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
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.
“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.
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.
Most martial artists will tell you that your chances of surviving abduction once an attacker gets you into his car are slim to none. Their advice is to fight for your life because statistics show that the consequences are grim. On Wednesday, July 28, 2004, Larissa del Mar Fiallo, was assaulted by two men who tried to kidnap her in the parking lot of a shopping mall. The incident made international news because Ms. Fiallo is this year’s Miss Dominican Republic. What interested us about the story reported by CNN.com (July 29, 2004) was that Ms. Fiallo was able to escape her attackers “thanks to her knowledge of judo.” She explained how she fought back when the two men tried to get her into their car and how she knocked over the larger one three times. Her attackers fled the scene and an investigation is pending. While Ms. Fiallo suffered deep cuts and bruises to various parts of her body, she survived the attack and was released from the hospital several days later.
Violent crime is on the rise in the Dominican Republica as the country faces one of the “worst economic crises in decades, according to CNN.com. Calasanz was born and raised in this country where he learned about self-defense first hand. His experience did not come from pre-arranged tournaments with competitors wearing padding and subjecting themselves to the rules and regulations of sparring. He learned hand-to-hand combat in an environment where a man is routinely challenged to physically defend him and others.
Calasanz has combined his real life experience and martial arts training into two courses designed to serve the needs of a public interested in fitness and self-defense. “While we teach traditional martial arts as part of our curriculum, if people request it, most want to get into shape and learn how to fight,” says Calasanz. “They don’t want to spend years learning forms or weapons that were used in ancient societies. And they could care less about belts and stripes.” Most of the students who train at Calasanz are busy executives, professionals and homemakers who want a curriculum that emphasizes fitness and self-defense. “Many of my students travel for business and are concerned with their safety in an increasingly uncertain world. They want to be prepared to defend themselves and their loved ones.”
The essence of the Single Blow and Street Survivor Courses is to strike where an attacker is most vulnerable and to get away. Single Blow is our basic course designed for those who wish to learn a simple, effective form of self-defense in a short period of time. Street Survivor is a more complex version of Single Blow, which includes more techniques and technical training. The one feature that both courses have in common is Calasanz’ Body Conditioning System. A defensive blow is useless unless the person delivering it is able to focus his or her power. Calasanz has always believed that the study of self-defense begins with making a connection to your physical body and learning how to use it as a weapon. It is from there that Calasanz and his trained instructors teach you his unique philosophy of counterattacks and how to use them in any situation.
We at Calasanz wish Ms. Fiallo a speedy recovery and commend her for her bravery in the face of extreme danger. She serves as an example to all of us of why we study the martial arts. For those interested in either the Single Blow or Street Survivor Course, contact the school for a personal consultation.
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?
When I first came to the United States I wanted to make my mark, I wanted to make a name for myself. Upon entering this country I had a goal in mind and I said it over and over again, “I came here to make a movie.” I heard what Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others had to go through in Hollywood with the politics involved in making it big and I did not want to follow that path. Even Bruce Lee went back to China because of those same politics. I kept going and would not falter on my decision, I wanted to make this movie in the U.S., not my home country of the Dominican Republic. Besides, I was only training in martial arts in the Dominican Republic part time. I was respected the first time I entered a martial arts school because of my natural ability and most of all I never slacked off. You should also understand that I was a bit of a show off, if someone wanted to take a photo with me or asked me to do a full split, I did it immediately. All that showing off surprises me when I look back at it but I enjoyed showing off my skills and I do have a strong respect for martial arts and the instructors that had a hand in my training, especially Tameyoshi Sakemoto. I gained the trust and heart of Sakemoto because I possessed a gift to be a naturally gifted martial artist and I never abused that gift. Most of my fights were won without fighting, anyone that wanted to discuss martial arts with me understood my skills and knew that I required and deserved respect. There were some cases where I won a fight but I was fortunate that it was not too serious a fight because even though I was in good shape maybe my diet was not so good, maybe I worked too hard, put too much pressure on myself, or made too many mistakes. When you are training hard and put that amount of pressure on yourself, regardless of how good a shape you are in, you would not be at your strongest with all that stress.
When I was eight years old when I taught my four year old brother how to hurt another kid who was bullying him. Between eight and 12 years old I knew how to take a big step forward and deliver the hardest kick to a cow that connected on its belly. There is an empty space that this animal has, I would love to know the name of that specific muscle, you hit it hard and they go down for at least one minute! I used to do that all the time, until one day I got caught, before the cow got up my father came and knew exactly what happened.
As I start training in martial arts, all my friends realized that I had a talent for what I was doing. They realized that no one on the farms in the Dominican Republic could trade kicking with me including his elders. I could easily win a fight just by kicking. Fighting was something came easy to me, I could look at a person and immediately knew when to strike, bite, punch, or kick them. I would take examples from today’s self defense techniques like MMA and Wing Chun Chi Sau and I would know where to strike just by looking at a person‘s body. I loved martial arts but my father begged me to get into boxing but I wanted more than just beating someone as a sport.
In 1975 my father and I went to see a movie made famous by Bruce Lee titled “Enter the Dragon.” I knew right away that I wanted to make a film. I started planning a trip to the U.S. I knew that I could make a business out of movies and acting. I did not want to just teach anymore, I knew that I wanted to be on the big screen. I wanted to do exactly what Bruce was did. At this point I already had a diploma and a job at a bank. I was able to convince my job to let me take a break to go to the U.S. to study. I applied for a visa and got accepted to the University of Bridgeport. When I got to the university I didn’t open a book, I was more focused on anything and everything to do with martial arts. This journey to get to the U.S. and make something of myself was realized when I opened my school. After opening the school, the idea I had long ago to make a movie would finally be reality.
