Calasanz is a master martial artist that has spent over 30 years developing and perfecting his system of martial arts and fitness training. His unique teaching methods have helped countless men, women, and children of all shapes, sizes, and fitness levels enjoy martial arts while becoming physically fit in the process. The Calasanz System develops mind, body, and spirit as a whole. At Calasanz’s dojo, you will learn something to take home every day that will last you a lifetime. 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.
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.
The Calasanz System provides a diverse way to take your body, mind, and spirit through a range of experiences that forge your existence through a delicate blend of rigor and nurturing. Creating a person that is strong, healthy, calm, confidant, clear, humble, and in complete harmony with the universe around it. There is a magic to the study of martial arts. Legendary images and stories of tapping into ancient secrets of being able to achieve superhuman feats made possible by harnessing chi, the life-force of the universe. The stories are true, and that Calasanz has created a way to use them to empower your life. Start your training at Calasanzby calling him at (203)-847-6528,byvisiting the dojo at 507 Westport Avenue, in Norwalk, Connecticut, or by checking out the website at www.calasanz.com and come on by for a free trial class.
For so many years I wanted to have a system that could be so simple that students would not have problems challenging themselves at anytime, especially if they did not maintain a previous active lifestyle. I maintained students for years and showed them different styles of martial arts on top of what they were here studying, this way, after they earned their black belt; they already had the knowledge to build on those skills. I was not interested in belt rank, and I wanted to keep students involved at all times, but when they took a break and got out of shape, they lost most of their technique. Instead of being able to pick up an additional certification on top of their black belt, it would take many lessons since they stopped training. Had they continued their regimen, it may have only taken two lessons.
For example, one student said, “Calasanz, I have not been there and I want to take two weeks to get back in shape.” Since this student already had a black belt, I wanted to get specific with his training and get him some certifications on top of his black belt, which we call “Items” under the Calasanz System. My suggestion for his training was two weeks of mixed martial arts, certification in either American or recreational boxing, and part one of a Kata, which is great for getting in shape. I would have loved for him to take part one in Wing Chun but it is too slow and takes longer to get in shape unless you take part one of Chinese boxing. I told him to let me know what he prefers since there are around 700 hundred basic items, with sub-items exceeding 4000.
Before I give you another example, I have to mention Kyle. He is eight years old and is very happy to be a black belt. Once in a while, Jeff or I will ask him, “What about the next certification?” He just says, “Of course, my parents and I are all for it.” Kyle has the legs chi sau certification, and he just got the first part of Wing Chun certification. Being so young, it is exciting for him, but also it is cute to see how happy he is and how effective this program is.
Another student is a U.S. Marine named Erik, who was the first student to get 17 certifications along with his black belt. During the course for over two years, he has become one of the best qualified instructors from my school and he is getting ready to open a school in Florida which will be based on private one-on-one personal training. He is also qualified to speak and demonstrate in a martial arts seminar.
An important item we offer is boxing, both traditional American boxing and recreational boxing. Traditional American boxing is what you are accustomed to seeing on television but recreational boxing is something you would take up without having to become a competitor. Recreational boxing will make you faster, stronger, and more flexible, grounded, balanced, to get in better physical condition, and will give you the best self defense. It only takes Calasanz a half hour to give you enough self defense, to enable you in becoming capable of surviving on the street against any opponent. You could experience a thug throwing punches at you and by closing the gap, you will not get hit and you can counter at any time. The reason why is simple: the guy on the street is not a boxer and if he was a boxer, he may not have attacked you in the first place. Recreational boxing makes it easier for you to take care of yourself without getting hit and makes it easier to hurt the attacker.
Make sure you understand that if you take a half hour of boxing to learn how to defend yourself, if there is no power in your arsenal, you have not gotten the point of the exercises and that is why we also give you the responsibility to learn these exercises so you can practice them at home. Real defense means you are empowered to take care of yourself, your grounding, and your balance. These are the main tools you need in order to be successful on the street.
In boxing, there are a few techniques but it can take you many years to master them. It is similar to Wing Chun, there are few blocks, a few kicks and punches, but it requires talent, intelligence and a lot of work in order to be able to master that art.
Since I went to my first karate school, I already understood this and I did not believe in rank. I remember seeing all these ranks on a black belt, but I also remember going to one class and not coming back for about three months, and being able to develop on my own during that time. Still, I was not completely sure where I was in the martial arts. All I knew was that I understood something that they did not. During that first class, all I witnessed and experienced was brutality and I knew “martial arts” was much more than that!
Comment: u are a best martial arts trainer!! Anish J.
