Our Teachers — Origin Institute

原

David Drimmel

Founding Director

With Master Roberto

Kung Fu Connection

IFOUNDING DIRECTOR

David Drimmel

Origin Institute

Founding Director

Origin Temple

Trustee

David Drimmel is the Founding Director of Origin Institute and a founding Trustee of Origin Temple. His path into this work was forged through years of personal searching — outside academic channels — a genuine encounter with authentic transmission, and a deepening commitment to making that transmission available to others without compromising what it is.

In 2017 David met Master Roberto Baptista. That encounter changed the direction of everything. What began as a student–teacher relationship became a nine-year collaboration to build a school worthy of the lineage Master Roberto carries.

David brings to Origin Institute a background in holistic health, functional wellness, community architecture, and strategic leadership. His work spans curriculum development, organizational governance, content production, and the long-term vision of establishing a physical living monastery in Colorado.

His deepest conviction is that the practices Origin Institute transmits are essential responses to the defining challenges of this moment in human history — alive and applicable, far from being ancient curiosities. He teaches weekly Qìgōng classes inside Origin Temple and guides students through the foundational curriculum.

Master Roberto Baptista

Origin Institute

Head Master

Origin Temple

Master Instructor & Trustee

Lineage

Shàolín · Central Guoshu, Nanjing 1928

Master Roberto Baptista is the Head Master of Origin Institute and one of the most accomplished traditional Chinese martial arts practitioners in the Western hemisphere. He has devoted over 45 years to the practice, study, and transmission of traditional Chinese martial arts and Qìgōng — a commitment that has earned him a depth of skill and understanding that is exceedingly rare outside of China.

His lineage traces directly through Grand Master Chan Kwok Wai (1936–2022) to the Central Guoshu Institute in Nanjing, China, established in 1928 — itself a waypoint in a transmission that reaches back to the original Shàolín monks. What Master Roberto carries is the real thing, transmitted the way it has always been transmitted — teacher to student, over time, through devoted practice. It comes from authentic lineage, distinct from modern interpretations of these arts.

Master Roberto oversees the Internal Arts curriculum at Origin Institute, ensuring that every teaching meets the standard of authentic lineage transmission. He teaches and directs the school of Kung Fu Connection in Florida, where he has trained students for decades.

View Full Credentials & Lineage Documentation →

A Living Lineage
of Teachers.

Master Roberto Baptista has trained many students over the decades — practitioners and instructors who carry his teachings into their own schools and communities around the world. These teachers are part of the broader lineage family, though they operate independently of Origin Institute.

As Origin Institute grows and its instructor certification pathway matures, teachers trained and certified through the institute will be recognized here. This page will expand as the lineage extends through Origin Institute's own graduates — each one vetted, trained, and held to the standard this transmission deserves.

If you are called to teach — The Practitioner's Path →

Our Teachers.

David Drimmel

Master Roberto Baptista

A Living Lineage
of Teachers.

The path starts
with practice.

David Drimmel

Master Roberto Baptista

A Living Lineageof Teachers.

The path startswith practice.

A Living Lineage
of Teachers.

The path starts
with practice.