Response: Thank you for your comment. What you are watching here is a set of drills. Calasanz’s reality based system includes a lot of focus mitt work emphasizing power strikes. Your observation is correct in that the student leaves himself totally vulnerable. What you are not seeing is the corrections made by the instructor regarding the student dropping his hands between attacks. The YouTube video was instructive for the student in watching his form and later correcting it with his instructor’s guidance.
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!
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 artstraining!
Comment: looks like mr miyagi teaching muay thai. ive done muay thai for a while now and neva kicked a bag with pads on lol, and if my shins were to bruised up i just would kick the bag full stop!
Response: Thank you for your comment however misguided. Calasanz has been teaching martial arts longer than you’ve been on this earth, so he knows a thing or two about conditioning. Our shin conditioning goes beyond the usual slamming of the shin against a heavy bag. It is a multi-exercise approach that will gradually build up the shin so our students avoid serious injuries and blood clots. The taped bag that is being kicked in this video is very hard. If you can sustain a kick on this bag even with a shin pad, you’re okay. We prefer to train intelligently. If you want to cripple yourself, then go ahead. If you don’t train wisely in your 20’s, you will pay for it in your 50’s.
Some students are so eager to learn, devoted, and talented that we want to “groom” them for the future. We see so much hope and promise in them that we pour a lot of time, effort, and energy into their training, with the expectation that they will carry our dojo or system into the next generation. It can be devastating when this person walks out. We’re human and we’re going to feel let down, betrayed, disappointed and maybe even a little pissed off. This is not very “Zen-like.” In these situations, it is important to have to have a good balance of feelings and logic. One cannot dominate your personality. If you’re too emotional, you’ll be out of control. If you are too logical, you’ll be too cold. You have to have the right balance. Maintain your composure and realize that students have their own motivations for doing what they do. Appreciate the time you’ve had with them, but know that most will move on and we have to let go.
Without core training, you won’t have the strength, flexibility or alertness for any other sports. Core training means strengthening your stomach, lower back, pelvis and hips, muscles that surround your spine; Core training relieves back pain and protects your spine from possible future injuries. It enables your upper body to work more fluidly with your lower body, giving you better posture and improved balance. Core training also aids in brain and nervous system support, so a core workout helps your concentration. Call Calasanz @ 203-847-6528, or visit Calasanz in Norwalk or/and his website www.calasanz.com
The Calasanz System, a martial arts and fitness style, is a blend of karate, kung fu, wing chun, boxing, kickboxing, MMA, ground fighting, and self-defense. The system appeals to men, women, and children of all ages because it is grounded in beauty and practicality, as you can see from the videos that have been posted. Calasanz, the creator of the system that bears his name, believes that effective martial artists must not only know technique, but also be physically fit. To help his students achieve this goal, he created Calasanz Physical Arts. Calasanz Physical Arts consists of holistic and functional exercises that are meant to increase strength, endurance, flexibility, balance, coordination, speed, agility, and body unity. These exercises can be used by all levels of athletes in all sports looking to enhance their athletic prowess and can also be used by anyone, any size, shape, age, or ability to increase mobility, health, and well being. The Calasanz System attributes its success to its simplicity; simple enough for beginners and unique and effective enough for professional martial artists. The Calasanz System has been in existence for over 30 years and continues to draw new students every year based on the goodwill it has generated. Simply stated, the system works.
The goals of a good martial arts curriculum is progress. Regardless of the style you have chosen to study, all of them begin with the fundamentals and can take you to the level of mastery. Success however depends on two things: commitment on your part and a skilled instructor who not only teaches you the art, but also challenges you.
To some, progression in the martial arts is about earning another belt or stripe. The space between these belts and stripes however is where the martial artist makes his real gains. This is where all the hard work takes place. In addition to learning the new techniques required by your style’s curriculum, you will be tested physically and mentally.
Increasing your fitness level will be challenging, as you push yourself to become faster, stronger and more agile. You can learn thousands of techniques, but if you are not physically fit enough to execute them, they will be of little or no use. This is why it’s important for a martial arts curriculum to include conditioning exercises. Take them seriously because they’re part of the whole package.
You have to discipline yourself to get to the dojo and train hard on nights when all you want to do is go home and lay on the couch. You may want to eat healthier so you spend more time training and less time digesting! You will have to take all that your instructor has taught you and incorporate it into sparring or self-defense practice. While you’ve learned many attacks and counterattacks, you may find that you only use a few. This is where you experiment with what really works.
Now it’s time for your instructor to do his part. A good instructor will push you beyond your comfort zone. He knows that in order for you to go beyond where you are now, he’s going to have to make you work. He’s going to have to mix up the physical training so your routine doesn’t get stale. He may change up a workout that you’ve gotten used to. He may ask you to train with different classmates or to train alone. He may ask you to work on your least favorite techniques or learn a really hard form.