Response: Thank you for your compliment, Anish. What I originally wanted was a great scholastic career, and I earned over 25 certifications by learning languages like English, French, Italian, etc. Then I saw the movie “Enter the Dragon,” starring Bruce Lee and that was when I decided it was all I wanted to do. I came to this country with one dream, and that was to make a movie. I achieved that goal and that film is titled “Crossing the Line.” I was born to teach, I am sure that you have seen some of my videos.
Anish, one of my main goals is to help students of the martial arts, who are already martial artists or teachers. It is good to know that these skills allow me to help anyone, no matter how advanced they are. I can improve what talents they already possess. My philosophy is based on you keeping your cup full of the knowledge that you have already, together, we will fill it up with more knowledge. -Calasanz
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.
“Siam does not teach anymore.” This is a phrase you hear in regards to ancient martial arts. Today, those older, more traditional forms have been modified, especially here in America.
Being born with a gift for martial arts, being aware of the fact that when you train in the correct martial art, you can say age does not exist, it is not just that you are working out but rather what kind of work out are you doing. If a grand master comes and sees you training, immediately they would know what kind of physical activity you participate in. If you are at a gym pumping weights, do you know that all you are doing is taking years off your life? There is a way that you can do things differently and turn your training into your best advantage. That is when we say, “Age is just a number, you can beat it.” But how many do it? Let’s makes it clear, aging occurs, you get more mature and you get older, but you can turn it around and even when you are 90 years old, you could be capable of doing anything that a 35, 40, 45 year old can do. First find the facts, find the logic, find the science, and above all else, find common sense to what you are doing.
95% of the population is not doing the right training, including those who do physically demanding work but still are not gaining much. People are going to a fitness centers, or doing martial arts are not adapting training and martial arts into their lives or as their way of life. Here comes the word, “Breathing.” Do you understand the meaning of Breathing? Probably not. If you see a karate instructor, a physically fit person, or a body builder, approach to them and touch their body or muscle, you will notice the tightness and the amount of force wasted, meaning every second that passes they are taking days, months, or years off their life span just because they are doing something that is not helping them at all. This all comes from not breathing properly. The training that they are engaged in is just hurting them but when they are young and working out, they feel good and do not notice.
All of this knowledge as you get older, become more mature, and gain more intelligence, converts into skill, then skill converts into understanding and that is when you find the answer to the phrase “Siam is not teaching anymore.” Watch the movie “Kickboxer” starring Jean Claude Van Damme and you will see a lot. When you, as a teacher of the martial arts, primarily Kung Fu, start understanding the secrets behind it, sometimes you want to pull back from making others feel better, helping them live longer and have a better life. All of this is based on the reality of life and that is, if there is not trust on your part towards these people, then it will not work. Yet, many masters still insist on hiding or preserving their secrets and pulling back from teaching, they do not feel that you deserve it and that is the real truth.
Many believe the Chinese have discovered the secret to a longer life. If you understand the beauty of life, the beauty of a longer life, then you would think otherwise. 10 years extra of life, even one year is great, you would see more of this world than you would have seen had you not lived in whatever extra time you were granted by discovering these secrets to longevity.
The reason that Calasanz became so popular and one of the most respected names in the martial arts world is because in the early 80’s he was working 24 hours a day training his guys to promote him and that is exactly what they did. They promoted and made Calasanz’s name, and not just because they looked good doing it. It was because Calasanz, together with his students, were doing the incredible and still doing it, and he does it better in the present day, in a more organized way.
My main job is to teach students to understand their bodies and themselves. When people come to our martial arts and fitness center, they will take something home with them, knowledge. But above all, it is important to teach students how to do martial arts and exercise without causing them injury. That is my primary focus in my studio.
Since day one, I have met fighters who think they can fight with anyone. When you are a well balanced martial artist, you meet students who are good fighters, but are very tight, meaning their body is not relaxed. It is not just how tight they are but it is their belief of how great a fighter they think they are. Another common problem is that people forget to breathe when fighting. You can be a tough guy when you study at a traditional school, but they will not teach you what is necessary when you actually go up against a real fighter, that in itself is completely different. You cannot trade punches with a boxer who is relaxed when you are not even breathing. You can get away with this when fighting people on the street or at your school, but to step on the ring with a competitor is a different story. Here my school we can help you with relaxation and breathing when you fight.
I had one student that studied martial arts for about six years and nobody taught him how to correctly position and relax his shoulders. It was very difficult but it took me just two hours in a private session to correct this person that was carrying this problem for nearly six years. Do you have any idea how badly you can get hurt when your shoulder rises up and gets tight immediately? Many people, especially women, have the tendency to tense up which lots of times comes from being abused or scared. This is just an example of just one thing we here at Calasanz can help you with among many others.
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.
