David commenced karate in 1981 at the age of 16 in Townsville, and quickly rose through the ranks before receiving his 1st degree black belt in 1984.  In 1986 David was ranked 2nd in the state of Queensland and 3rd in Australia for full contact Koshiki Karate.  Unfortunately due to work commitments David was unable to attend the world titles. 

In 1986 David also had a number of fights in what was then a new sport of Kickboxing, where he remained undefeated in his weight division.  

In 1994 David represented Australia at the World Koshiki full contact karate titles in Tokyo Japan. In 1995 David was named the Cairns Sport star of the year for his achievements in the martial arts.  Since then David has obtained black belts in Tae Kwon do and Ju Jitsu.  David still instructs karate at a small dojo in Cairns.  The dojo is a member of the Australian Karate Federation.