Not Wrong | Just Different

The best martial artists are those with open minds.  While every person has a style that speaks to them it is hard to be respected as a person or martial artist if there is not acceptance of others' ways and an openness to learning new approaches and methods.

It is commendable and demanding of respect when a person decides to dedicate themselves to a specific art and work within that sect of the martial arts community.  Yet it is deplorable when this same person scoffs and sneers at others efforts within a different sect.

While it is no doubt true that certain styles or approaches are more effective there is still validity within the practice of those so-called "less effective" styles.  Each person must decide for themselves why it is they practice.  After all, Bruce Lee did say that in the end all knowledge is self knowledge, including knowledge of martial arts.  Upon continued dedication the practitioner learns about himself in ways of which he was previously ignorant.  For example you will learn by taking just one kickboxing class how flexible / inflexible you are.

Getting back on point, when it comes to the different approaches, styles and training methods of different martial arts it is of course still another thing all together to come to blows and to fight.  That is to say that there can be a big difference between what you train for and the way a fight can go, especially out in the real world where there are any number of objects within the environment let alone the possibility of concealed weapons or firearms.

Now I could go on and say how useless it is for someone to spend their life learning empty hand forms and that they should instead take krav maga or Aikido to learn about disarming and control through joint manipulation.  But it would be against common sense to say that it is useless to learn a form.  For it has its own beauty and use there within.  Discipline, control, learning body mechanics through movement and developing strength, power, flexibility and muscle memory of technique and perhaps the public performance of this form would even inspire others to seek out and enjoy the world of martial arts.

So what is the best and most effective martial art?  It is a trick question.  First you must ask yourself, "What is my goal through practice?"  From there you poke around and decide which art is a good fit for you.  Take note now as well and don't let yourself get brainwashed as so many do within their own space.  The first martial art you dive into will forever be a large part of your life but don't let it weigh you down or cloud your mind when branching out to something new or conversing with someone with background in a different style.  There is much to be learned but it is difficult for that learning to occur through closed doors.

Take your knowledge from school to school always filling your cup more and more.  Remember what you learn and be open to receiving more and more.  Again, when two martial artists meet it is not that there is one wrong and one right.  They are simply different and it is through appreciation and acceptance of this difference that both can learn and grow.

Intuition and Self - Defense

Intuition is something that comes to us spontaneously by definition.  

As defined it is : 

1.  the power of knowing immediately and without conscious reasoning

2.  the power or faculty of gaining direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought 

       and inference 

3.  a natural ability or power that makes it possible to know something without any proof or evidence : a feeling that 

         guides a person to act a certain way without fully understanding why

                                                                         (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intuition)

As it applies to Self-Defense, upon finding ourselves in a compromised or violent situation there is little to no thought or conscious reasoning that needs be performed.  In the act of fighting, or real combat, physical intuition takes full control.  We can imagine graphing these moments on a continuum.  On one end is the highest degree of 'mindlessness' and is most purely expressed during fits of "blind rage" or during "rage blackouts".  Often times those who suffer from this type of anger problem report seeing a light at the end of a tunnel which then gets snuffed out and will then "come to" in time as the rage passes either after some act has occurred or, as we would hope to happen, the person has been subdued or restrained during the episode in the spirit of maintaining the safety of all parties and standers-by.  The other end of the continuum is seen as complete and total submission or even paralysis like a deer in headlights.

While we all hope to never be in a situation where fighting were necessary it is an unfortunate reality that there are still those in this world with evil intent and ignorant directives sometimes even disguised as divine righteousness or civil privilege.  So how can we prepare?  How can you be ready?  

