In 1993, at 15 years of age, Mr. Dupuis witnessed the assault of one of his friends at a local bus terminal.  Not knowing how to defend himself, Daniel was unfortunately unable to help his friend.  Luckily, his friend only suffered minor injuries.   A few days later,  Daniel started learning Taekwondo at Maritime Martial Arts School in Halifax.  Under the tutelage of Master Fullerton and with lots of help from his friend Phil Power, Daniel attained his black stripe in a few years.  Unfortunately, Maritime Martial Arts School closed before Daniel was able to test for his black belt.

In searching for a new school, Daniel tried many other martial arts.  It is in this period that Daniel started training in Combat Hapkido with Master Eric Rushton and Master Mike Fournier.  Daniel trained for many years in Combat Hapkido and obtained a blue belt from the International Combat Hapkido Federation.

In 2000, Grasshoppers opened their doors in Halifax.  Driving by one evening, Daniel decided to visit and meet the instructor.  To his surprise, Daniel was greeted by his old friend Phil Power!  Daniel has been training and teaching at Grasshoppers ever since.  Mr. Dupuis and his brother Marcel were the first students to obtain their black belts at Grasshoppers!