About Sand Box Survival
Established in 2004, Sand Box Survival is an Edmonton based school of self-defense that provides the opportunity to experience physical conflict in a fun and controlled atmosphere. First-hand experience will effectively reduce a person’s fear of physical aggression, and increase confidence in their ability to defend themselves. While this program encourages self-expression and individuality, by use of extensive partner training, it also promotes the values of teamwork, communication, and leadership. Sand Box Survival offers classes for any age group and tailors each class to the needs of the individual. Sand Box Survival's self defense classes focus on leading edge instruction techniques shared with Daniel by each of his mentors.
About The Instructor
Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Daniel Engel was first introduced to martial arts at age 17. It started with Tae Kwon Do classes offered while attending college. However, it wasn’t until after a chance meeting with the naturally gifted Lee Estabrooks, that Daniel became a lifelong student of martial arts. After 30 years of blood, sweat, and tears, Daniel continues to train with and learn from his: teacher; friend; and brother; Lee Estabrooks.
Daniel has been blessed with the opportunity to expand on his eclectic education from Mr. Estabrooks, by training with a number of other notable martial arts masters. In chronological order this list includes Mr.’s: Benito Marasiga; Daniel Rutano; Mike McGuire; Richard Bustillo; Ciriaco ‘Cacoy’ Canete; Kelly Worden; Brett Jacques; Bob Anderson; Zhenzhong Dai; Rory Miller; Leonard Trigg; Dan Inosanto; and, Francis Fong.
In the early 1990’s, Daniel joined the Arnis Club of Edmonton. The club was founded by Mr. Benito Marasiga. Benny, as he liked to be called, was Daniel’s first Arnis instructor. Standing less than five feet tall and in his early eighties, Benny instilled in Daniel a newfound respect for human ability at any age. Benny was also Daniel’s introduction to Guru Daniel Rutano.
By 1995, under Guru Rutano, Daniel earned a rank of level 2 (Antas Dalawa) with the Canadian Kali Association. This group was based out of Calgary, and therefore, it was Daniel’s first experience with traveling in order to expand his art. It was here that Daniel participated in his first Eskrima tournament. Surprisingly outlasting Mr. Estabrooks, his teacher, he dragged home a third place trophy along with his sore hands and body. A further highlight, of Daniel’s time with the group, was an opportunity to attend seminars with Grandmasters Richard Bustillo and Ciriaco ‘Cacoy’ Canete. Game changing!
In 2000, another game changer! Daniel attended his first Datu Kelly Worden seminar, and from that day Daniel was hooked. His martial arts education was about to increase exponentially. Sensei Mike McGuire was responsible for bringing Datu Worden to the Edmonton area for a number of years. Sensei McGuire remains a friend from Daniel’s Canadian Kali Association days, and his Rising Sun Seminar Series was also responsible for introducing Daniel to Dr. Brett Jacques.
Attending Water and Steel for the first time in 2004, Daniel experienced his first taste of international travel to further hone his craft. Datu Kelly Worden’s premier training camp is responsible for introducing Daniel to far too many friends and mentors to count. At the conclusion of camp, Datu promoted Daniel to level 1 black belt within Natural Spirit International and urged him to start teaching. Influenced by Datu Worden’s words and with encouragement from Mr. Estabrooks, Daniel founded Sand Box Survival as a way to share his passion for martial arts with others.
Coincidently, after completing a business course for Sand Box Survival, Daniel met a previous course graduate, Master Zhenzhong Dai. As founder of Tao Xin Qi Gong, Master Dai instructed Daniel in both Buddhist and Daoist forms of Qi Gong. Daniel earned a rank of level IIIB, and learned a newfound respect for what is achievable through universal energy and a focused mindset.
By the start of 2007 Daniel was honored by a promotion to level 2 black belt from Grandmaster Kelly Worden.
At Water and Steel 2015, Professor Leonard Trigg publicly announced that Daniel’s Eskrimathane stick would be the new Ranking Stick for the Lameco system. From the time Daniel broke his first rattan stick he has relentlessly researched and developed an Eskrima stick with unparalleled durability. The effectiveness of the Eskrimathane stick has been proven, both as a training aid in the gym, and as a self defense tool on the street. Professor Trigg’s announcement speaks volumes!
2016 was a huge year for Daniel. To start, he attended the first Trilogy of Steel. At the completion of which, was promoted to third degree black belt by Professor Kelly Worden. Next, the opportunity for a private lesson in Lameco with Professor Trigg left Daniel humbled and inspired. And finally, he was asked by Professor Worden to represent NSI/WDS in the Edmonton area. Professor Worden remains one of Daniel’s biggest mentors to this day, so of course he accepted!
Starting 2017, with thirty years of martial arts experience behind him, Daniel recognizes his journey has just begun.
About Sand Box Survival Eskrimathane Sticks
Our Eskrimathane stick is a piece of performance enhancing technology. Traditionally, Eskrima sticks are made of hand cut and fire hardened Rattan vine, whereas, our Eskrima stick is machined to specification. Naturally inherent qualities of the Eskrimathane stick include: High strength and rigidity; low co-efficient of friction; noise dampening characteristics; high resilience and impact resistance. By comparison, Eskrimathane sticks exceed Rattan in every category except for noise dampening qualities. Rattan’s weakness is that the center core pulverizes quickly under impact, and the exterior shell frays creating splinters. As any avid practitioner can tell you, a little extra noise is a small price to pay for a stick which is extremely durable and has a smooth, splinter free finish. The ends of the stick have been tapered to improve grip retention, and adding a little extra snap to tendon loads. Because of the low co-efficient of friction, we added machined texturing to the center section. This improves adhesion between sticks when using load lines. Therefore, it is easy to see how this is a piece of performance enhancing technology, not just a stick. Eskrimathane sticks have the potential to outlast you.