Simple, you must train your body physically to be capable of reacting.  Prior to physical confrontation you're going to need to give your physical body a tool-kit or some sort of background to fall back on should the mind get shut off.  This is where Martial Art comes in.  As you train Martial Art it is not for the purpose of going out and beating somebody up.  It is for the purpose of sustaining your person in the event that your health and well-being may be compromised by another.  It is to give the cells in your body a sort of physical memory or "physical intuition" should your consciousness flee in a time of severe distress.  The body's physical cells do have a certain capacity to store memories of their own.  To flush this out let's take a pianist to use as an example.  

When someone first starts learning how to play they have to look and focus very hard on each keystroke to be sure they are producing what is written on their musical sheet.  After some practice pressing the proper notes in proper order and on time becomes second nature.  Now, if you ask the finger "Where is the 'G' key?"  While it doesn't have the proper equipment to speak back to you to tell you "Its between the 'F' and the 'A'."  It can perform the act of pressing the 'G' key easily, repetitively and on time when sitting down to play.  No longer does he have to think about "Now I will press the 'G' key." every time he goes to press it.  This finger now holds within it a certain 'physical intuition' as to where the 'G' key is and when it needs to be pressed to make the proper expression.

So getting back to Self-Defense we can perhaps understand a little bit now as to what is going on when you set out to learn a form or a certain style.  You are giving your cells and your body a "physical intuition" on how they move, how to move and what they're capable of.  If you go to practice a form 1000 times this is one of the best things you can do for yourself.  Not only are you staying out of the Devil's play-pen for several hours, but you're putting in good work on yourself.  You are improving your awareness and your ability.  Just knowing what your body is capable of (or incapable of) is valuable information that could be the difference between a great counter-punch and getting knocked out.  Mentally the benefits are there too.  If you have the discipline and mental focus to perform something 1000 times, that strong mindedness is guaranteed to bleed into the other aspects of your life.  Going through repetitions and movements to that degree will automatically make you more proficient and in tune with your body and all of your extremities.  Your limbs.  Your fingers.  Your toes.  Your trunk.  Your brain.  Your heart.  Your entire body through and through.

So we train.  We train to give ourselves a "physical intuition" that should a situation arise where physical confrontation is unavoidable we have some sort of tool-kit to fall back on.  Whether that be Boxing, BJJ, Wing Chun, Karate, Aikido, Muay Thai, Krav Maga or some other Martial Art it is of little difference.  The difference is if you have something to fall back on or if you are left floating on thin air.

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Getting back into intuition more closely the conscious-self is often well off the mark.  But this should come as no surprise.  As the definition tells us from before, intuition is the power of knowing prior to conscious reasoning.  This implies an innate, natural and spontaneously, ever-presently occurring event that is "knowing without thought".  The disrupting agent of intuition then is thought itself or conscious reasoning / "logic" / "rationality" (side note: rationality itself is often a perversion of reality in an attempt to accept and excuse partial or complete failure).  Letting your intuition guide you is as difficult for some as hearing it.  Many are deaf to its voice and more yet willingly disobey its selfless advice.  At times I find myself included within that curious phenotype as I am learning.  As we all are.

So listen to yourself, but at the same time remain critical.  As the river of intuition flows on ever-more there are incredibly varying ways for it to reach the sea.  While intuition as defined is "knowing prior to conscious reasoning" it is usually that which is most readily known that first pops up into thought.  

Hark!  Listen!  

However, one must be wary as it is through both intuition and conscious reasoning that we can discover or recognize the river water as tainted.  Duping one's self by exclaiming toxic water is pure is to hoodwink one's self and pretend it's a top hat. Moving forward still it is through changed action that we can purify the water, remove the hood and transform the flow of that river into the peaceful, transparent, shining image within our minds.  Ebbing back again, our intuition alone is often smart enough to recognize a tainted flow and the crux again resides where it always has, in a willingness to really listen and truly pure, intuitive action.

Real Power through Simplicity

The Straight-Forwardness of Wing Chun Kung Fu

 

In the world of engineering often times the most celebrated solutions are also the most simple.  When it comes to martial art there is none more simple than Wing Chun

Review this video, especially those of you who have studied Wing Chun traditionally.  We love traditional wing chun programs but have also managed to cross the threshold by developing Wing Chun into something practical for more than just self-defense and street survival.

