One-on-one Training – Personal training that designs a workout that is just right for you.
Science – A life time of experience studying the function and potential of the human body and applying effective methods that will achieve peak physical conditioning.
Personal Choice – The best results come when a person truly enjoys our fitness program. Choose martial arts training, aerobic dance, yoga, boxing, weight training, and much more.
Infinite Possibilities – Change it up. Calasanz offers such a wide range of disciplines to choose from, being like every other school is just not an option. Start your training at Calasanz by calling him at (203)-847-6528, by visiting the dojo at 507 Westport Avenue, in Norwalk, Connecticut, or by checking out the website at http://www.calasanz.com/. Come on by for a free trial class.
Calasanz came to this country with a dream and knew what he had to do to achieve it. Coming to the U.S.was a long journey. Even though Calasanz worked at the most popular bank in his home country of the Dominican Republic, some of his earliest stories in America came while he worked at the restaurant Victoria Station. He went there and applied for a busboy position, only the chef, a Peruvian man named Carmelo was working in the kitchen, and they did not need a busboy, but rather someone to wash dishes since they were expecting 600 customers that night. Carmelo could not do everything by himself and asked Calasanz to do the work that five people would normally do since the restaurant was shorthanded. Good thing for Calasanz that he was able to understand and write in English. It was the beginning of his career in the states and he made a lot of money. During the first three months, Calasanz did almost every job in the restaurant including cooking, bussing tables, waiting tables, and soon he was the top waiter and eventually a bartender.
Calasanz never forgot a woman he met at the restaurant named Joan, who was studying to be a journalist; she was one of the most beautiful human beings he ever met. She thought Calasanz had a great personality even though his spoken English was not perfect. There was no doubt that she was any man’s dream girl. Calasanz came here with the ultimate goal of making a movie and for eight years he did not look at anyone, all Calasanz did was study and train, hoping to emulate what Bruce Lee did in this country, and felt like there was so much left to accomplish. With Joan it was different, even though he was nervous around her; it was hard not to glance in her direction.
Around this time, Calasanz was in the U.S.A. for less than one year, but was very popular already and had a body that was possibly better and stronger than Bruce Lee at his peak. Calasanz trained day and night, with two percent body fat and 135 pounds, just like Bruce. Calasanz wanted to model himself after Bruce Lee so much, that if he weighed more than that 135 pound limit, he locked himself inside a car with the heat turned up to act as a sauna to sweat off the extra weight.
Even though Calasanz does not drink, Joan once offered him a glass of red wine, so this one time, he made an exception. He could not say no because she was such an impressive and engaging woman. Personality, intelligence, humor, good character, she had it all; guys would just stare at her. Joan really saw something in Calasanz and believed he would achieve anything he set out to accomplish.
With all the hard work Calasanz had to do to get the recognition he so desired, Joan was a bright spot, she always believed in his success. If she is out there somewhere, reading this, Calasanz would like to say “Thank You” for everything.
Having good character is very important to Calasanz. He is the son of Eugenio Martinez, one of the most respectful, respected, and serious men in the Dominican Republic. Calasanz’s father raised the best 11 kids in the country and raised them all to follow his good character and respectful ways.
Another incident in the restaurant involved a manager that showed poor character involving a man who worked there as the general manager. The waitresses were very scared of him, he terrorized everyone, especially the ladies, but not when Calasanz was there. This person finally got fired for his behavior and was never to be allowed to ever enter a Victoria Station restaurant. Even though Calasanz believed this was a harsh punishment, he should not have treated people the way he did.
Calasanz enjoyed his time at Victoria Station and that is why he is sharing these stories. That company treated him very well and was a building block to get to where he is now.
Calasanz was born with a gift to understand martial arts because he was able to see the beauty, power, style, balance and reality of it at early years of his life. Above all else, Calasanz had the understanding that martial arts should not be primarily used for fighting purposes but as a way of life or around your life, especially when you follow its principles. Having a strong core, possessing good chi, and at the same time, the feeling of being yourself, are all possible with a martial arts background.
