But these professional level students were not the only ones who sought out the Calasanz System. Convinced that every single motivated man and woman could benefit from his System, Calasanz began to teach a wide variety of students. Women learned self-defense… children learned discipline and self-esteem… the infirm and the elderly were helped to expand their physical potentials…men and women of every age, had a chance to re-design the look and fitness of their bodies. “I teach Martial Arts for life,” Calasanz says with a smile, “I want everyone to benefit from all that I’ve learned about the body and its amazing ability to be transformed.”
For 27 years, Calasanz has lived a life as highly disciplined as that of a monk at the Shaolin Temple, training and teaching 18 to 20 hours a day. “My system is simple, but unique,” he explains. “It is meant to empower everyone. Most of the world cannot spend 20 years studying traditional Martial Arts in the old way. I have created a very personal new system in which Goju Ryu and Wing Chun are the basis for power, grounding, speed, balance and focus. With my guidance, these techniques are accelerated, so that proficiency comes fast… excitement builds… burnout doesn’t happen… and a person can transform himself or herself in record time.”
Calasanz Martial Arts and Fitness: 800.414.9544 – www.calasanz.com
I always told my sisters that they should never tell a man not to hit them “just because they were women.” I always thought my sisters were stronger than that. Maybe it was because my father berated women’s strength and portrayed them as defenseless weaklings. I didn’t believe this. Just watching a woman go through the pain of childbirth was enough to change my attitude. I have taught men and women martial arts over past 30 years and have found that women are tough, spiritually, mentally, and yes, physically, if they are trained properly.
There is a video of me training a young college girl many years ago. As I’m attacking her, I notice that she is not aggressive enough. I have to admit that I was a little rough on her because I knew that she had greater potential. What I did from here was to modify my training system to bring women to the point of strength by using an approach different from training men.
I use a lot of Wing Chun principles when training women because it was created by a woman and is based on power that originates from the core…from the center line, which I believe is a women’s power source. What’s great about this training is that an attacker doesn’t expect a woman to fight back in this manner. That’s why I just love to sit back and watch the women I train surprise their male classmates with their strength and skill. They just don’t expect it! You can see a lot of these women on any of my YOUTUBE videos. They are tough and beautiful!
Calasanz Pau Fa Yoga™ is a physical fitness program combining martial arts applications, known as bunkai, with the style, grace, and fluidity of yogic stretching techniques and the serenity of meditation.
Calasanz Pau Fa Yoga™ program consists of “no contact” routines where you learn how to maneuver in a defensive manner. The added benefit of Calasanz Pau Fa Yoga™ is that you learn self-defense as you gain a deeper appreciation of the applications or bunkai. You will be constantly challenged with new, and exciting movements selected from the katas of karate, kung fu, wing chun and Chinese boxing, as well as the Calasanz System™.
Calasanz Pau Fa Yoga™ also cultivates the principles of yogic meditation and concentration by encouraging participants to empty their minds and confront their imaginary opponents with slow, deliberate, and invigorating movements. The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root word yujthat means union, or balance. With this concept in mind, Calasanz main objective in creating Calasanz Pau Fa Yoga™ was to unite the principles of martial arts and yoga to create a dynamic physical fitness program that has long been a favorite of his private and group fitness clientele. The end result of Calasanz Pau Fa Yoga™ is balance…a physical workout, a mental release, and an understanding and working knowledge of the practical application of martial arts techniques.
Start your training in Calasanz Pau Fa Yoga™ by calling Calasanz at 203-847-6528, visiting his dojo at 507 Westport Avenue in Norwalk, or checking out the website at http://www.calasanz.com/.
I’m a novelist. A number of years ago, I came to Calasanz seeking a teacher. I wanted to master my body…wanted to focus my mind…..wanted to balance my energies to help handle a complex and taxing life. I was studying energy and Chinese Medicine and I’d read a great deal about the philosophy of the Martial Arts. I wanted a teacher, who was creative and philosophical, not just a brute.
When I arrived at the dojo, I felt a little intimidated by the overwhelming maleness of the place, there were very few women in Martial Arts back then. I watched Calasanz train a group of strong young guys and I asked him cautiously, “Can I really do this? He looked me in the eye and said, “How much do you want to do this? And suddenly, I knew if I chose to take those first steps on this journey, Calasanz would be my mentor.
Now, with more than a decade of training under my black belt, he’s not only my teacher, but my friend. And I can say with absolute conviction, not one person has had a more profound effect on my physical evolution than Calasanz.
My name is Nana Smith. For the past 10 years, I could not imagine that shopping for jeans can be a celebration. My joy of discovery is so great that I want all to know about it.
I had been training all my life. My passion for “workouts” started back home in Georgia – a small country on Black Sea. I had my personal trainer who taught me my first kicks and punches. I swam for several hours. I ran cross country. I skied. But upon coming to America, my life changed dramatically. My time was consumed working and struggling to provide everyday living necessities for myself. My beloved workouts went by the wayside for a while.
