Exhausted Lifestyle and Unhealthy Diet Cause Depression to Be More Severe

You are exhausted but you have so many problems that you cannot afford to be exhausted, so what do you do?

It’s very simple, flip the switch to the “mental” part of your brain. Now that the mental part is active you must tell yourself four things:

“
- I am a determined person

-  I have desire

-   I can make decisions and

-    I have the passion to do what I do best.
”
Besides the mental, another thing must be on your mind and that is the "physical". If you only turn on the mental, you will probably be able to function for a while but eventually you will crash at some point because that physical part is turned off.

When the physical is turned off it means you are weak, unhealthy, and you are going back to being exhausted or easily exhausted. With this it is all getting worse and it is getting so bad that it is bringing you down into depression.

We do not take depression as seriously as we should, it is one of the worst illnesses a human can have.

When a person is depressed, life means nothing to them. 

A depressed person could hear about another person jumping off a bridge; to the depressed person it is just something that happened and it has no effect on them at all.  That is because their brain is not functioning the way it should. There is no mental control, they are still unhealthy, they are still eating bad food, and they cannot look and see forward; that there is life ahead of them.  If a very depressed person could see just a small sample of their future they would not do anything to cause themselves harm but usually by the time they realize they made a mistake, it is too late.

For example, if a depressed person decides to take his or her own life by jumping off a bridge, that feeling in the air must be a terrorizing one. If someone could freeze time and suspend that person in mid air and give them the choice again that person would choose to go back and not jump.

Being healthy, meaning having a good diet and exercising regularly, is a huge step in the right direction towards helping people to better cope with depression.

You can be a very determined person with desire, talent and lots of passion, but if you are unhealthy because you do nothing physically sooner or later you will crash and burn. Crashing is like going into depression, besides, when you crash it means that a hint of depression already existed in you to begin with.  

But that's okay!  Depression is very common and it manifests itself in different ways and can crop up for many different reasons including through something as simple as inaction!  And if you are suffering, or think you might be suffering from depression please don't hesitate to seek professional help!  Remember, seeking the help you need is a sign of strength, not weakness!  It is popular now for people to correct the imbalance through chemical medication and it is a testament to the creativity and brilliance of the human mind that such a development in the field of medicine is even possible.  Some might even say a miracle.  While it may be a necessary, helpful and a 100% proper solution for some it is not a blanket solution and should not be taken lightly!  Mind altering drugs are just that and the full extent of their impact is truly hard to judge keeping in mind the existence of unknown unknowns on top of all the scientific evidence that may or may not be available.  

In the end one must weigh the pros and cons for themselves and act accordingly.

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Calasanz as an Instructor

Calasanz as an instructor has always had a unique and real way of training his students.  Not only through teaching but also by making each of his students partially responsible and accountable for their own training and learning.  Calasanz' approach to teaching created the fiercest and most feared competitors in the world of Martial Arts out of local, every-day people.  It is simple fact that he could, can and did take anyone with the guts and dedication to achieve and made them superb Martial Artists.  His system and style of teaching continues to evolve further beyond and above anything else out there as it always has incorporating Body, Mind and Spirit.

"Do not forget.  Not everyone listens or wants to understand the real meaning of coming to a real and unique system like the Calasanz Physical Arts System." - Calasanz

You can research and answer for yourself how he did it.  The way he created the name and the way he trained those who brought the name to the highest level of fighting was by using the people that he trained under intensive training programs.  This means action.  He did it by putting his most apt and well-trained students up against those who wanted to compete.  It is an action based system and Calasanz always knew that discourse based learning within Martial Arts is severely limiting, is no way to become talented and will never make you superb outside of theory. 

There are stories upon stories about Calasnaz' students.  Those every day investors or scientists coming in looking for a hobby or to get an idea of how to defend themselves ended up being more skilled even than those training to compete.  He would regularly pit competitors walking in against his students, even those with limited training, many of those training to compete would then buckle under the trauma of their iron shins, throw in the towel, or even end up hospitalized.  Why?  ...How?  Because this is a system based on reality.  Head movement.  Power.  Coordination.  Technique.  Grounding.  Endurance.  The results speak for themselves and show how Calasanz as an instructor knew how to do it then and knows how to do it even better today.