His system’s popularity started immediately when Calasanz began to demonstrate the reality of the martial arts, following his hero Bruce Lee. Mainly what made him recognized in a very short period of time was the beauty and style that he was able to bring to the public. Calasanz also built his name by training students to be fighters without having to be competitors.
People who train at Calasanz do so because they want to learn something that they can take home. Bruce Lee Said “I came to this world of martial arts to prove that an old tradition can be changed. Calasanz believes that you can add to an old tradition but you never can change it. If you strive to be more, if you want to be more successful than what you are, then you should train in martial arts.
Our system is based on style, logic, facts, and reality but above all else, the Calasanz System’s focuses on common sense. If you study the word “Zen,” it has a broad philosophy and trying to understand it is as difficult as trying to understand the Calasanz System. If you wanted to understand Zen, as compared to the Calasanz System, the key term of knowing what Zen is and the system is “simplicity.” The Calasanz System can be learned by someone in a few simple techniques.
Simplicity has been forgotten, mostly because martial arts have come so far in the world but it still works and is utilized in the Calasanz System. But simplicity can also be infinite, meaning you can spend two lifetimes just trying to learn the basics and the ins and outs of the system. Imagine trying to read and understand thousands of books, if you took one percent of each book you would know the meaning of the entire book. This analysis is very much like the Calasanz System, if you understand a little, you will realize that you understand much more than that.
Calasanz came to the United States with a dream. That dream was realized after watching Bruce Lee in the movie “Enter the Dragon.” Coming to America to make a movie became a goal for Calasanz. To promote his name, he chose over 60 students, most of which were the best street fighters alive. In the early 80s, the best street fighters were here in Norwalk, Connecticut and were citizens there as well. Calasanz devoted his life to the martial arts because he was born with a gift for it. Calasanz is not a regular black belt, he is more than that and he has proved that, not just in America, but as a 14 year old he went to take a class at a karate school and did not return to the school for three months. Why? He noticed too many mistakes but mostly he did not like the excessive brutality. In his mind, he said “There is no reason for this.” Going back to those Calasanz chose to promote, these students were courageous people, but also they were nice human beings. His students were not thugs; they were good people just like Calasanz.
Calasanz’s students that helped promote the system are Darryl Dash (Dash has a separate blog entry dedicated to him), who was the first black belt in the system, John Courtney (the man who really helped Calasanz to succeed and to get where he is today), but there are many others like Mike Gibson, Roger Mayers, Joe Perreira, Reggie Blackwell, Bill Sullivan, James Cassanell, Tyre Stwart, and Patrick Murphy. They will never be forgotten for their contributions. After 1987, when the business was up and running, many students came along that are great friends to Calasanz to this day. He considers them to be as close as family. Some of them deserve to be mentioned: Robert Sapiro, Grace Luppino, Noram Bloom, Mario Contaccesi, Dee Hohn, Angel Llanos, Peter Valis, Chris Schrade, Gerry Manning, David Been, Dennis Grimaldi, Beth Arthur, Renee Fortin, Rod Kathabi, Dave Tartaglia, Jeff Prescott, Adam Colberg, Andrew Dominick, Luis Vega, Wesley Elizabeth Cullin, Bill Smith, Amy Gery, Tom Barcello, Dalila Willian, Jennifer Li, Rebecca Lyon, and of course Jacquie, Ron Lake, and hundreds of others.
Calasanz can only name so many people since there have been so many students over the years, some of them not only learned martial arts from him, but they helped out. Calasanz will always remember them, and he hopes they will always remember him.
Calasanz came to the U.S., he wanted to promote his name. Two days after being here, his name became very popular in Bridgeport,Connecticut, especially at the University of Bridgeport; they could not believe what he was capable of doing. They asked him to put on an event for the freshman students, and soon after that, Calasanz was called upon to put on a show to be seen internationally on TV, called back then, Miss Venus USA. Being there really helped Calasanz to believe that he would become as good as or better than Bruce Lee.
