Skip to content
The BJJ Story
Search
Back to people
Two training partners meeting on the mat.Drawn in cream, forest green, and muted terracotta. People and objects are symbolic illustrations.
Portrait unavailable. General BJJ illustration; not a likeness of this person.Illustration: The BJJ Story

David Hart

Melbourne-based black belt David Hart built Dominance MMA while competing internationally and helping guide Adele Fornarino toward ADCC double gold.

Biography

David Hart built his Brazilian jiu-jitsu career in two directions at once: he tested himself against leading competitors overseas while turning a small room in Melbourne into Dominance MMA. His story is not only about the results he collected. It is also about what he carried home from his teacher, how he wanted students to develop games of their own, and how the school became the setting for a long coaching relationship with Adele Fornarino. Hart began training at nineteen under John B. Will. In a 2013 profile, he described Will's greatest influence as something broader than a set of techniques: Will taught him how to learn, how lessons from training could apply beyond the mat, and how to become a better instructor. Hart later spent extended periods in the United States training with the Machado brothers and Robert Drysdale. Those visits expanded his technical experience. The profile identifies Will as the teacher under whom Hart held his black belt, and the current Will-Machado BJJ Australasia ranks page lists Hart among the organization's black belts. Competition provided one arena in which Hart tested that education. The 2013 profile credits him with Victorian, national, Australasian and Pan Pacific titles as he moved through the belt ranks, in both gi and no-gi competition and sometimes in open divisions. An official IBJJF result gives one precise international snapshot: at the 2008 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship, Hart represented Machado Australia and took silver in the adult men's brown-belt lightweight division. Tiago Coelho Rocha finished first, while Kayron Gracie and Steven Rosemberg shared the remaining podium places. The following year brought two very different trials. At the March 2009 ADCC South Pacific Trials, Hart met Rodney Ellis in the 76-kilogram final. ADCC's account presented the match as another chapter in a close rivalry across gi and no-gi competition. Hart attacked Ellis's legs and ankles, but Ellis narrowly won the qualifier. In November, Hart won the combined purple-, brown- and black-belt under-74-kilogram division at the Australian trials for the World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship. The victory put him in the Australian group sent to Abu Dhabi. Hart's international record grew beyond those events. According to the 2013 profile, he earned silver medals at both gi and no-gi Pan-American championships and submitted Kayron Gracie on the way to one final. It also records that Hart later won an ADCC South Pacific Trial, qualified for the ADCC World Championship and faced Marcelo Garcia there. His competition years unfolded alongside the academy. Hart wrote that Dominance began in August 2002 with 75 square meters of mat space and eighteen students. By 2013, the magazine profile described him as the Richmond school's owner and head instructor. His stated coaching approach began with fundamentals, but fundamentals were not meant to produce copies of the coach. Hart wanted them to provide a base from which each student could build an individual game. He described culture as equally important. In his account, Dominance was meant to be a shared way of life that supported members on and off the mat. A concrete example of the academy's outward reach appeared in 2016, when Hart opened a weekly competition-preparation session at the Richmond gym to every Will-Machado affiliate and to students of all experience levels. The school also grew. In its twentieth-anniversary account, Dominance reported more than one thousand members across three Melbourne locations in 2022. The place Hart opened with eighteen students while pursuing his own competitive career had become a multi-location training community. Adele Fornarino's development gives that coaching history a human scale. BJJ Heroes identifies Hart, David Christopher and Lincoln Handcock as her first instructors at Dominance. Fornarino later recalled that Hart accompanied her to her first international tournament, the 2016 IBJJF World Championship. She said he helped her understand the professional scale of the sport; she returned to Australia as a juvenile blue-belt world champion with a different view of where jiu-jitsu could lead. The relationship continued through the belt ranks. Dominance reported that Fornarino received her black belt in 2022 after thirteen years on its mats, following a brown-belt season that culminated in a World No-Gi title. BJJ Heroes says Hart promoted her in December, after nearly four years at brown belt. By 2025, the IBJJF was describing him as her long-time instructor. When Fornarino won two ADCC gold medals in 2024, Hart wrote that he had been present from the beginning of a pursuit lasting more than a decade. He did not present that achievement as the work of one coach. In the same account, he gave explicit credit to André Galvão and the Atos team in San Diego for their major part in her recent development.