Calasanz studied Wing Chun under Moyat privately investing probably 3 times more than those who just love to talk.  When it comes to Wing Chun, even if you are not an expert or even if you are a beginner, just by taking Wing Chun you are already better than many other martial artists.  No matter what you do, no matter how abysmal your Wing Chun is, you are still getting 90% more than what you would get from any other martial arts school granted you are not making a concerted effort to ignore the lesson or refuse any sort of attempt at understanding the system.

 

Calasanz built his name by giving lessons to professional fighters who needed it.  You see, Wing Chun on the street is unmatched, but most guys who fight on the street don't know how to fight.  It's easy to win a fight on the street.  Watching a Wing Chun guy take down 10 guys on the street would only naturally make one of the mind that Wing Chun is best.  But again, those guys on the street probably are not good fighters.  So, when it comes to stepping into a ring, or now a cage you encounter a completely different animal.  Now you are fighting a fighter, a gladiator.  Now you are fighting someone who trains to fight.

That being said, Wing Chun designed for competition has to be more than just the traditional.  It has to evolve into something beyond.  While the traditional has much to offer in the marks of technique, body mechanics, spiritual development and general fitness it must be augmented for the cage when faced with the reality of fighting and with the knowledge and input gathered over time in order to participate in evolution proper.  Keep in mind, however, that evolution does not imply greater complexity.  In fact, it may even imply a step in the opposite direction towards greater simplicity.

 

Jeet Kune Do developed by Bruce Lee for example.  Lee introduced that concept of 'longest weapon attacks nearest target' which is undeniably and obviously sensible yet was strangely overlooked or undervalued for so long until its more recent revelation.  JKD was developed by Bruce Lee because upon coming to America he ran into trouble taking traditional Wing Chun into competition; meaning it needed to be converted into something effective for use in the ring against those trained to fight.  Behold the creation of JKD, behold the evolution of Wing Chun. 

 

 

 

 

 

Calasanz Comes Clean : Why He Really Stayed Out of Hollywood

Discourse Taken from an Audio Recording of Calasanz

==========

 "For the first time in my life I will give you an idea why, why in this world or in the world I could still be here." 

[Norwalk, Connecticut]

Even before my career I was well received and well known.  I was known even as a child for singing and dancing.  It was one thing I did for a little money from one time to another.  I would end up performing lots of places.  When I came to America as a student at University of Bridgeport they immediately asked me to give a demonstration for the Freshman class of several thousand.  The University thereafter allowed me use of their gymnasium to use and to teach in.  They even bought several swords for me including nihontō [and others] to use to perform weapons forms at later demonstrations and events.

So, why...

...as a natural performer being so well known and being a guy like that, doing all this stuff and then being here... why in the world didn't I try to at least travel or at least go by car to California when Ron Howard called me twice to give me an address.  "Just go there."  He told me.  JCVD had someone flown all the way here to give me an audition...

...

All is based on one thing, that I am terrorized of water, and even more so I am terrorized of a car driving under a tunnel.  I don't even know how they'd get you out if it collapsed.  How do you avoid tunnels?  Airplanes.  I am fine in airplanes when it is over land, but when it gets over water it's just pure terror.  Not scared.  Terror.

High rises... when I get to about 4 or 5 floors up I think "Yes, if I have to jump I can survive." After 6 or 7 now I'm not so sure.

So there are a lot of things that have to be said so that people understand when they find me on google or wherever and see that I am doing what I do still.  They come here and say to me, "Calasanz do you know that you are supposed to be more famous than [____________]?  What the hell!"  And I know why, because I stayed in Connecticut.  Why didn't I get out?  And all the time I just tell them "Scared of airplane."