Today, Calasanz is promoting his system that started in 2001, but also the school is also promoting Goju Ryu is his own way and dubbed it Calasanz Goju Ryu. Students or teachers from other styles of Goju Ryu will learn that this system is one of the most practical and realistic styles in the world today.
Calasanz Main style, Goju Ryu, Wing Chun, Cheng Chuang, Chinese boxing, Wing Chun Ground Fighting, General Kickboxing, MMA, Boxing, and Recreational Boxing are the roots of Calasanz Physical Arts.
This is just an idea of how far Calasanz is going with his martial arts system.
What is it about a man like Bruce Lee that has made him a martial arts legend? While the fancy stunts of Jackie Chan and Jet Li provide us with heart stopping entertainment, most of these feats employ the use of trick photography, strings and trampolines. What is so intriguing about Bruce Lee is that the man was real and so were his martial arts. Regardless of who comes and goes at the box office, there will never be another Bruce Lee.
Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method: Basic Training was released by Bruce’s wife, Linda Lee Caldwell, in 1977. During his lifetime, Bruce was hesitant to publish his training material because he wanted to avoid people learning from his books and then misleading the public into believing that were personally trained by him. It is important when reading Basic Training not to get sidetracked by the antiquated training equipment. These photographs were taken in the late 60’s and do not depict what we modern day martial artists are used to by today’s standards. What does require your attention is his training philosophy and the means by which you may improve your overall body conditioning. While following his training guidelines will not turn you into another Bruce Lee, you will improve your skill and fitness level if you put in the effort.
One of the key ingredients to being able to handle yourself on the streets is good physical conditioning. It is also important to master simple, effective strikes that may be accessed during a time where adrenaline is flooding your body and clouding your mind. It is in these moments that simple is best. All the fancy, rehearsed combinations fly out the window. This book prepares you for that reality.
Basic Training wastes no time in getting to the heart of Bruce Lee’s training philosophy. Chapter One launches into the importance of increasing your aerobic endurance and then proceeds to show you how. This is followed by Chapter Two, entitled The On-Guard Position. A detailed discussion of the importance of maintaining a proper on-guard stance also includes an analysis of classical fighting stances and how many of them hinder efficient defensive movement. Correct body alignment and the importance of maintaining proper balance is also addressed in this chapter. Basic Training then logically proceeds to developing proper footwork in Chapter Three. Bruce Lee’s evasion principles are introduced as they show martial artists how to get out of the way of an attack.
The next two chapters look at power and speed and how to achieve both with the use of training equipment. Bruce Lee’s famous one-inch punch is discussed in Chapter 4 and readers are taught that generating such awesome power requires the coordination of everything from the right way to make a fist, to the proper way to pivot your hip. Using the hands and legs to strike objects like air shields, heavy bags, focus mitts and the makiwara is also demonstrated. Speed Training talks about the importance of building lightening speed without giving your technique away to your opponent. Bruce Lee learned about the importance of not “telegraphing” by observing the art of fencing.
Since opening his doors in 1979, Calasanz has sold over 1,000 copies of Basic Training. “This book inspired and helped me realize the depth of Bruce Lee’s skill,” says Calasanz. “He wasn’t a tournament fighter who fought for a fancy plastic trophy. Bruce Lee was someone who could survive on the streets.” Without degrading or upgrading any particular style of martial arts, Bruce Lee trained intelligently, dispensing techniques that were impractical for street survival. Bruce Lee’s methods are useful to any martial arts practitioner regardless of their chosen style and our students are still adhering to his training philosophy in the new millennium.
Basic Training does indeed get to the heart of its title. This classic is easy to understand, logically sequenced and fundamentally sound. Bruce Lee’s legacy lives on because he was …REAL…in all respects.
