a full body workout using all your body’s muscles plus your brain.
Antonio has worked at numerous boxing gym and has trained all spectrums of ages, teaches classes and does individual personal training.
WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
District Martial Arts has an amazing group of people who consistently train together, are great martial artists and care about the quality of instruction, training and taking their students through the martial arts journey. I recommend this school if you want to train REAL self-defense Brazilian jiu-jitsu!
I love coming to open mat here on Saturdays. I am new to jiu jitsu and they have been extremely welcoming. Great community. Great people.
Excellent instructors. Cater to every students’ needs. Big on safety and warm-ups, decreasing risk of injury. This place is perfect if you want to do full-contact fighting, or just train for weight-loss and endurance. Definitely the best place around.
I visited DMA for my first introductory class. I have experience with grappling martial arts, but this was a muay thai class. The environment there is awesome. Everyone is serious about learning and pushing themselves, but nobody takes themselves too seriously to enjoy each other.
I came into District Martial Arts not knowing a thing about boxing! Not only was I met by friendly faces, but the boxing coaches made me feel extremely welcomed. In just a few weeks my self defense skills improved, I found major stress relief in going to my weekly classes, and my self confidence excitingly increased! If you want to feel like a badass woman, DMA is the place for you!