This is the first time that I go out and say it, that I am scared of the outside because I am scared of getting into trouble.  I have a temper.  Back on the island I was known by people, that you do not insult a lady in front of me because I am going to make you suffer.

So when I think about what I am going to encounter on the outside, am I going to confront a jerk?  Will I have to stay quiet to avoid problems because I do not like to be in trouble?  You see, because it takes me 5 or 6 days to recover.  When I see something like that and I have to stay quiet it eats at me and I have a lot of trouble letting it go and that drains me.  Its debilitating.

As I was filming "Crossing the Line" locally in Norwalk a guy was coming down the street and saw me.  He ran for his life because he knew me and he didn't know what I might do to him.  He went into the first hole he could find, a store or a restaurant or something.  Not because he was scared but out of respect.  He did that out of respect not because he was scared.

So when you go to the reality of it and ask "Why isn't Calasanz out of here?" it is much more than just airplanes.

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Calasanz Near Death : Finds a Way to Come Back

Taken From an Audio Recording of Calasanz

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That you set out to find another man more determined, more mental, more spiritual, more physical, more super crazy than me?  You won't find it on this earth.  Even if they find people on mars, never can you find it. 

At one point I am testing 120 people, I am training them with the help of the wonderful, beautiful Renee F.  At that time Renee, she was a very nice person, but for some reason that day she was very tough to deal with.

We had started testing at 4 in the morning but then at some point Renee decided that she was going to give me the finger and leave because she was angry.  I couldn't say why she was angry, its a mystery to me.  Why would she go and get angry at a saint like me?

So, she left and I said to myself, "You believe that you're gonna make a mess out of me?  No way Jose, there is not going to be a mess."

I had over 100 students testing that day and I did it all.  I held boards, picked up the broken ones; I got the belts, I lead, I coached, I held more boards, I talked to them, I talked about philosophy, I bowed again and again, I gave the exercises.  I did it all by myself.  I did not use anyone to even write down who payed.  I did it all, collected money, collected whatever.  I didn't take any time to eat, just tested.  I ran the show, I ran the whole thing.  I did it all without even a bite of food.

Then at around 11 o'clock that night I had a vision, I saw the building falling in on me.  I picked up the phone and I pushed the number 9 to dial 911.  I didn't know what was happening to me.  After pressing '9' I caught a glimpse of the water fountain.  I ran to it immediately and began to drink.  I probably  drank enough water to drown myself, but after drinking that water I was restored to some degree of normalcy.

That was when I really found out about the curative properties of water.  From drinking that water I was able to come back to be myself again... and I realized then also that... "Wow, I didn't drink any water all day."  I hadn't eaten or drank at all that day being so busy.

You see, nobody came and told me, "Calasanz, you can do this by yourself without eating food, but without drinking water, it will kill you."  Nobody told me that.  Seems like nobody cared or maybe because I didn't speak up, or I didn't talk about it.  I am not stupid, but I was so busy I couldn't even remember 'I am supposed to drink water'.  Maybe I could have gotten away with not eating food for that time, but then without drinking water, it nearly killed me.

To tell you the truth, it was one of those times that you remember and go thinking back on and say, "My goodness, they could have found me dead over here." 

I remember another incident like that when I was very young.

==========

I was painting cars at one of those well known car dealer repair shops in the Dominican Republic.  I worked there because I was going to school and working; working and going to school.  Of course I had to make a little extra money because my father couldn't pay for everything.

But that was the purpose, that was in the DR [Dominican Republic], I remember... I have history, still up to today there, I did so much stuff over at that well-known dealership, Albreo.  The car racers in the mid 80's and 90's they were known all over the world for having some of the best cars and racing in the DR.

I went over there and in just 1 hour I would make more money than probably any one over there because I could paint in 20 minutes or 30 minutes what another person takes 5/6/7 hours to paint.  I was so energetic and so focused that I could do that, so that was me.   Like I said...

