The Eyes Have It!! Eye Contact and the Martial Artist: by Calasanz



In The Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi admonishes Daniel-san for not looking him in the eyes.  In Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee points to the moon and tells his student not to concentrate on the finger or he will lose all the heavenly glory.  Some martial artists, however, spend a lot of time working on their basics, polishing their forms, but little or no time developing proper eye contact and focus.  Why are the eyes important in martial arts training? 

The eyes are a declaration of your fighting spirit.  What kind of self-confidence do you exude if you can’t look your attacker in the eye?  Is your sparring opponent going to take you seriously? Are you looking away? Are you looking down?  Look him right in the eye at the start.  This type of body language says you mean business! This is particularly important in self-defense situations on the street.  The eyes can be weak or hold the intimidation factor you will need to defend yourself.   

The eyes show respect and gratitude.  When bowing to our opponents, we maintain eye contact as a courtesy.  When we shake hands before and after sparring or working on self-defense, we thank our partners for their participation in our growth as martial artists.  That technique you had to use on the street was honed in a school with the help of a partner willing to practice with you.  Look him or her in the eye and thank them for being there. There are no second chances or “do over’s” with that attacker on the street. 

The eyes tell you where the attack is coming from.  The boxer has to worry about two hands.  Martial artists are concerned with four limbs and a variety of attacks.  It is important to maintain your eyes on the centerline, drawing your focus on the upper chest or collarbone.  This will give you a good scan of the entire body. Developing good peripheral vision is also important.  Practice looking out of the “corner of your eye.” This may help you avoid that roundhouse kick headed for your skull!

The eyes can “telegraph” your next move.  Don’t look at the target or you might as well tell your opponent where you’re going to hit him so he’s good and ready for you!

The eyes can trick your opponent by looking in one direction and striking at another.  “Fake” a glance at his thigh and strike at the head instead.  Bruce Lee, for example, deceived his opponent by looking him straight in the eye and dropping him to the ground with his famous foot sweep.  They never saw it coming!  

So remember, next time you’re in class working on sparring or practicing with a classmates, don’t neglect the eyes.  Applying these principles will add a new dimension to your training.

What kind of background must you have to benefit?

It doesn’t matter what you background is, Calasanz has worked and continues to work with people of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and experiences.  From beginners at the dawn of their athletic experience, to professional athletes, seasoned martial artists from any and all disciplines, the physically challenged, athletes of all sports transitioning to (or supplementing their training with) the martial arts, Calasanz can help everyone!

If you study Karate (soft or hard style), Kung Fu (Northern or Southern style), Tae Kwon Do, Ninjitsu, Calasanz can help you improve.  If you are into competitive contact martial arts; Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Boxing, MMA, Brazilian Jujitsu, point fighters, Calasanz can help both strikers and submission specialists sharpen their fighting skills.  If you’re a performance martial artist (wushu, kata or breaking competitor), dancer, gymnast, or acrobat, Calasanz can help make your form and style more beautiful.  If you are in law enforcement, the armed services, fire fighter, body guard, bouncer, or are just looking to defend yourself in the street, Calasanz will improve your self defense skills.  If your looking to get in great shape or you’re an athlete (basketball, football, baseball, hockey, tennis, soccer, golf, lacrosse, or body building) looking for superior conditioning, Calasanz has the formula to increase your strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, speed, body awareness, and athletic prowess.

Calasanz Martial Arts and Fitness / 800-414-9455 / 507 Westport Ave. Norwalk, CT / www.calasanz.com / www.interdojo.com / www.the-perfectfit.com

 

Published in: on January 28, 2011 at 3:53 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Developing eclectic styles of martial arts from the traditional: by Calasanz

 

My first martial arts school was a traditional karate club.  There I studied an art called Goju Ryu karate that originated in Okinawa.  When you study a traditional martial art, you study one style where the techniques are taught in their original form. 

A traditional martial art has geographic origins. For example, Aikido originated in Japan, Tae Kwon Do, Korea, Wing Chun, China, and Goju Ryu, Okinawa. Traditional arts also espouse a code of ethics and philosophy of training.  When you sparred in class or tournaments, there were strict rules that had to be observed.  In my Goju Ryu club, we wore a traditional uniform which consisted of a white pajama-like outfit with a colored belt around our waste to indicate our rank in the system.

While my first school was located in the Dominican Republic where the language spoken is Spanish, we held on to the traditions of our art by conducting the class in Okinawan.  If you wanted to study a martial art in the 70’s you picked a style of karate or kung-fu and stayed with it.  It was considered a big insult to your instructor to even think of training in another dojo or introducing a technique that did not belong in your style’s curriculum. Bottom line is that you studied the art and preserved its traditions.

