DanFaggella

About Me:

Dan Faggella writes about maximizing combat sport training at:
www.scienceofskill.com
About the Author

Dan competing at the Abu Dhabi North American Trials, November 2010

Combat Sport
A student of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since 2005, Dan quickly dove into the sport, competing frequently and traveling to teach private lessons and seminars within his first year of training.
Now having taught seminars from Maryland to Massachusetts and competed nationally, Dan now owns the Omoplata Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in Wakefield, RI, a business he started during his undergraduate years at the University of Rhode Island.
His notable accomplishments in Jiu Jitsu include a 2nd place medal at the No Gi Pan American Championships, a 3rd place medal at the 2009 Pan American Championships in Los Angeles, CA, as well as numerous NAGA and Grappler’s Quest expert division victories.
Always eager for challenge Dan took 2nd place in NAGA’s Expert Absolute division in October of 2010 – where Dan fought Massachusett’s Dan Simmler in the finals – taking second at only 133 pounds in this Open Weight tournament.
Exploring the Jiu Jitsu world Dan has trained in over three dozen Mixed Martial Arts establishments. He officially trains under Abu Dhabi Champion and Brazilian National Champion Alexandre ‘Soca.’
Despite his travels for speaking, academics, seminars, and training, Dan spends the majority of his time in Rhode Island running his martial arts academy (www.objja.com).

Dan with Prof. Martin E. P. Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania

Science
Fascinated with the mind and body,  Dan graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelors degree in both Kinesiology and Psychology in 2010.
During his years at URI Dan was able to dive into the domains of body mechanics, skill acquisition, and goal setting – even taking on an independent study with PhD Sport Psychologist John Sullivan, where he focused on learning the science of teaching goal setting and goal strategies.
Dan’s extracurricular activities involved running the URI Club Wrestling Team, the URI Mixed Martial Arts Club, and his businesses, as well as reading and writing thousands of pages in the areas of Sport Performance, Self Development, Psychology, and much more.
He now attends graduate school for Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania under legendary psychology researcher and teacher Martin E. P. Seligman. His focus in this program is skill development and goal strategies to maximizing performance in combat sport.
Dan has taught seminars to thousands on topics related to Personal Performance, Goals, and Skill Development – from UFC fighters to students at numerous universities.
He is working on a number of books at the present time, and continues to travel for speaking and consulting (www.danfaggella.com).