Daniel has been practicing martial arts for 30 years, starting as a child on the east coast of the USA. He began by studying a mix of Kenpo Karate, Jiujitsu and Judo.

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He went on to study a traditional form of Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate. He met and trained with Grandmaster Fusei Kise several times. Daniel attained the rank of black belt, and taught many classes both for children and adults throughout his time as a Karateka.

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During the last couple years of his time in the Karate system, Daniel began to ask deeper questions about both life in general and training in particular. Coming more from the heart than the head, his questions culminated into one simple question: "Is there a system that accounts for all of life, and doesn't separate life from training or leave anything out?"

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This question wasn't coming from a frustration with Karate, per se, but rather from a deeper longing for a better, purer, more natural way of life.

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Shortly after he started to silently ask this question in his heart, he discovered Systema through the internet.

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By this time, Daniel had become proficient in the art of Kettlebell training, and found Systema while doing more research into Kettlebells. He saw many videos, but was truly captivated by watching Vladimir Vasiliev and Mikhail Ryabko.

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However, he wasn't sold.

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It created inside of him a 50/50 split between "This looks amazing, I hope it's true!" and "No one moves like that, this can't be real!"

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Although he continued to genuinely and forthrightly train in the Karate system, he tried his best to emulate the movements and learn as much as he could about Systema through online videos and reading "Let Every Breath".

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He noticed that just by emulating the movements (without hands-on training) and learning some of the Systema breathing principles from "Let Every Breath", he was able to quite easily break apart his partners' attacks in Karate training, and it only grew in him a deeper and more intense desire to learn what Systema was all about.

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Eventually, he found Systema Instructor Dameron Midgette, who lived in the same state, and began training with him in 2010.

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His first lesson with Dameron changed the trajectory of his life in an instant.

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Within a year of beginning the real training, Daniel was invited to participate in the filming of a movie in Russia and train daily under Daniil Ryabko.

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First, he traveled to Vladimir Vasiliev's school in Toronto Canada in 2011, then later that year spent three months in Russia training at Systema Ryabko Headquarters.

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Until 2019, Daniel taught at Systema Maine, a school he founded after returning from Russia.

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He has brought his Systema experience of over 14 years to Santa Fe, founding Systema Santa Fe in 2023.

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With a focus on holistic health and well-being, Daniel brings the true essence of Systema to the Santa Fe community and beyond.