The Gentle Art of David Ooi

By Lilian Wu (Publications Editor) 

Our alumni are making their mark across the world in a wide range of fields, and David Ooi (2008 cohort) is no exception. Today, he is a co-owner of Singapore Submission Grappling, a martial arts studio based at Fusionopolis. He also serves as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) coach, a discipline recently introduced into the Year 2 PE curriculum. We caught up with him to learn more about his Tanglin story.

“16 September 1993 was my first day at Winchester,” David recalled fondly as he sat down with us to reflect on his time at Tanglin. “I remember crying on my first day and having a staring contest with a girl who would later be in one of my classes at Tanglin.”

Despite that slightly bumpy start to his story, it marked the beginning of a memorable journey at Tanglin, where David remained throughout his school years, graduating from Year 13 in 2008. He admitted that his memories of the early days are a little fuzzy, but he clearly remembered the Curran Hall opening when he was in Year 2 (which is also the hall where he is currently teaching the Year 2s) and his Sixth Form cohort of around 40 to 50 students—a small group by any measure. “Everyone knew everyone,” he reminisced, “and I made some really wonderful lifelong friendships. In fact, the best man at my wedding was actually someone I met at Tanglin!”

Being part of a small cohort allowed David to spend more time with his teachers, a benefit he particularly valued while studying his A-level subjects. As one of only two students taking A-level Further Maths, the extra guidance (especially from Mr James McKellar) proved especially helpful. But academic support wasn’t the only form of guidance he received at Tanglin. David recalled a time when Miss Keri Bacon, a teacher in Year 3, noticed he might have ADHD, an observation that prompted his parents to take him for a proper assessment. “I don’t think I would have done as well academically if my teacher hadn’t recognised the challenges I was facing and provided the support I needed. Tanglin may be known for its excellent academic results, but it also gave me the supportive structure I needed to truly thrive from Junior to Senior School.”

After graduating from Tanglin, David completed his National Service in the army and went on to work in military logistics, where he eventually joined the organising committee for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games. He recalled it as a fun experience, but what stood out most was the chance to connect and communicate with people from all over the world. David said, “Tanglin is a British international school, and being exposed to such a diverse range of nationalities taught me how to communicate effectively with people from all over the world. That ability really helped me stand out among my peers during the Youth Olympic Games and has proven valuable on many occasions since!”

Following his time in military logistics, David’s journey took him to the University of Warwick, where he studied Maths. He then worked in the corporate world for a few years before he realised that he wanted to do something that help people live a healthier life and fix injuries, so he decided to pursue a degree in physiotherapy. Now that we know what David has been up to since graduating from Tanglin, how did he end up being a BJJ coach at Tanglin?

David explained, “I started judo as a child, and during my final week of Sixth Form, my old judo coach ran a self-defence session that included BJJ. After graduation, I went back to train in BJJ with my coach, in between my stints at the army. I’ve tried Muay Thai and boxing, but at the end of the day. BJJ is the one I enjoy the most. Things came to a tipping point a few years ago where I realised that I had enough experience and credibility to be able to make a living off it.”

This realisation eventually led David to set up a martial arts studio at one-north, an area he knew well, having essentially grown up there so it felt like home to him. His studio runs a children’s programme, and Lewis Patience, one of the Infant PE specialists, regularly brought his daughter to classes. The two soon got chatting, and the conversation quickly turned to how David could offer BJJ as a co-curricular activity. One thing led to another, and David went on to meet Head of Infant PE, Joe Moriarty, to explore the idea further. It soon became clear that they shared the same pedagogical philosophy. David has always believed in exposing young children to a wide range of physical activities, helping to nurture well-rounded, resilient athletes over time. Given this strong alignment with the Infant PE curriculum, the partnership quickly fell into place.

Lewis couldn’t have agreed more. After watching David coach his daughter, he was impressed by how engaging and enjoyable the sessions were and decided to bring David in to enhance the Infant curriculum. He said, “We have been delighted to welcome David and BJJ into our curriculum lessons. This provides valuable rolling, tumbling, and turning skills as well as many others, and aligns well with our Athletics Skills Model which we utilise for curriculum planning and mapping. Children have thoroughly enjoyed the new addition and have been excelling on the mat. BJJ is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and is now a bold and exciting part of the curriculum offer at Tanglin.”

So, what was it like teaching the Year 2 children? David was impressed, to say the least. “They are some of the best-behaved children I’ve worked with. They come in excited, especially when it is their first time trying BJJ, and they enjoy the lessons so much that when I tell them their four-week block is coming to an end, they are genuinely disappointed.”

Sounds like fun! Does David plan to expand his BJJ offering to the Junior and Senior Schools? He smiled, “We’ll see how it goes, but this is sure to plant a seed for even better things to come!”