However, after a few years, I regained the time to allow “workouts” to re-enter my life. I did boot camps at 4:30 am. I ran along the Long Island Sound with a 20-pound backpack. I sweat like a pig – and I loved it. I totally loved it all except for two small problems: (1) I was gaining weight every day; becoming more and more muscular and larger. (2) My knees hurt so badly that sometimes I could not go up and down stairs. I felt heavy, old, huge and very often depressed.
It was time to change something in my training. I was 205 pounds with huge muscles all over my body when I started Bickram Yoga. I went in hot rooms seven days a week for one year; sometimes I took two classes in a row. Bickram softened me a bit. But the process was contrary to my natural desire for physical action. It was strange to sit still for 90 minutes in a dark room till almost fainting and repeating this process day after day. I kept telling myself, ‘this is good, you are losing weight,” but it still felt strange.
I was at the crossroads of changing my workout pattern again when I received an email from Calasanz Physical Arts. I knew about the place a bit. I knew that this is a place where celebrities trained and that the owner, Calasanz, had become a “celebrity” himself over the years. He is the creator of a unique physical development system, “Creating The Body You Want,” with more when 20 years experience training women.
I truly thought it would be way too expensive for me until I saw an advertisement stating that “we offer special rates to accommodate the rocky times of recession.” Putting things on a “to-do” list is not my nature, so I just picked up the phone right away and called. And to my surprise, Calasanz answered himself. (Celebrities usually do not answer their phones.) After a brief conversation, I went to see him.
The Calasanz dojo is anything but gym. It is a large, open, airy complex with many rooms, and fully equipped with mirrors, ballet bars, showers (the places I had trained in before had no showers whatsoever, even Bickram Yoga), lockers, and even a tea bar. There is no heavy equipment or machines. But there are a lot of different bars, punching bags, sticks, martial arts dummies and a myriad of hand weights.
The dojo is very symmetrical and has a natural warmth and very positive aura. Coming from Europe where the scale is much smaller, it was almost impossible for me to enjoy regular American gyms – too large, too hot in summer, too cold in winter and most of all, environments where I felt personally isolated. The positive aura of the dojo, plus Calasanz himself and his trainers and students makes me feel welcomed. Everybody’s attitude is very positive and they all display the great respect of the master. Calasanz himself is a charismatic, down-to-earth person. He likes to oversee the entire group. He is truly unique from all others I’ve trained with and his dojo is unique from all other gyms. He calls it a temple. And truly it feels like temple.
On my fist day, he greeted me at the door, gave me a tour and then took me upstairs for the first training. He told me, “You are in the right place; now you will receive the best guidance, and we will fix everything.” I just smiled. Calasanz’s approach is gentle on the body. I could feel my muscles stretching. I could feel them working out in a natural manner using mostly body strength and different hand and ankle weights. I took a few classes with Calasanz and then signed for the entire year … and this was the best thing I could have done for myself!
While training, I watch myself in mirrors as all others do … and day after day I see my astounding transformation. I started as a middle age woman of 185 pounds (truly needing size 14 clothes) who was bottled up in her inner self. In less than 2 months of training, I now look at myself in the mirror and I see a young, elegant, open woman. My body shrunk in the right places and developed where it should be developed. I came down to size 8. I look and feel like I am in my 30s again! I now love shopping for clothes. And I even catch admiring eyes and find men holding doors for me. I have more energy than I ever had. I not only look younger, I feel younger. I sleep less and want to do more. The result is totally magnificent!
The best part of it is that exercises are safe and natural. My pains and aches are gone. My knees, back, and overall muscles feel rejuvenated. Calasanz often says that he is body scientist and now I understand what he means. He not only understands physical anatomy, he also knows what kind of exercises suit your body type. So a person can become leaner, lighter, more graceful, more elegant and simply beautiful without hurting him or herself in an optimal time frame. And it is never boring because he rotates exercises on a daily basis – making it fun to do and assuring muscles don’t adjust to the same movement over and over again.
Programs are versatile and schedules are very flexible. He has group and private classes as well as boot camps. Calasanz is one of the best Marital Artists in the world and offers a huge selection of Martial Arts Forms to learn. We can also access his library with hundreds of DVDs featuring specific training courses and that capture Calasanz in the action. And there is more to come as he is now developing his Calasnaz Systems Yoga methodology.
The Calasanz dojo is open 7 days a week, day and night, 365 days a year. If you are seriously interested in transforming your body, getting a thinking man or woman’s workout, learning the art of self-defense or martial arts forms at large, I urge you to take a complimentary session with Calasanz. It will change your life. And in my case, experience the added benefit of enjoying shopping for jeans!
Anyone can execute a block or a strike, but not everyone can do it with balance, power, flexibility, and style. The quality of the execution is what is most important. If you follow the young lady in the video closely, you can see that she has a very good block. Notice when Calasanz swings how she naturally drops back and moves her head to evade the strike. She then immediately returns a counterattack. At this point in her training, will she be able to hurt someone? No, but it is crucial to teach good technique first and then develop more strength and striking power. There is a difference between training in martial arts and boxing as a way of life and training for competition. Nobody is really ever ready for the streets because what goes on there is very unpredictable. If you want to produce a good street fighter, then you need to find someone who has no fear. Technique for this person is just icing on the cake.