Anything I do, I do it with courage, I do it with passion and whatever, but that day I can never forget because I said after an event... "I'm supposed to be dead!"... the electricity burned everything around me and left this 14 / 15 year old kid there, alive like nothing had happened.  I remember standing there watching electricity and sparks go all over the place.

It was like fire works.  

I was standing downstairs painting in that auto-shop with cars all around, then...  something happened.  A loud bang came.  Something had broken on one of the cars and all this electricity came from nowhere and was all around me like fireworks going everywhere.  Everything was whizzing, sparkling and burning, another guy who was working there painting outside came running.  There he was and he saw this kid about 14 years old in the basement.  He looked at me and his face said it all.  It was saying,

"How this guy is alive?  He's supposed to be electrocuted..."
 Meanwhile the manger was sitting there thinking, "I'm gonna get sued."   

The other workers, they couldn't get into the place because of the explosion, but I just was there, I stepped into the water, I stepped out of the water and I got out.  But no, the electricity didn't come to me... It would have electrocuted anything standing in that water but no, this child lived.  I was alive, I survived.  Thinking on it now, probably I survived only because I was wearing shoes.

And I have the same feeling, about that day when I had over 120 people testing... I ask myself now... How could you not drink any water??

But I proved my point that day, that I really was a mentally strong, spiritually strong and physically.. forget it... super strong person.  And that was me.

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If you've had a near-death experience please leave it in the comments.

We'd love to hear about your experience!

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Calasanz Physical Art
507 Westport Avenue
Norwalk CT  06851

203-663-6651

Story Inspired by Calasanz
Transcribed and Developed by Alan Wedell

Happy Training!

Remembering Our Students - A Tribute

Rachel Sanfilippo

Transcribed from an audio recording of Master Calasanz:

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As a trainer I have trained many many girls, many men, many children, many young athletes, older people.  I have never trained someone even close to the skill that Rachel Sanfilippo demonstrates.

Yet with her skill there are minuses and pluses as with anyone else.  The minus was the focus.  When I was training her and before I trained her I was made to understand that she was a good, a very good, and excellent gymnast.  Given that, and that she got burnt out it was understandable how it was hard for her to focus 100% on other sports.  Especially kick boxing like she was doing.

I would do anything to have the chance to make her one of the best kick boxers.  She is so naturally beautiful, and so powerful.  She has everything.  She has it all over there.  I wouldn't have her fight if she didn't want to.  I would have loved to take her to the top even if she didn't compete.  Rachel, being a Junior Olympian, breaking records all over the place... She could do anything when she puts her mind to it.

She would do things that I never saw girls capable of before.  I would put her to do some of our exercises, just to see her doing them it was amazing.  Just to see her doing some of the exercises that we do, one that we call super split.  The minute I start putting more than 20 pounds on my legs when I do this exercise I support myself and go slowly to make sure I don't get hurt.  She would take 20 or 30 pounds, strap it on her legs, open the legs, close, open the legs... like it was nothing.  Amazing.

This lady was so strong, so muscular it was unbelievable.  She had good muscle all in the right place but unfortunately I can't say that I ever had her going 100%.  She would be ready one day with a lot of energy, ready to do the incredible but the next day she would be at her worst.  There was no consistency at all.  That is sometimes frustrating for her, and at the same time frustrating for me, I wanted to do so much.  I just believe that I could have put her to do some of the best exciting movements and exercises so beautifully and perfectly to bring her to another level, but I never had that opportunity to really really see in her that consistency of really getting there and doing it.

