Shawn Tompkins (March 16, 1974 – August 14, 2011) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, gener ...

and

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

, and later trainer. At the time of his death, he was an instructor at the Tapout Training Center. He formerly coached the

Los Angeles Anacondas The Los Angeles Anacondas were an International Fight League team based in Los Angeles, California. The Anacondas were the first IFL team to have gone through not just one coach but two. Originally coached by three time King of Pancrase and former ...

of the International Fight League.

Biography and career

Tompkins began studying

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thro ...

karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

at the age of six, and went to be a two-time Canadian National Karate Champion and a third degree

black belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...

in the discipline. He began kickboxing at sixteen years old and competed in 47 matches, holding Canadian, North American and South American titles. At the age of eighteen, he opened his first training facility in Ontario, Canada. He later relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States in August 2007 and worked as the head

striking Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

coach at Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts before joining the Tapout Training Center in October 2009. He was also the coach for the

of the International Fight League, officially taking the reins from

Bas Rutten Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (; born 24 February 1965) is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three-time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his car ...

as the head coach on March 17, 2007, just before their matchup against the

San Jose Razorclaws The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006, and closed on July 31, 2008.

. Tompkins taught such notable fighters as

Vitor Belfort Vítor Vieira Belfort (; born 1 April 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. Belfort previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavyw ...

, Mark Hominick,

Chris Horodecki Christopher Horodecki (born September 24, 1987) is a Polish-Canadian mixed martial artist. He has competed for the WEC, the IFL, Bellator, TKO Major League MMA, and Palace Fighting Championship. Background Horodecki was born in London, Ontari ...

Wanderlei Silva Wanderlei César da Silva ( , , ; born 3 July 1976) is a Brazilian-American former mixed martial artist who competed in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships and the American-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He holds the record for the ...

and Sam Stout. On November 30, 2011, at the Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas during the 2011 World MMA Awards Results, Tompkins was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Personal life

Tompkins was married to Emilie Stout, the sister of fellow fighter, Sam Stout. On Sunday, August 14, 2011, Tompkins died unexpectedly, of a sudden heart attack, in his sleep at the age of 37.

Gym history

The gym's predecessor Team Tompkins MMA System was founded in 2001 by MMA trainer Shawn Tompkins coach of the

of the International Fight League. During his time as head coach he trained the future of Adrenaline's talent as well as being involved with Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts and the Tapout Training Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The gym saw great success during this time with Team Tompkins holding two belts in TKO/UCC at Lightweight and Featherweight, with a combined total of 11 title defenses between Mark Hominick(7) and Sam Stout(4). During this period

made it to the finals of the IFL World Grand Prix to challenge for the IFL Lightweight title. "The Coach" corned Mark Hominick in the gyms first UFC title challenge against Jose Aldo at UFC 129 on April 30, 2011, for the inaugural UFC Featherweight Championship. Tompkins tragically passed away on August 14, 2011. He remains as an influential figure and an inspiration to members of the gym. From December 6, 2011, onward members of the gym were consistently involved in a

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

based Anti-bullying campaign.

Adrenaline MMA Training & Fitness

The gym in its current form emerged in 2012, founded by three of Tompkins star pupils Mark Hominick, Sam Stout and Chris Horodecki. Who went about training the next generation of mixed martial artist's out of the newly rebranded Adrenaline MMA Training & Fitness. During this period Adrenaline-talent Chad Laprise embarked on an 7 fight win-streak to earn himself a spot on the UFC's reality TV show

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen ...

. He would go on to win the season's Tournament and received bonus awards for ''Fight of the Season'' and ''Performance of the Season''. In 2013 Jesse Ronson won the Aggression FC Lightweight Championship, Malcolm Gordon won the HFC Flyweight Championship in 2014, They also moved locations to a new training center. The facility expands over two floors and 11,000 square feet. In 2015 Chris Horodecki challenged Lance Palmer for the World Series of Fighting Featherweight Championship and the gym would begin offering female only jujitsu lessons which became popular. In 2016 Malcolm Gordon won the WXC Flyweight Championship and defended it once. 2017-2018 saw the gym hold 3 Championships in TKO Major League MMA with Jesse Ronson winning both the TKO Lightweight and Welterweight Championships, Malcolm Gordon won the TKO Flyweight Championship defending it twice. Both Ronson and Gordan were invited to join the UFC in 2020.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 0–4 , Joel Leblanc , TKO (punches) , UCC 6 - Redemption , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:38 ,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Quebec, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–3 ,

David Loiseau David Loiseau (; born December 17, 1979) is a Canadian former mixed martial artist from Montreal, Quebec. He has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, EliteXC, and TKO Major League MMA veteran. He is the former TKO World Middleweight C ...

, TKO (punches) , UCC 4 - Return Of The Super Strikers , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:26 ,

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

, Quebec, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–2 , Steve Vigneault , TKO (punches) , UCC 2 - The Moment of Truth , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:43 , Montreal, Quebec, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Matt Rocca , TKO (punches) , UCC 1 - The New Beginning , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 8:50 , Montreal, Quebec, Canada ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tompkins, Shawn 1974 births 2011 deaths Canadian male kickboxers Canadian male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Shotokan Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Canadian male karateka Canadian Muay Thai practitioners Kickboxing trainers Mixed martial arts trainers Sportspeople from Tillsonburg