Don’t get upset if one day he walks into class and turns it all upside down. His experience tells him that a stale routine stalls your progress. The only way to get to the next level is to push past whatever is in your way. Work diligently on what is asked of you. The day of your test is merely icing on the cake. All the work necessary to progress is done between the belts!
Eight years had passed since Calasanz came to the U.S. to make his movie and it seemed that that time was slipping away. His students goaded him constantly, asking him, “Hey Calasanz, when will we ever see this film?” Even though the time and circumstances were not ideal, Calasanz felt compelled to act and realize his dream.
One of Calasanz private students, an aspiring filmmaker who we’ll call Mike, wanted to help Calasanz with the film. So the team started by making a few commercials and eventually turned its attention to producing an independent film.
One of the first things they needed was a good script. Calasanz had been developing his version of the perfect script for over 10 years, but needed his ideas to be formalized by a professional. Another student who was a Hollywood scriptwriter gave Calasanz some good ideas, but it needed more work. Mike agreed to get the script in working order. This would require many revisions and Calasanz was assured that it would be ready.
Sounds good up until this point, but many obstacles got in the way. Calasanz suffered a shin injury in a bizarre situation that hampered his ability to train as well as keep his business afloat. (See:http://blog.calasanz.com/2009/05/27/how-one-out-of-control-cook-changed-my-life/) On the day that production was supposed to start, the script was nowhere near completion. Frustrated, Calasanz took his original script out of the director’s hands and from that point on; the movie became an improvised production.
Financial problems also plagued the movie. The first version of the film was not up to Calasanz standards and the only way to improve it was to invest more money into its production. While many involved in the making of the movie were well intentioned, inexperience proved to be very costly.
The price tag quickly escalated from a budget of $350,000 to almost a million dollars. Calasanz did whatever he could to raise the funds to make the movie, including borrowing from friends and students. When the movie did not produce the financial rewards expected, Calasanz was left with a pile of debt. Advised by many to discharge these debts in bankruptcy, Calasanz refused, and made it his mission to pay back all his investors with cash, memberships, or a combination of both.
In the eyes of the world, Calasanz may have failed because his movie wasn’t a blockbuster. In fact, Calasanz doesn’t look at it this way. The making of the movie had many successes beyond what you see on the screen. Calasanz was a pioneer in making movies in the State of Connecticut. Now in 2009, Connecticut is one of the premiere locations in the country for moviemakers. Calasanz made his vision come true in the 80’s and saw the potential for creative works in this state. Calasanz also used the making of the movie and the publicity surrounding it to promote his name, which has proved to be invaluable as far as promoting the goodwill of his martial arts business. He also learned there were many people who believed in him. That’s why it was so important for Calasanz not to file for bankruptcy.
Not many people out there can say that they actually made their own movie and paid for it. The movie played in theaters on the East Coast and also in the Dominican Republic, where Calasanz is a national hero. In the end, Crossing the Line was a great success. It all really depends on how you measure it.
The ancient, Eastern method of teaching the martial arts required the student to watch the instructor and then mimic his movements without one word being exchanged. Western students demand a lot more explanation and often ask too many questions. This leads to over-analyzing on the student’s part, making the learning process much more stressful than it really needs to be. Perfection of the movements in the Eastern sense comes with time as the student matures. Sometimes, it’s best to just watch, see the bigger picture, and then start practicing.
In keeping with this ancient tradition, Calasanz has created a series of instructional DVDs designed to help you grasp the “bigger picture.” Watching the DVDs at home or here at the dojo before class lets you know what to expect and helps you relax the mind as you visualize yourself doing the movements. The result is that if you do your “homework,” your time in class will be more productive. The reason being for watching the DVDs at the Center is to keep you from making excuses if you bring them home, most of the time it makes impossible for you to spend 10 minutes them before going to the School.
Calasanz offers over 700 videos covering topics such as basics, forms, self-defense, weaponry, kickboxing, Regular Boxing Recreational Boxing, Wing Chun, Goju Ryu, traditional and 20 Arm Wooden Dummy, Chinese Boxing and physical conditioning through Calasanz Physical Arts.Special DVDs are also available to help you improve your athletic performance in non-martial art related sports like golf, tennis, soccer, baseball, football, and ice hockey. The DVDs are easy to understand and are a great instructional tool for students at any level of training.
Make an appointment with Calasanz today to choose the right DVD to help enhance your martial arts training! Young Athletes will be watching the DVDs upstairs, they will spend 10 minutes either before their session of during their session. Many of the Young Athletes who train privately upstairs with Calasanz, they don’t have to worry, Calasanz already knows what DVDs best for them.