CALASANZ PHYSICAL ARTS® evolved out of the martial arts tradition. It is the fastest way to get into shape and learn self-defense. Our system grew out of two programs I established to accommodate students who asked for special training. The first program was primarily used to improve athletic performance, called the YOUNG ATHLETES. Parents who trained with me or heard about my school asked if I could do something to improve their children’s athletic performance. I took the best the martial arts had to offer and combined them in a training system to maximize athletic conditioning and skill in a relatively short time. I worked with athletes specializing in tennis, soccer, football, basketball, ice hockey, dance, gymnastics and baseball to get fast results.
Another component of CALASANZ PHYSICAL ARTS® is the self-defense piece. This came out of a request from law enforcement officers; fire fighters and military personnel who wanted to get into shape and learn hardcore self-defense without having to spend years studying a traditional martial art. These people had no time for belts or tournaments. They had to worry about survival. I devised a one-month intensive to accomplish these goals.
Both programs were so successful that I decided to combine them into one program for the benefit of the general public. CALASANZ PHYSICAL ARTS® is popular because of its ability to get quick results and to keep you interested in your training. In creating this system, I designed a collection of exercises and techniques that focus on developing power, grounding, balance, endurance and flexibility.
There are so many different exercises in the system that boredom is impossible! I have created many variations on the basic exercises…from moving in different directions to working out in a seated or standing position. I love to change up the exercises from time to time to keep your workout fresh and to keep your muscles guessing.
CALASANZ PHYSICAL ARTS® is a great alternative to working out at a gym on machines, free weights or with a personal trainer. It’s a system that gets you into shape, teaches you how to defend yourself and keeps your workout fresh and exciting.
In 1987, two students came to my door and signed as private students, their names are John and Marcello and a friendship between us started immediately. Marcello who later became a director of commercials, wanted to do the same for me and he did. This is where Marcello got his start, he did not charge too much money because he needed the experience. He knew that it was my dream to make this movie and we started to collaborate. Marcello and I went to restaurants to talk about the movie, we always talked about the movie, I told him of my dream to make a successful film. I told him countless times that if this movie failed that it would shatter that dream. My father always believed in preventing a bad thing from happening and those words stuck with me. Marcello never had a finished script but I trusted him and he always convinced me by saying something like “Don’t worry, I know what I am doing.”
I thought about this movie for eight years and asked myself all the time, can this young guy direct it? Over the years I had always spent lots of time with various people to discuss business deals to prevent those bad things from happening if I could. I don’t believe in contracts but instead in mutual agreements. I did everything I could in those eight years to prevent any mistakes and I know now that everything I did was taken for granted. “Marcello,” I said time and time again, “This movie determines my success and my career.” We were best friends, such good friends that when he moved to the city he sent me letters to tell me what he was doing, how his life was, and how hard and how much skill he was going to put into my movie.
What I did not know about Marcello was that he was working for one thing, to make a trailer for himself in order to sell himself as a movie director. So much money was wasted on the first attempt at making this movie and Marcello wanted a second attempt at it. I did everything to get more money and gave Marcello a second chance like I always do because I don’t believe in giving up on people. As we started the movie, I opened an account where the money to make the movie would be deposited with the producer and Marcello on that account. The first budget for the movie was gone after two weeks so this was the reason for opening another account. Within two weeks the money was gone. There were checks written to buy products that I never knew about. Two years later, somebody close to the producer came and told me that over $100,000 was taken and I was so trusting and sincere that I believed that these people were just human. Even without knowing the producer, I trusted him, he was Marcello‘s friend. One thing I noticed that when the first budget was gone, the producer felt so bad that he gave me his credit card for to charge $10,000 which I paid him as he finished shooting the movie. That should have told me that something was not right because people do not do that. Did the producer feel bad or did he just not want me to look into where the money had gone?
