About Us
Coastal Martial Arts & Fitness is a family-owned martial arts academy serving children, teens, and adults in Fort Walton Beach. Led by Dave and Sally Durman, our programs combine practical self-defense, fitness, character development, and more than 40 years of martial arts experience in a welcoming environment where every student can grow in confidence.
From Fear to Fearless, Together
Coastal Martial Arts & Fitness was born from a mother’s courage to protect her family. During a difficult time with an abusive former husband, Sally Durman enrolled her three children in Dave Durman’s martial arts school, looking for a place where they could develop strength, confidence, and the skills to protect themselves.
Inspired by the changes she saw in her children, Sally began training herself. Martial arts helped her replace fear with confidence and began a lifelong partnership with Dave. Together, they raised three children who all went on to earn Black Belts, some across multiple martial arts disciplines.
In 2011, Dave and Sally founded Coastal Martial Arts in Australia, guided by their belief that martial arts should develop strong families as well as capable martial artists. After moving to the United States, Sally’s passion for what training had done for their family inspired them to re-establish the academy in Fort Walton Beach in 2026.
Today, they bring more than four decades of martial arts experience to children, teens, and adults throughout the Fort Walton Beach community. Their motto remains simple: “The family that kicks together sticks together.”
OUR TEAM
CEO & Instructor
Renshi Sally Durman
4th Dan Kempo | Kickboxing Black Belt
Sally began training in the early 2000s after first enrolling her children in martial arts. At the time, she was living through an abusive relationship. Through training, she developed the confidence to leave that situation, build an independent life, and eventually find the courage to ask her martial arts instructor, Dave, out for coffee. That coffee worked out rather well.
Sally began as a kickboxer and earned her Kickboxing Black Belt while also studying Shotokan Karate. She later continued her martial arts journey in Kempo under Dave’s instructor, earning her Black Belt and progressing to 4th Dan. In 2011, she and Dave founded Coastal Martial Arts in Australia and were married in their dojo later that same year.
Today, Sally leads Coastal Martial Arts & Fitness as its CEO and community ambassador. An active member of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, she builds relationships throughout the community while overseeing the academy alongside Dave. Students often describe her as “everyone’s mum” because of her warmth, humor, and genuine concern for the people around her.
Sally remains especially passionate about women’s confidence and personal safety. Through free self-defense seminars and the developing Sally Strength series, she hopes to help more women recognize their own strength, establish boundaries, and feel safer and more confident in their everyday lives. For Sally, bringing Coastal Martial Arts to Fort Walton Beach was about rebuilding the extended family that a great martial arts school can become.
Master Instructor & Head Coach
Shihan Dave Durman
6th Dan Kempo | 2nd Dan Shotokan Karate | Kickboxing Black Belt | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belt
Dave began training in 1980 after experiencing bullying at school and wanting to become more confident and capable. That first step onto the mat began a martial arts journey that has now lasted more than 45 years and has included Kempo, Shotokan Karate, kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, judo, boxing, and several Filipino martial arts systems.
Dave joined the Royal Australian Navy as a teenager. Moving between postings allowed him to train at different schools and learn from instructors with a wide range of backgrounds. His time in the Navy also shaped his understanding of teamwork, leadership, and the importance of every person’s contribution, lessons that continue to influence the way he teaches today.
Dave believes students deserve to understand more than simply where to put their hands and feet. He breaks techniques down clearly, explains why they work, and connects the physical lessons of martial arts with confidence, discipline, resilience, leadership, and everyday life. His classes are serious about learning, but never about taking yourself too seriously. He wants students to leave the mat sweating, smiling, and having learned something.
For Dave, teaching martial arts is about more than producing skilled fighters. It is about producing teachers, developing leaders, and improving the community one Black Belt at a time. He believes instructors must remain students, that everyone has something to teach, and that the greatest measure of an instructor is not how impressive they appear, but what the people they teach eventually become.
A safe space to train and grow
Our Fort Walton Beach academy offers approximately 2,500 square feet of dedicated training space, including a large matted training area and a separate room for weapons training, personal training, and specialized classes. Every detail has been designed to create a safe, welcoming environment where children, teens, and adults can train hard, build confidence, and feel supported.
Culture & Values
More Than Martial Arts — A Way of Life
We don’t just teach punches and kicks. At Coastal Martial Arts & Fitness, we use martial arts to help students become stronger, more disciplined, and more confident in every part of life.
Student Creed: Develop positively, build self-discipline, and use skills constructively.
Principles of Black Belt: Modesty, Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Courage, and Indomitable Spirit.
School Protocol: Arrive ready to learn, train with energy, encourage your teammates, and work toward Black Belt.
Blue Stripe Respect & Courtesy Program: Junior students learn that courtesy earns respect and, with parent involvement, put those values into practice at home, at school, and in the dojo.
Our goal is for every student to leave class stronger, more focused, more respectful, and more confident than when they arrived.