She would come over here at all hours.  She would come over here sometimes 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock.  I mean she could just train at any time.  Early morning, very late, 2 hours, 3 hours.  She could go for 3 hours kicking, she could kick for 3 hours.  In the video we show, the axe kick, that day she was doing it at about 20% of the ability she is capable of.  When she throws a round kick at full speed it is just incredible.  High.  Strong.  Its just the most perfect kick you can see.  When she does an inside out or outside in axe kick.  She makes the perfect motion, going straight into the skull of the person, or to the ground.  Just perfect.  But again, we get back to her lack of consistency.  The times when we needed her to do the kick, she couldn't perform or wouldn't perform.  At that point she hadn't registered in her mind that she wanted to be a world class martial artist and that she could be so good at it.  I would have loved to get more footage of her so she could do something with it, to see and to become the amazing person that she is.  She was great, and she is great.

I really do not know what she is doing today, if she continued with kick boxing but really she is just incredible.   But then understand, being incredible when you are a gymnast from childhood is not that hard.  They already have so much flexibility and are very strong from their gymnastics training.  I know gymnasts and they are some of the most fit and most coordinated people that I've ever trained.  They have it all. 

The thing is I learned so much from Rachel Sanfilippo that it is even hard to believe what this girl is capable of doing.  I know 100% that she is a great student and a great person.  When she makes a mistake she knows it and corrects it.  She is great.  She is a very logical person and she is going to go far, I have no doubt about that.  But I would have loved that I would have gotten more out of her when it comes to kickboxing and boxing.

She is not a person I would suggest to anyone to make her angry.  She can get a temper and she has all the tools to be a deadly and fierce fighter, besides she is very, very smart.  She can kick!

Unfortunately she got burnt out as a gymnast, traveling, and enduring a lot of pressure.

Rachel had support.. tremendous support from her family and her father.  But when you start to do gymnastics with the purpose of going to the Olympics that is a lot of pressure on her and her parents. No matter who you are, there is going to be a lot of pressure, especially if you are training to be an Olympian, especially in gymnastics.

She would call me, "I am not coming."  But then she would call back at 11 o'clock at night and ask "Calasanz, will you teach me now."  But the thing that impressed me the most was the ankle weights, oh my god.  She would take
the ankle weights, up and down back and forth like there was no weight.  She just has muscle that flows well.  Her muscle was so unique, she was a gymnast, everything flowed, everything was soft, I have never seen someone with muscle so unique.
..
Someone like her you can not miss her when you see her.  What a great person with such a wonderful character.  She would bring bags and bags for me to send to the Dominican for the charity my sister runs down there, in fact I think I still owe her a small debt!

She loved kick boxing and she could be the best.
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Simplicity of Boxing Revealed

When it comes to boxing there are different levels of participants.  There are those who compete at high levels of competition and those who like to hit the bag for exercise or just to punch something.  But boxing is not as complicated as many people think.

Boxing is a well suited activity for those that don't want to be competitors.  To be good at boxing a participant only needs a few basic things.  They need to be strong, grounded and be able to deliver basic punches effectively and develop great head movement.  In Boxing what one needs to be able to defend against and the ways in which one is legally allowed to strike is very limited.  You don't need a good ground game like someone in the UFC and you don't need good high-kicks like a Tae-kwon-do guy.  You need four great punches and a solid defense.

Travis Simms

Boxing is more simple that what people think.  If you are training to make boxing as a career, yes we understand you have to throw punches, you have to jump rope, you have to hit the speed bag and train the way a boxer trains.  But really, boxing is not overly complicated.

One of the ways I created such a big name in the past and over many many years is that people would hesitate and then they were done in seconds of being close to me or stepping into the ring with me.  Why?  Because it is not that complicated.  Create good hips, use your pelvis properly.  Good head movement.

Getting into it, if you are a boxer, and you are getting ready to do a fight in the top 10.  That doesn't mean that you can go for 10 rounds all the time.  While you are in the camp you are good.  You can go for 10 rounds. And then you can fight because you never get tired.  What about when you are not fighting?