The methods.  The training.  They're effective.  It's undeniable how capable and talented his pupils are and have become through their training and time spent here.  The people, the history, the reality, they are impossible to ignore and cannot be dismissed.  Understand, this is not like anything else ever seen before, at least on such a transparent and global level.  This is the birth of a rooted, universal, modern and evolved Martial System happening before our very eyes without veil, smoke-screen or diversion.  Sober up and open your eyes.  Calasanz is not teaching some other person's system (although he has many he can draw from).  He is creating one.  His vast background of study, his lifetime of dedication to The Art, his extensive training and voluminous experience teaching thousands of others are actual facts, not fantastical stories.  His experience and knowledge of the Martial Art is something that will be near impossible for anyone to surpass.  Calasanz, with the revelation of his system, has completely let the cat out of the bag for the world to see and indeed it is a VERY big cat.

Alignment through Bodily Awareness and Martial Art

It is no secret that Bodily Awareness and Martial Art go hand in hand.  From continued practice any student can develop proprioception, exteroception, balance and grounding to an astounding degree over time.

Hand-eye coordination will become greatly enhanced.  Awareness will be amplified.   Awareness not only of yourself but also of your surroundings will pour in and be reflected through your action.  Confidence will radiate from you naturally through how you carry yourself.

When it comes to Calasanz' Physical Arts exercises these qualities are being absorbed and developed during concentrated and focused training.  Again, you must be careful.  As you train pay attention to your body and the signals it is giving you.  While a bit of "pain" normally accompanies the exertion and eventual exhaustion of muscles and tendons it is important to remain cognizant of what is too much or too far or too incorrect.  Stubbornness, ignorance and negligence will lead to injury.  Train smart.  Listen to your body.  Make adjustments.  Keep your wits about you and do not take anything on blind faith or false belief alone.  Revisit your technique regularly with honesty and integrity towards improvement and perfection.

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Martial Arts and the Perfectionist

"Don’t be afraid to correct perfectionists because you feel it will upset them. An instructor who feeds into this is not really teaching. Constant praise is counterproductive and doesn’t help the student learn."

I appreciate martial arts students who want to do everything perfectly. They are usually very committed and hard working.  They sign up for classes ready to train and full of enthusiasm.  Unfortunately, this enthusiasm disappears very quickly.  The one problem is that perfectionists worry themselves to death.  They start off with a very positive attitude, but set the bar so high that they get depressed and disappointed if they can’t meet their expectations often times allowing the slightest error to completely deflate the moment and block reception of the lesson.

Students with such high anxiety also tend to ask a lot of questions and over-analyze the lesson or the techniques.  What happens then is that instead of enjoying their martial arts training, it becomes stressful.  Some don’t want to take promotion tests because in their minds, they are never really ready.  Usually they are of the mind that nothing they do is ever good enough.

I’ve taught martial arts for over 30 years because I love teaching.  I've said it again and again, I don’t like to give up on anyone, perfectionists included.  They can be superior athletes if trained properly.  My best approach is to encourage them to lighten up.  I have to constantly remind them not to be so hard on themselves.

I will limit the amount of questions I allow during a class.  As a sincere teacher and instructor I can’t ignore all questions because some are legitimate but sometimes the barrage of inquisitions gets out of hand.  A martial arts class, however, should not consist of a lot of chit-chat.  Most people want to work up a sweat and learn the art; talking simply inhibits the experience.  Too many questions can also bore and even agitate the other students so maintaining focus on everyone getting a good workout is important.

During open workout sessions, I specifically direct perfectionists on what they should work on for that hour.  Some students are so self-directed that they show up to an open workout with an agenda of what they want to work on and can keep themselves busy for an hour.  Although, if the Perfectionist needs a plan... Give it to them!  They will rise to the occasion.

Don’t be afraid to correct perfectionists because you feel it will upset them. An instructor who feeds into this is not really teaching. Constant praise is counterproductive and doesn’t help the student learn. Make constructive corrections and tell the student how to improve!

Above all, focus on the overall learning experience!  When directed by a knowledgeable instructor perfectionists have the potential to be, to become, outstanding Martial Artists.  Encourage them to enjoy the journey!

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On Being and Being Well Balanced

 Taken from an Audio Recording of Calasanz

==========

Today I had a tremendous experience with one of my students.

We were talking as we all eventually get to to talking.  We came to how we have all sorts of instructors.  We have a good instructor of tai chi, one of the best, we have another that teaches Wing Chun, we have another to teach Karate and another for Ti-Kwon-Do.  All sorts of instructors.

 As we went talking I said listen, still up to today there are people who tell me, "Calasanz do you want to learn this?"  [referring to a type of martial art]


I said, "Look, if you give me 300 life times.. that means I lived and died 299 times.. still I don't have enough life, enough time, to teach people or to help people teach all that I know."