Sources for this profile

  • Dominance MMA, ADCC – 55KGS Champion & Absolute Champion Adele Fornarino (23 August 2024).(opens in a new tab)

    • In an August 2024 article, Dominance MMA identifies Dave Hart as the academy's founder and head coach.

      Where in the source: Article dated 23 August 2024 — “Dave Hart”; founder/head-coach signature beneath the complete statement.

      Accessed:

    • After Fornarino's 2024 ADCC double gold, Hart wrote that he had been present from the start of her more-than-decade pursuit and explicitly credited Andre Galvao and Atos in San Diego for their major role in her recent development.

      Where in the source: Statement signed Dave Hart — “Atos Jiu Jitsu”; full 2024 reflection, including the immediately following attribution of recent development.

      Accessed:

  • Blitz Publications, Grappling Special 2013, Dave Hart profile, p. 85.(opens in a new tab)

    • A 2013 profile says Hart began Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age nineteen under John B. Will.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, left column — “age of 19”; opening biography.

      Accessed:

    • The 2013 profile described Hart at that time as a first-degree black belt under John B. Will and as Dominance MMA's owner and head instructor in Richmond, Melbourne.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, left column — “1st Degree”; opening biography and Richmond academy role.

      Accessed:

    • By 2013, Hart had spent extended periods training in the United States with the Machado brothers and Robert Drysdale.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, left column — “Fifteen years”; overseas-training paragraph.

      Accessed:

    • Hart said John Will's largest influence was teaching him how to learn, connect lessons from the mat to life, and become a better instructor.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, left column — “John’s biggest”; two quoted paragraphs on Will's influence.

      Accessed:

    • The 2013 profile credits Hart with Victorian, national, Australasian and Pan Pacific titles across his belt progression, in both gi and no-gi competition and sometimes in open divisions.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, left column — “Victorian”; complete domestic-competition paragraph.

      Accessed:

    • The 2013 profile reports that Hart later won the ADCC South Pacific Trial, qualified for the ADCC World Championship, and faced Marcelo Garcia there.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, bottom left column continuing at top right — “ADCC South Pacific Trial”; international-competition paragraph.

      Accessed:

    • The same profile says Hart earned silver medals at both gi and no-gi Pan-American championships and submitted Kayron Gracie on the way to one final.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, top right column — “Kayron Gracie”; latter part of the international-competition paragraph.

      Accessed:

    • Hart described fundamentals as the centre of his technical coaching, intended to give students a base from which their own games could grow rather than reproducing his game.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, right column — “fundamentals”; full technical-coaching passage.

      Accessed:

    • Hart said Dominance's culture was at least as important as technique: he presented training as a shared lifestyle meant to support people on and off the mat.

      Where in the source: Printed and physical page 85, lower right column — “culture”; full closing coaching-philosophy passage.

      Accessed:

  • Will-Machado BJJ Australasia, Ranks (current page read 22 September 2026).(opens in a new tab)

    • The current Will-Machado BJJ Australasia ranks page lists David Hart among the organisation's black belts.

      Where in the source: Ranks — “Black Belts”; David Hart entry between David Nagel and Dave Ward.

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2008 official results.(opens in a new tab)

    • The official 2008 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship results place David Hart of Machado Australia second in the adult men's brown-belt lightweight division, behind Tiago Coelho Rocha and ahead of Kayron Gracie and Steven Rosemberg.

      Where in the source: “Adult / Brown / Male / Light”; complete four-row division, place / athlete-name / academy-name DOM fields, between Feather and Middle.