I was 40 years old when I found Calasanz. I’d been riding and jumping horses for exercise until an Indian Vision Quest experience showed me that there would be a serious riding accident in my future, if I didn’t stop.
I needed a new sport – but as one who historically was bored silly by most of the sports I’d tried, I was stymied as to how to replace my equestrian workouts.
I’d seen The Karate Kid and traveled extensively in Asia. Intrigued by what seemed like an exercise program that was also an intellectual and spiritual challenge, I set out to find a dojo. The ones I visited were a big turn-off. Mr. Miyagi was nowhere in sight, and the instructors, most of whom seemed to have learned their skills in the Military, were not at all what I was looking for.
Then I found Calasanz and my life changed forever.
“Can I do this at 40?” I asked him.
“That depends on how much you want to do this,” he responded. Just the right answer.
I began to train. Calasanz has a gift for motivation, not just Martial Arts. He somehow made me believe I could do the feats he expected of me. And little by little, I found he was right.
A profound knowledge of anatomy, a brilliant grasp on what motivates someone to succeed, and a great showman’s ability to display undreamed of feats and make them seem possible – all these gifts combined to make Calasanz the perfect teacher. Never in my life, have I found a teacher of anything who was more extraordinary, or more inspiring.
So for 6 or 7 years, 6 days a week, at 5 a.m. I showed up to train. It wasn’t that Calasanz demanded this schedule, it was that I had fallen in love with Martial Arts.
I built a dojo in my home so I could train there, too… I read every word I could find… I practiced with the great step-by-step videos Calasanz offered me. And I learned Karate and Wing Chun Kung Fu, the katas and the fighting forms, the history, discipline, focus and magic that set Martial Arts apart from other sports. My body changed to the greatest shape of my life… but far more than that changed.
Calasanz taught me to believe that I could exceed my own limits. His conditioning program was so knowledgeable and so gradual that I could train hard in the morning and still write books all day – my concentration on work sharpened by the skills I had learned at the dojo.
Strength… agility… focus… determination. These are a few of the gifts I gratefully received, and then honed, while working out with Calasanz. Black Belt rank was my goal and the thrill of achieving it was phenomenal – but I’ve since realized that the real gifts from Calasanz were far greater. A divorce and a move to New York ended my daily workouts at Calasanz dojo, but all that he taught me will always be with me.
I wish everyone had the privilege and pleasure of being taught by Calasanz – the world would be a better, safer, healthier and happier place.
Cathy Cash Spellman is a bestselling author of five books that have appeared on The New York Times and International Bestseller List.She also has written for Self, Harper’s Bazaar, Mademoiselle and a wide variety of other magazines.
As a martial arts instructor with many years’ experience, I can say that I have learned the “shortcuts.” I know what type of training works and what doesn’t. As a teacher, I know how to help you learn in the most efficient way, separating the best from the useless. I have done all the “leg work,” so you don’t have to! That’s how I created a name in the 1980’s; by taking novice white belt students and within a period of 3 months, training them to compete in the black belt division of various tournaments.
I have used the same “shortcuts” over the years to accelerate my students’ progress. That’s why my school has remained in business, while others have closed over night. I know how to get results in a fraction of the time. The one thing that I ask is that you give yourself to the process. If you want to go to Hawaii , you just book an airline flight, get on the plane and trust that the pilot will get you there. Do you tell him or her how to fly the plane? Do you ask a hundred questions and agonize over every detail of the trip? No…you sit back and know that eventually, you’ll end up in Hawaii. Do the same when it comes to your martial arts training. Follow my instructions, train hard and trust that I will take you where you want to go.
Physical Arts helps you to reach your goals faster. It is important to get your technique to flow. This will cause a greater circulation of the “chi” or internal energy we all have. When techniques aren’t smooth, it’s like a “kink” in a hose. The energy gets stopped up and the water can’t flow. Once we get out the “kinks,” then the flow of energy will allow you to train with more vigor and help you achieve a fit, healthy figure. I designed my Physical Arts Exercises around this principle.
Humm? Totally dangerous ballistic movements. What the Hell was that? I can tell you love yourself.
Response
We fail to see the “ballistic” movements that one of the comments was referring to. What you see here is Calasanz Aerobic Isolation System that has been popular with women since the 80’s. This class is taught at Calasanz dojo, as well as various continuing education programs throughout the area, with great success. Interestingly enough, we get a lot of kickboxing, and dance craze aerobic dropouts from other fitness facilities that have suffered injuries and need a saner form of exercise. Our program suits women of all ages and levels of fitness. We have used similar principles of the Calasanz System to train our fighters. It improves coordination, flexibility, power, balance and reaction time. That is why our system is still popular and we have been in business for over 30 years.
Dance, Aerobics, & Fitness Exercises
