Tom Dowd was introduced to Muay Thai in 1996 while training under Kru James Wellington, who fought and trained under Kru Phil Nurse from The Wat in New York City. Tom trained in the martial art for one year until the opportunity to work in law enforcement and the obligations of starting a family required that he devote more time away from Muay Thai training.

 

Tom started training once again in 2000 and was able to compete in five smoker fights as well as two sanctioned fights. After several years of training on and off, Tom decided in 2008 to open his own school in Wall Township with his partner Tracy Dowd and named the school Impact Martial Arts Academy with the focus that the school would have an impact on their students’ lives.

 

Since the inception of Impact Martial Arts Academy, Tom and Tracy have had hundreds of students both young and old come through the doors of their school. Some students come just to work out. Other students just need a place to get away or want to meet new people, while others join who want to fight competitively at Muay Thai.

 

Tom has also been invited on several occasions to teach the art of Muay Thai at the Monmouth County Police Academy. Tom has trained with and was a regular sparring partner for UFC fighter Kurt Pellegrino as well as current UFC fighter Nick Catone whom he has trained and cornered in several of his professional fights. Since opening Impact in March of 2008, the school has had two amateur Muay Thai belt holders and Impact Martial Arts Academy looks forward to a bright future.