Over the years, many martial artists, like me, decided to venture out and explore other styles. My reason was that I wanted to be well-rounded martial artist.  Others believed that the traditional arts were impractical and unrealistic for the challenges of the modern day. 

Many traditionalists like myself, developed their own eclectic styles by combining several traditional martial arts, along with body conditioning and even some military combat techniques.  One of the goals of an eclectic martial art is develop practical street self-defense skills.

Calasanz Martial Arts and Fitness / 800-414-9544 / 507 Westport Ave. Norwalk CT / www.calasanz.com / www.interdojo.com / www.the-perfectfit.com

Calasanz Archive images of Martial Arts Training

Published in: on January 22, 2011 at 7:28 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Training smart with the Calasanz System

Comment: Definitely able to deal out alot of punishment.–fast and devastating.

Response: Thank you for your comments.  What you’re seeing here is clips of Calasanz training and obviously we have taken the most sensational pieces to create an exciting montage.  Behind the scenes is a lot of hard work and consistent, well-planned training.  In keeping with Bruce Lee’s philosophy, Calasanz agrees that 10 minutes of smart training is more productive than 2-hour sloppy workout.  Thanks again for your encouragement!

Published in: on September 9, 2010 at 10:08 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Economy of motion is best for self defense

Comment: What did Bruce Lee say? If he can’t win a fight in 30 seconds (or some insane short period of time) he might lose the fight. I think what he meant by that is if he hesitated to use his most devastating techniques he may lose. You don’t need a 3-5 minute round to end a fight when you use the right striking techniques (like to the head or eyes, neck and joints) and the fighting spirit to use them.

Response: Thanks for your comment and your observations. We agree 100%. In the mid-1980’s, Calasanz created a name by teaching the simplicity of the “single blow.”  In addition, he taught his students what he calls his “system side kick,” which emphasizes economy of motion and was a successful technique at many tournaments with his competitors. You may want to go to our website and check out “Calasanz: A Lifetime of Lessons,” a free brochure describing some of Calasanz philosophy on this topic. Thanks again for your interest.  Best of luck in your martial arts training!

Published in: on September 9, 2010 at 9:23 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Story Behind Calasanz’s “Crossing the Line” Part 1

Walk into Calasanz dojo or visit his website and you can’t help but notice the posters for his movie, Crossing the Line.  Most students and visitors can’t resist picking up a copy of a movie that was made right here in Fairfield County.  In the film, Calasanz stars as Jose Fernandez, a hard-hitting kick boxer and martial arts instructor. Jose rises to stardom after winning the world championship. His popularity attracts the attention of Jimmy Scarfone, a local hoodlum and owner of sleazy strip clubs, who becomes obsessed with the fighter’s new celebrity status, and begins to stalk him. Jose’s every move becomes the subject of Scarfone’s Americas Most Violent Videos. Soon Scarfone finds the ordinary life of a fighter is not exciting enough and sets about to change that. A series of violent encounters, lead to the eventual kidnapping of the champion.  

What you may not know about the film is what led up to its making and why it was so important for Calasanz to put his neck on the line to produce an independent movie.  

Calasanz was born in the Dominican Republic and like most boys his age, enjoyed action movies.  In 1975, his father took him to see Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon and he was hooked.  His mission in life from that day forward was to come to America, make a movie and become as famous as his matinee movie idol.  While his father wanted him to become a competitive boxer, Calasanz wanted something more than jumping into a ring and beating up on his opponent. There was a spiritual aspect to the martial arts that drew him to it. From that point on, he did everything he could do to make his dream come true. Calasanz went to the city to pursue his academic studies and quickly found a traditional martial arts school.  He trained long, hard hours, studied and worked at a bank to support himself.  All along, he kept his goal in sight. As a valued employee, the bank wanted to invest in his future, so they agreed to send him to the United States on a student visa to study English as a second language.  Once he set foot on U.S. soil, Calasanz never cracked open a book, but instead jumped head first into the martial arts.  

Calasanz made his desire to make a movie well known to anyone who was willing to listen.  All his students and colleagues knew that his sole purpose for coming to America was to make an independent martial arts movie without having to deal with the politics of the mainstream movie industry. He’d heard about how Bruce Lee had to actually leave the United States and make movies in Hong Kong because the industry had a hard time respecting a foreign actor.  But in order to do get this movie made, Calasanz needed money and time, two things that are in short supply for a martial arts teacher busy building a business from the bottom up. 

 Images and Video of Calasanz Martial Arts

Published in: on July 6, 2010 at 2:06 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Martial Arts Inspiration

You Tuber:

What is this, some kind of wannabe Bruce Lee training?