      Accessed:

  • ADCC News, World BJJ Pro Australia Trials – Results (17 November 2009).(opens in a new tab)

    • At the November 2009 Australian trials for the 2010 World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, David Hart of Machado won the combined purple/brown/black under-74 kg division ahead of Nathan Frost and Danie Sinty, earning a place in the Australian group sent to Abu Dhabi.

      Where in the source: “Adult Male Purple/Brown/Black Under 74Kg”; complete three-place block, read with the article's 2010-trials heading and introduction.

      Accessed:

  • ADCC News, ADCC World Championships One Step Closer: South Pacific Trials Results (11 March 2009).(opens in a new tab)

    • ADCC's report on the March 2009 South Pacific Trials describes Hart's 76 kg final with Rodney Ellis as part of a close gi/no-gi rivalry; Hart attacked the legs and ankles before Ellis won the qualifier narrowly.

      Where in the source: “76kg final”; full Ellis–Hart account, with the 8 March event introduction and complete men's division-winners list.

      Accessed:

  • Dominance MMA, Dominance Is Celebrating Our 20th Birthday! (7 August 2022).(opens in a new tab)

    • Hart wrote that Dominance began in August 2002 with 75 square metres of mat and eighteen students.

      Where in the source: Director's message — “In August 2002”; read with the preceding initial mat-space and student-count paragraph.

      Accessed:

    • By its twentieth anniversary in 2022, Dominance reported more than one thousand members across three Melbourne locations.

      Where in the source: Opening history paragraph — “1000 members”; dated 7 August 2022, followed by the director's account.

      Accessed:

  • Will-Machado BJJ Australasia, Will-Machado Group Competition Training: Dominance (1 July 2016).(opens in a new tab)

    • In July 2016, Hart, signing as Dominance MMA's director, opened a weekly Friday competition-preparation session at the Richmond gym to all Will-Machado affiliates and all experience levels.

      Where in the source: Announcement dated 1 July 2016 — “Friday nights”; full invitation and David Hart director signature.

      Accessed:

  • BJJ Heroes, Adele Fornarino profile (current page read 22 September 2026).(opens in a new tab)

    • BJJ Heroes identifies Hart, David Christopher and Lincoln Handcock as Adele Fornarino's first instructors at Dominance MMA and says Hart promoted her to black belt in December 2022 after nearly four years at brown belt.

      Where in the source: Adele Fornarino Biography — “first instructors” and “In December 2022”; complete early-training and promotion passages.

      Accessed:

  • Dominance MMA, Adele Fornarino – A Huge 2022 at Brown Belt (28 December 2022).(opens in a new tab)

    • Dominance's 2022 recap says Fornarino received her black belt after thirteen years on the academy's mats, following a season that included ADCC and major no-gi championship results.

      Where in the source: Article dated 28 December 2022 — “13 years”; opening recap, belt presentation and full listed season results.

      Accessed:

  • FloGrappling, From Down Under To The Top Of The Game: Rising Star Adele Fornarino (2023).(opens in a new tab)

    • Fornarino recalled that Hart accompanied her to her first international tournament, the 2016 IBJJF World Championship, and helped her understand the professional scale of the sport; she returned to Australia as a juvenile blue-belt world champion with a new career horizon.

      Where in the source: “From Australia to the World”; 2015 prize, 2016 Worlds and Hart's guidance, through the black-belt-finals recollection.

      Accessed:

  • IBJJF, World Champion Hopeful: Adele Fornarino Returns (1 December 2025).(opens in a new tab)

    • In 2025, the IBJJF described Hart as Fornarino's long-time instructor and connected their work to the brown-belt campaign that ended with her 2022 World No-Gi title.

      Where in the source: Article dated 1 December 2025 — “long-time instructor”; paragraph linking Hart to the brown-belt campaign and 2022 title.

      Accessed:

Lineage

View in lineage tree

Trained under

Students1