He joined the Greeks Struggle for Macedonia in 1906, where he would operate as a member of Georgios Tsontos' armed band. The next year, he would become a chieftain of his own band which operated in the regions of Korytsa and Western Macedonia, where he would fight the Bulgarian Komitadjis and Ottomans until the Commencement of the First Balkan War. He would also go on to became part of the personal guard of the local Orthodox Bishop of Korytsa, Germanos. He participated in the Balkan Wars, as a guerrilla leader and took part in the Greek occupation of Korytsa.