For example, a guy comes here and learns Cheng Chuang Long Fist, and then he wants to learn the snake.  Fortunately here he can ask that question and we can do that because we have a good instructor. And next he wants to learn the dragon... Then the next and the next, and again, lucky for him that we can do that.  But listen, guy, you just need 1 technique. 

Anyone can go and say, "Okay, I know the snake style, I strike here like that.  Now I want to go to another guy that I can learn another snake style."

I don't mind that because, yeah, its understood that Kung Fu when it comes to Kung Fu as the way of life.  Anything you do in Kung Fu is good.  Any one with the right time and dedication can have 90 forms but really you just need only 4 forms.  First one that is basic, then one in the middle, and then one a little bit more advanced, the last one advanced.  But 90 forms?  What is the purpose of that? 

The purpose is here, it is to keep your body working.  So now, Kung Fu means work.  Work.  Patience.  Work.  Patience.  Work.  Patience.  That patience, that is Kung Fu.  To keep working,  To keep the body active.  So that is the reason behind learning many forms.

But many styles?  Guy... why you want to waste that time?  If you have 10 forms of Cheng Chuan, spend your life mastering that.  But if you get bored, if you want to apply yourself in something else, then go to something completely different.  Go to kick-boxing, go to Wing Chun, go to Chinese Boxing, go to boxing... But don't go and keep doing the same thing.

So... whats going on wrong?  Just learn.. I'm going to let my guy teach you. I'm going to give my guy the opportunity to teach you the system of Wing Chun, but not just becasue of what you pay; just for love because you do a lot for me.  But don't come to me talking about you want check about this or that... please!  And he was laughing, he was laughing and laughing. 

Study with him I'm going to let him help you.  That is the way, and yes you can become more well balanced here.  Just remember, UFC fighters are some of the best most well balanced fighters in the world today, but that doesn't mean that these people can teach; that these people can carry you further in body mind and spirit.  They are fighters, not instructors.

Calasanz on the other hand, that is exactly what he does, what his school does.  Calasanz can take you further in body, mind and spirit down any way that you want to go.  Professionally we're the best.  Simple.  I have 300 terabytes of information.  All that information can be reduced down.  One gigabyte is all I need to give to you to make you the best fighter in the world.  All that information though we cannot use all of it because it takes a lifetime to master.

And this is for my students, so they don't get confused.  Go and learn something first.  Go and get the equivalent of a black belt in Wing Chun... learn that, but don't keep going and getting 20/30 forms of the same style.  What is there?  Not even if you would be me.. born with it.  See, you can teach me 300 types of martial arts, 300 forms and I can learn it and distinguish them and I can talk a little bit about each.. okay that one emphasizes this, this one emphasizes that... but that is me... born with.  But you are not.... so you know what; learn something simple.  Go and finish learning Wing Chun from my guy under my direction... go and learn something, but don't be dumb anymore.

And he was laughing.

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Calasanz Takes a Hit : «Be Alert While Training­«

We recount an unfortunate training accident which occurred at Calasanz Physical Art and Martial Arts Center.

===========

A guy, [we call him J for confidentiality purposes], he was here training for over 5 years.

He is a kid that just wouldn't grasp the lesson when someone was teaching him, either out of incompetence or stubbornness... at least any lesson involving martial art.  There was nothing you could do.  So what I did was I remembered the system.  "We can teach anybody."  "We can teach ANY body." and J was somebody, so we taught him.

What did I put J to do?  I put him to get stronger.  I gave him techniques to build power.  He got over here at age of 16.  He had been training here for 5 years, he was 21 years old now.  Just knowing the kind of punch that this guy capable of delivering after 5 years of training with me.  And I prepared him to do it.  I trained him to throw a punch like that.

He would come to the school and he would hit the bag non-stop for over one hour... bare fist.

Just imagine I have you hitting that bag here all the time because you cannot learn the form, you cannot learn the kata, you cannot learn the dummy, so you know what I said... "I'm gonna make him good.. I'm gonna make him as good as anyone."  Because you know he cannot learn the kata, but with this training at least he can survive, he can kill the person.  So that's what I did with this guy.

And then all that turned.  Turns out he was preparing.  The reason that the punch got up so...  Because the punch was so hard... 

 

It was.. I was just in the office and I came out to explain something to the boxers training here because I was watching them from the office.  But you know, if you are like Bruce Lee, if you are like me and you love the martial art you want to help no matter what.  So I came out to explain to them a little bit about blocking, about closing the gap by showing them blocking different techniques.

