tanren skc london dojo
Dan was born in Cleveland Ohio and until the age of 24 grew up in rural eastern
Ohio in “Amish Country”. At the age of 24, Dan took up ballet classes as part of
his physical therapy for injuries sustained in a severe car accident. As a
complete fluke, that led to him being accepted into a local prestigious
performing arts college in the aptly named Painesville, Ohio a few years later.
During his study for a BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in fine performing arts, he
danced for several small companies and had a one season premier dance gig for
the Ohio Light Opera Company as well as a decent stage acting career, singing in
musicals and light opera productions. That led him to an acting career which
included 3 years, in residence and touring, with The Abbey Theatre in Dublin,
Ireland, television and film spots and more stage acting in London. Due to a
second almost identical car accident in England, Dan took up ultra-distance
running, clocking up approx. 35,000 career miles while training for and carrying
out events in many countries around the world to raise money for children’s
charities and hunger issues. His charity vehicle for those events is responsible
for raising roughly £2 million. His Karate career began as a gift to himself for
his 50th birthday in 2008, as he decided to move away from ultra-distance
running. Having seen and been inspired by his son at karate training at an
after-school club, he decided that Karate was a physical pursuit that he
strongly connected with; athletically, due to his long career in running,
artistically, due to his previous involvement in ballet, and ideologically. This
fresh start at a turning point in his life has now lead to him start his own
dojo, and to commence teaching others, mainly children, the art of Karate-Do
after 10 years of training. Despite this being a relatively short period, Dan
believes that he can call on and incorporate his own experiences from previous
endeavours, bringing in training ideas from the world of ultra-marathons,
classical ballet and stage performance, to the way he teaches karate to those
who train at his dojo. The dojo officially opened on August 8th 2018, to mark
his 60th birthday. All are welcome and there are no excuses good enough for him
for anyone to not take up karate as a healthful, exciting pursuit. Karate and
Karate Do is for everyone. Gamabate (try your best)