That same championship fighter becomes identical to another guy who can box and is not a competitor but trains regularly, which brings the point as to why so many of my guys would hurt so many people.  Lou Petrillo for example.  Travis Simms (see above) is another one.  Lou Petrillo was training here recreationally with me, with Calasnaz, he would end up stepping into the ring several times for me.  But one particular time he stepped up to box with a guy training to go pro.  10 seconds into the fight the guy gets hurt.  Lou Petrillo brought him down.  How?  Because he was doing recreational boxing and creating power.  I told my guys this, my boxers.  "If you don't expect to step in the ring, this is how you box."  I would give them about 15 simple techniques to practice and some exercises to make them 20 -30 - 40% more powerful than the opponent. You would be surprised the damage that they could do.  Taking a punch from one of my guys is not the same as from someone else.



Keep in mind.  When I was younger I was 139.  I would step into the ring with a guy 180 pounds.  But because of my system and my training I was capable of generating incredible amounts of power on my smaller frame many times over that of my opponents.  People used to ask me, "What happens if you and Mike Tyson square off in the ring?"

Mike Tyson was a boxer.  I was not a boxer, still I am not.  I was one of the first guys to teach MMA.  It is easier to win.  To win a fight in a sport,  is not the same thing as winning a fight on the street.  That is the lesson that a lot of people, a lot of boxers got after the UFC came along.  To see a guy training for the UFC attack you, this is not today what used to be kyokoshinkai.  Kyokoshinkai was a brutal karate that just got so incredible, it was so beyond and very far, far out there.  The training was probably harder and more intense than training for the UFC today.  They would take kicks, take punches, I mean they would and could really take hits.  But those people couldn't survive today because they don't protect the head.  When it comes to the UFC we are now talking about something else, we are talking about a real gladiator coming at you.  This is no longer a game.

I was the guy who used to say, "I don't care, I believe that I can survive against anyone."  For many years I would say it.  But today I hesitate on saying that.  What about the guy who is ready to step into the octagon?  That is a guy with incredible physique and practiced technique and everything.  That changes the point.  Now, the same guy not training again changes the point.  But that's what I wanted to explain about boxing.  That boxing is not as complicated as people believe.

Okay, people say, "I want to learn all these techniques, how to move the head, all these punches, how to slip punches." all of that, and whatever else.  Look, to learn how to slip punches and move away, that takes time and training to master.  To do recreational, to cover up, to look good, make sure you are very loose, and to deliver the finishing blow, the one technique that when
you hit someone, they will go down.  That is not too complicated, that is simple.

That is Boxing here with Calasanz.  That is the Calasanz System.

By Calasanz
Edited by: A.W.

Expressive and Beautiful

Karate, Kung Fu, Mauy Thai Boxing, Recreational Boxing, Chinese Boxing, Wing Chun Kung Fu, Cheng Chuang Long Fist, Ninjutsu, Jujitsu, Fitness, Yoga, Tai Chi et cetera et cetera et cetera...

All of these Martial Arts are expressive and beautiful.  They can be competitive.  They can be non-competitive.  They can be practical in both style and reality.  All are viable and all have their own applications, advantages and pitfalls.

So many students and so many regular people believe that the purpose of the Martial Arts is based on defending yourself against someone trying to harm you.  Yes, that is the purpose at the root of it, but there is much more than just that taking hold, breaking ground, budding and growing into something much more massive.  It is about being successful.  It is about improving your personality and learning to walk with pride and confidence.  The beauty of Kung Fu and the meaning of it is much more than simple fighting techniques.  It is about building Martial Arts around your life, or more accurately, your life around Martial Arts.

The techniques you learn and training you do at your place of practice is only the tip of the iceberg.  The techniques and the time spent are meant to train you to protect yourself, yes, but as you learn, that which you learn becomes a part of you that you will carry with you wherever you may go for the rest of your life.  You are given great boons to utilize as you see fit in any situation, to build yourself, to be yourself, to become who you are and to help others along the way.

Happy Practice!

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Written by Calasanz
Edited by Alan Wedell