Sensei Daniel Pineda has trained in various arts starting at an early age. His journey started at age five when his father started to teach him boxing. At age seven he took up Shotokan Karate. At age thirteen he took up Taekwondo.
Sensei Daniel Pineda
When Pineda went to college he found an underground club studying the martial arts. The members consisted of sixth degree black belts, former world champions of kickboxing, a kempo practitioner and a few grad students that were into Shotakan.
“It was an informal practice. We would meet twice a week in one of the dance rooms to train and it was all with honor. You would bow in, train, spar and compare techniques. It had the martial art mystique that a lot of people, including myself, were looking for.”
Later on, Pineda met Daniel Hammond, who had opened up a Kung Fu school off campus. Once Pineda took Kung Fu, he fell in love with the art.
“It was as if that was the art I was looking for my whole life. Kung Fu is so vast you will find aspects of every martial art in it. My background perfectly fit in.”
Pineda credits Hammond for having his martial arts reach the next level.
Pineda with a group of students
“Hammond really made an impression on me. He put me on track. I’ve done things in the martial arts that I never experienced before, until I met him. Things like focusing your energy, breaking bricks and healing. From that point on, my martial arts really took off”.
I asked Pineda if he saw a significant change in the martial arts since his training began. He said that the popularity of martial arts has demonstrated to people that it is more common than they thought. For Pineda growing up, martial arts classes had five to ten people. Ten people in a class was amazing. That’s not the case anymore. The more people you talk to today, either they take martial arts or they have taken it at some time in their life.
The industry has been proactive in going out and promoting the martial arts.
“Because we live the martial arts, we understand the benefits of it. Now there are people out there that just sell it and that’s unfortunate, because they are selling on someone’s dreams and they don’t follow through on what the student can achieve. They end up breaking the student’s heart and the integrity of the martial arts. You know what they say, bad news travels six times faster than good news.”
Pineda explains that true martial arts instructors battle the concept of the tin salesman. They’re good at selling a program. They get the people in, then they cash them out. This can be very detrimental to a student. Somewhere along the line, someone will test that student’s training. The training that the student paid for, and thought would work in a dangerous situation.
Despite the tin man salesmen, Pineda says that more people are understanding the value and discipline of good martial arts training.
Sensei Pineda’s Martial Arts Training Academy offers programs for practically everyone. They offer classes in Kung Fu, Hapkido, Kickboxing, Capoeira, Krav Maga and MMA. The academy also offers seminars for the non enthusiast, who are not sure what they’re looking for in the martial arts. A couple of seminars that the Martial Arts Training Academy is having are the “Fight like a Girl” and the “Dark Alley” seminars. The “Fight like a Girl” seminar consists of applying basic Krav Maga techniques. The “Dark Alley” seminar consists of applications when getting attacked from behind or getting pushed against the wall.
Sensei Pineda’s message to the martial arts community is to keep promoting and supporting the martial arts. There are great instructors out there. People become healthier, focused, and have a positive attitude with the martial arts. Continue to educate people on what the benefits of martial arts give you. You just have to go out and talk to people. Utmost and foremost, be a positive instructor.
If you would like to know more about Sensei Pineda and the Martial Arts Training Academy you can find him at 5936 Sheridan St., Hollywood, FL, or call (954)989-2844.
Hector Feliciano is the founder and Editor of the Martial Arts Times. A fighting enthusiast, He looks forward to sharing his experiences with readers and interacting in the wonderful world of Martial Arts. 