Why CALASANZ KARATE AND KUNG-FU SYSTEM over your local karate studio? We have one of the largest facilities in New England for training and exercise. We have developed a refined system of five disciplines specifically to improve your hockey skills. Calasanz Kickboxing and Goju-Ryu Karate techniques yield explosive leg power, shoulder strength, and forearm strength. Wing Chun Kung-Fu and American Boxing techniques enhance grounding and balance skills. We also teach injury prevention skills and have helped many individuals rehabilitate themselves.
The plan is tailored to fit your hectic athletic schedule. We recommend one day per week in season and one – two days per week out of season. Personalized, group, family, or team plans are available. This program is for ages 5 and above.
If you are a female hockey player, you must realize how popular this sport has become in the last few months because of the women’s U.S.A. Hockey Team’s past achievement of winning the Olympic Gold Medal. Colleges, particularly Ivy League Colleges, will be recruiting for their hockey programs for years to come. We feel our system of training, exercise, and athleticism might give you that competitive edge against another athlete of comparable hockey skills, thereby helping you fulfill your dreams.
The basic and founding principles of the Calasanz System are extremely straightforward, intuitive and logical, yet, unfortunately, they are almost universally ignored in traditional Martial Arts training. All techniques must have three fundamental components to be effective: power, speed and focus (a technique that misses the target, is easily avoided, or is simply brushed aside clearly isn’t very effective). In order to develop power, speed and focus it is absolutely essential that there be balance, flexibility and strength throughout the entire range of motion. These qualities don’t mysteriously emerge. They must be systematically and carefully developed.
In most traditional schools, the drills and exercises have been passed from teacher to student and have become part of the “tradition”. The techniques usually require a very advanced degree of training to do well or even partially well. Unfortunately, doing something partially right is obviously doing it partly wrong. The cumulative stress and damage to joints, tendons and ligaments in this process of “learning” frequently results in long term and /or permanent degenerative injury. This is especially true after adolescence, when the body has stopped growing.
There is another equally dangerous flaw to this type of rote practice. When techniques are done incorrectly they are simply not effective. Blind repetition won’t magically transform this or make them work. Calasanz is continually reminding students that practice does not make perfect. Practice makes habit. Only perfect practice makes perfect.
Eventually, the student may approximate something that looks correct, but in actuality, the problem areas and weaknesses have only become much more subtle and difficult to correct. The end result is that the vast majority of students will never progress beyond a very mediocre level. Sadly, more practice will only compound the problem and just increase the chance of injury.
The Calasanz System was designed, among other things, to address these two fundamental and critical failings in traditional Martial Arts training. As stated above, it is a scientific and systematic approach to Martial Arts training and mastery designed to take virtually anyone to their highest potential as a Martial Artist in the shortest time possible without brutality or injury. This is a very strong statement to make, but it has been continually proven again and again with people of all ages (men and women) and in all ranges of physical condition. It is a direct result of how unique and effective the system is that helps explain why we are currently the largest school in the country and the quality and diversity of our students. Calasanz sums up the success of the school and its acclaimed international reputation in two favorite phrases: “Martial Arts for Everyone and Traditional Concept with a Modern Approach”.
Hopefully, the first is clear from the discussions above. With systematic development and skillful practice virtually anyone can learn the Martial Arts. Many traditional schools feel brutality and/or intimidation is essential to develop the necessary physical and mental qualities and stamina required in the Martial Arts. This is simply not the case. There are many ways to accomplish this – brutality/intimidation being among the least effective. Some schools are run, in the name of discipline, as if they were actually para – military organizations. Again, not only is this unnecessary but ineffective for the vast majority of people. Students from other styles find the supportive atmosphere of mutual respect at the school a very welcome change. Calasanz has found over the years that “change” brought about through fear or intimidation is seldom permanent. Change brought about by cultivating and developing the requisite “inner” qualities, on the other hand, is not only permanent, but has a transforming effect that touches every aspect of an individual’s life.
