Dan Berry

Dan Berry was born in Birmingham in 1982.  After leaving school aged 15, he joined the British Army and became an infantry soldier with The Royal Green Jackets.  He was 17 when the battalion deployed to Kosovo where he spent six months peace keeping in the countries capital of ‘Pristina’.

On return, he was selected to be become part of the battalions Enhanced Divisional Reconnaissance Platoon, responsible for gathering intelligence for the divisional commanders in Eastern Europe.  Dan spent another six months in Bosnia carrying out surveillance work before returning to the UK as part of the ITC (Infantry Training Centre) in Warminster’s demo and training battalion.  

When he finally left the Army in 2003 Dan became involved in work with young offenders, children with behavioural difficulties and other special needs such as Autism and Aspergers Syndrome.  He went on to qualify as a teacher through Staffordshire University after studying Sport and Exercise Science at Wolverhampton.  He funded himself through this by working as a freelance fitness instructor whilst carrying out his coursework.

Dan’s experience in state education ranges from PRU’s (Pupil Referral Units) where every child has been excluded from a mainstream school, to standard secondary and post 16 education as a lecturer.  He took his interests in human behaviour further by qualifying as a professional Counsellor and Psychotherapist in 2010, where he gained a distinction for his efforts.  

His experience as both a coach and martial artist brought him to the decision to leave education and work for himself as a full time martial arts instructor.  His philosophy and objectives are simple; “If you install discipline, respect, confidence and leadership into youngsters, then they are limitless in what they can achieve”.  He lets this run parallel with his theory that “Nobody has ever given anything up because they enjoy it too much”.  Therefore, the combination of a structured learning environment that children thrive on with high energy and excitement levels is an imperative part of Dan and his team’s classes.

If asked about the benefits of his martial arts classes to children, Dan will describe the physical aspect as “merely a by-product” of what they do.  “Yes the fact that our group has produced umpteen world champions etc., is fantastic, but all our academies throughout the UK are producing polite, caring, physically fit, hard working and ambitious individuals through the programme we deliver.  You simply cannot put a price on that.  And the more people that are like that within our society, the better it will be for all.”

Dan enjoys all aspects of fitness, his weekly training regime consists of weight training, pilates, step aerobics, bag work and yoga.  He now resides in Lichfield, Staffordshire, with his wife Jennifer, who is also a martial arts instructor, and their two children.  They spend a great deal of time together as a family, either swimming, out walking or doing other various activities.  He is a huge fan of British comedy and would spend hours watching repeats of Only Fools & Horses, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers and Dads Army during any periods of ‘down time’ (Or when Jenny lets him!).