The Phil Daru Network

Survival Expert Reveals How to Actually Survive in the Wild | Mario Kalpou | True Talk #001

Phil Daru Season 2 Episode 1

On today's episode, Mario Kalpou talks about surviving in the wild and his past experiences

Mario Kalpou’s lifelong fascination with nature’s bounty took root at a young age. Australian born, comfortable in both the field and kitchen, Kalpou soon set on a path to pursue his innate love of cooking working alongside prominent chefs and eventually opening and operating several highly acclaimed restaurants most notably, The Old Library, garnering various awards such as Zagat 3 Hats and 2nd place Belle Awards. He deepened his love of harvesting from the wild and honed his already advanced outdoor skills when he traded the metropolitan restaurant world for rural New Zealand. Kalpou opened an extreme-adventure lodge and became a professional guide for overseas clients. During this time, he observed not only how being immersed in the outdoors positively affected each client but a realization that being connected to the source of free range, wild food echoed the interest of his chefs and patrons in the restaurant world. People want to feel connected to their food source and the inspiration for “Man Eats Wild” was born.


Phil Daru is the Head trainer for some of the top athletes in the world and creator of Daru Strong Training Systems and founder of Daru Strong Performance Center. Daru has degrees in sports medicine and exercise science from Alabama State University where he played division 1 football. Holding certifications with Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) Certified Functional Strength Coach (CFSC) Functional Range Movement Specialist (FRCms) and Kabuki Movement Specialist (NSCA-KMS). 

Daru then began a career in MMA and turned professional at 21 years old where he then developed his own systems for training fighters. Daru has also competed in strongman, bodybuilding, and Bjj Gi and No Gi and currently competes in powerlifting. He has worked with well over 200 plus fighters including world champions like Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Dustin Poirier, Edson Barboza, Junior Dos Santos, Frankie Edgar, Tecia Torres, King Mo Lawal, Andrei Arlovski and many others. Coach Daru is a two time award winning Trainer of the Year for the Florida MMA Awards and Nominated for the Trainer of the Year for the World MMA Awards. He has been globally recognized for his contributions in combat sports performance and has traveled to over 10 countries teaching and mentoring. We want to welcome you to this channel and hope you enjoy the content!

People on this episode