Champions in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, MMA, striking, and Shidokan. The bios below follow the academy’s instructors page.
Coach
Leon Davis
Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Leon Davis is a decorated wrestler and Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor with more than two decades in combat sports. His wrestling started in Massachusetts: 113 high school wins, multiple state-level titles, and a top-eight finish at the New England Tournament. In college he was a Region X champion, a national qualifier, and a 2011 inductee of the NJCAA Region X Hall of Fame. After college he moved into MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, ranked number one at lightweight and welterweight across the Northeast, and appeared on UFC Fight Pass, ESPN+, and Flo Wrestling. He is a multi-time IBJJF Pan American and No-Gi World champion. In 2024 he completed the IBJJF Grand Slam, winning all four major international titles, before earning his black belt. He has built championship wrestling teams and coached youth athletes. On the mat, all skill levels train under Leon and the black belt team.
Coach
Jaral Bowman
MMA · Striking · Shidokan · Personal training
Jaral Bowman is a fight coach with decades across combat sports. He holds a second-degree black belt in Shidokan karate, a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and a brown belt in judo. He has 144 competitive fights across wrestling, judo, jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, karate, and MMA. His line is simple: if he didn’t do it, he doesn’t teach it. As a coach he has developed eight NFC champions, four Fighters of the Year, and a Georgia Golden Gloves champion, and he is coaching a fighter in Karate Combat.
Coach
AJ Weathersby
Striking · Shidokan
AJ is a professional kickboxer and karate practitioner, a third-degree black belt in Shidokan. He was voted Georgia pro kickboxer of the year from 2019 through 2025, held the XFN and SKC pro kickboxing titles, sat at number one on the Karate Combat middleweight rankings, and was formerly number five on Boxer’s global pound-for-pound kickboxing rankings. He started in 2013 under Jaral Bowman and Richard Trammell, in kickboxing, karate, boxing, judo, and MMA, without a trophy in mind. His motto is that every class is a 1% improvement, for beginners and for fighters.
Coach
Ryan Shelor
MMA · Self-defense
Ryan started with six years of competitive wrestling in middle school. If you are out of shape, starting over, or working around a physical limitation, he has you. Train with purpose.
Coach
Akasha Nunnally
Brazilian jiu-jitsu · Women’s only BJJ
Kasha is from Syracuse, New York. She started Brazilian jiu-jitsu at five and was a two-time New York State wrestling placer at Jamesville-DeWitt CBA. She wrestled at Life University while studying exercise science and holds a blue belt under Gee Vien and April Parks. She coaches women’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu and youth martial arts. The academy’s Instagram congratulated her for third at the Dallas Winter BJJ championships, next to Leon Davis in first.
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