Response:

Like many martial artists who got their start in the 70’s, Bruce Lee inspired Calasanz.  He was also inspired to create one of the largest martial arts dojos in the country and has been in business for almost 30 years.  For anyone to have this sort of success, they must be doing something right.

Published in: on June 21, 2010 at 10:09 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Why doesn’t he step in the cage?

Still to this day, you get people saying that Bruce Lee couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag because the guy wasn’t running around sparring in tournaments for plastic trophies.  Calasanz has built a successful martial arts business based on an excellent reputation, courage and skill.  He and many other instructors out there have no need to step into a “cage,” to prove they are real martial artists.

Below is an article I wrote and posted on the internet a few months back on the subject:

Your No Good Unless You’re Fighting

“What’s old is new,” so goes the saying.  The great Bruce Lee was accused of not being able to fight his way out of a paper bag because he didn’t fight in tournaments.  Competent martial arts instructors have since been maligned if they don’t do tournaments.  The “old wine in a new bottle” is “if this guy is so good, why doesn’t he step into the cage?” So nowadays, if your teacher doesn’t compete in MMA, he’s no good!

Success in tournament fighting requires an aggressive, fight-oriented attitude.  Remember The Karate Kid? The Cobra Kai was all about fighting, aggression and causing trouble.  The instructor was a troublemaker who produced troublemakers. Schools and instructors that are too focused on the physical aspects of the martial arts miss the boat.  The balanced martial artist is not about garnering trophies and competitive rankings. It’s about developing skill and character.

How did we get to this point in the martial arts?  There are many excellent instructors who’ve never stepped into the ring to fight competitively.  Does this make them lousy martial artists? These individuals have created and sustained successful martial arts businesses because they’ve built a reputation in the community for offering quality services. Parents aren’t interested in sending their children to a school that’s going to turn them into bullies. Most sane adults who train in the martial arts want a school that’s going to challenge them, not send them to the hospital in an ambulance.

While training for tournaments requires a lot of work and discipline, it is not the ultimate goal of a good martial arts instructor.  A skilled martial artist instructor does not have to step into the ring to prove something.  The traits of a true teacher are not only skill, but also humility, courtesy and respect.  This is what a true teacher should pass on to his students.  Trophies tarnish, but character lives on.

Learn the Stand Up game of MMA from Calasanz.

Published in: on April 1, 2010 at 7:46 pm  Leave a Comment  
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“Board Don’t Hit Back”…But Bruce Lee Used Them Anyway!

You Tuber:

“boards don’t hit back” Bruce Lee

Response:

Is this all you can come up with? Why don’t you look at the picture on page 38 of the book entitled Jeet Kune Do: Bruce Lee’s Commentaries on the Martial Way, by Bruce Lee and John Little and tell me what is Bruce Lee doing in the picture? Breaking boards. Or why don’t you pick up a copy of Bruce Lee: The Incomparable Fighter, by M. Uyehara, turn to page 29 and read. What does Bruce Lee talk about in detail? Breaking boards. What did Bruce Lee use to demonstrate his one-inch punch? Boards. What about his one-finger board breaks? Boards again. Photographs and footage of Lee also include him using heavy bags, speed bags, kicking shields, oh and of course the wooden dummy, none of which can “hit back.” Do we throw all of these training aids into the garbage just because they can’t “hit back?” Calasanz wanted his Super Break to be different from the multiple breaks that he had been seeing in martial arts tournaments. Usually someone stands over a pile of bricks, boards or cinder blocks and stares at them before finally delivering he final blow with a fist, elbow or foot. Instead, Calasanz would first perform a kata and then use some of the basics from the kata in a 30-minute, non-stop breaking session. Part of it was to demonstrate his stamina, which is crucial in martial arts, especially for fighters. The other reason for Super Break was to entertain audiences who enjoyed the martial arts. So while the quote about boards not “hitting back” is attributed to Lee, it seems that when it was convenient for him to further his career through demonstrations, he had no problem with board breaking. Aren’t other martial artists free to do the same?

Published in: on January 6, 2010 at 5:44 pm  Comments (2)  
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Why doesn’t he step into the cage?

Still to this day, you get people saying that Bruce Lee couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag because the guy wasn’t running around sparring in tournaments for plastic trophies. Calasanz has built a successful martial arts business based on an excellent reputation, courage and skill. He and many other instructors out there have no need to step into a “cage,” to prove they are real martial artists.

www.interdojo.com

Published in: on December 15, 2008 at 12:41 pm  Leave a Comment  
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