I put J to demonstrate, for the others to help me show them something in training, in calm training.  But here I was sitting on the ring and he was in front of me with no weight on his front leg.  I saw that at the time, that he was waiting, getting ready to deliver something big, getting ready to unload a punch, just to see if I could block an unreserved shot delivered purposefully, hard and fast towards my head.  But even that was not enough,  as my gaze shifted to one of my boxers to explain the concept J goes and throws the punch.

He throws a punch like he is in a fight; as if he was in immediate and express danger even, as if his life depended on that punch.  He throws that punch so hard, and fully extended with everything he had, it was 100%, nothing held back.  He threw every ounce of power his body could generate into that punch.  With that power I had helped build for him, that I had taught him how to build over the last 5 years.  That amount of energy was thrown straight at me in that punch. If my head wasn't in the way it would have finished well behind my head, that punch was ready to go through my skull, but then it landed, it landed straight into my eye.

There has not been one person who did that ever before, who punched like that in training, in that cool  atmosphere.  That punch was so hard, he threw that punch to pass through.  It was a punch, he was trying to test me.  He was delivering this punch trying to test me.

 ===================
 (Perspective Shift)

As an outsider and witness to this event, [call me K for confidentiality purposes] I was stretching on the low table when it occurred not 20 feet in full view in front of me.  I can assure you this was no ordinary punch.  It caught Calasanz just in they left eye socket as he was turning his head to speak to another student, a boxer named Nick, seated on his right.  Calasanz reacted as a blind man to a silent punch, meaning he did not react at all.  (and as we all know the first thing he'll teach you is "head movement" plus he's always made it look the best with that hair)  But no, he did not react; with vision averted it could properly be labelled a 'sucker punch'.  Without movement of his head it landed solidly.

It sounded like a car accident.

It barreled him backwards from his favourite seated position on the outside of the ring into the ropes then swaying back forward slowly.  He grabbed his head immediately, almost curling up, and did not move for several breaths.  He went to the bathroom as he was ready and re-emerged to ask me how bad it looked.  Somehow he kept his composure with student J.  There was a small cut on his eyelid which was bleeding slowly and a slightly swollen redness began to emerge around his eyes before my very own.


He would heal from this punch over the next 4 weeks or more wearing an eye patch to hide the injury.  Every so often he would adjust it to reveal a rainbow, ranging from deep purple to an almost indistinguishable yellow-green radiating outwards from the eye.  Still sometimes when he is tired you can almost see something lingering about that area.  This was no ordinary punch.

As a first hand witness observer I can assure you this punch was purposefully thrown the way that it was thrown, but I also believe the pugilist was oblivious himself as to why he performed it suchly.

Perhaps he had built someone up so much in his head, perhaps he'd seen too many Dragon Ball Z episodes and just somehow forgot he was dealing within tangible reality, facing a fallible human and not an immortal, fictitious, super-powered psychic-warrior.   The world may never know, but this was no ordinary punch.

================

Taken from Audio of recording with Calasanz

Developed and Transcribed by Alan Wedell

Calasanz Splits in Two lifting 125lbs on Each Leg

 

 

==========

Just watching this video of super flexibility, it is something that has never been seen in Martial Arts before.  Nobody, nobody has done something like what is being done here.  The discipline, the technology, the time, and dedication necessary to prepare the body to be capable of something like that is too much work.  You have to be so precise, you have to know so much about the joints and the muscle.  But before we talk about joints and muscle let us go to the beginning.

When I first saw Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon I walked out and knew I had seen what I really wanted to become.  And then, after coming to America, the USA, I started doing all this crazy training to catch up, to be as good as him.  In only one year I had managed to destroy my entire body.  I destroyed every joint in my body.  I went to I don't know how many chiropractors, and doctors.  They all gave me the same assessment.  "You wore out every muscle, every joint in your body."  And that was after only 1 year. 

You see, back then I was on my own.  I didn't have anybody to hold me back, so I just went for it; training intensely day in and day out.  Nobody held me back.  Now since learning that lesson on my own I do everything I can to make sure my students don't get hurt like I did.  I will tell them, don't over do it.  But of course if they keep going with very hard and very heavy training I simply tell them, "Okay maybe not now but sooner or later you are going to regret it.  It is up to you, you are an adult but I tell you, you cannot be pushing so much for so long on physical arts."  

I understand now that at that point I believed in ankle weights as an effective and viable training tool but also, I did not know yet or understand yet how to use them.  I didn't know what I should do with them.  I hadn't yet developed the science behind the use of ankle weights; but now we have it.

One day I remember, I was training with these guys who were already Gold Medalists or were training to compete in the Olympics.  Watching them and moving around with them it was easy to see that they were faster than me.  Their kicks were faster, but I was stronger.  After witnessing their speed I spent 3 days kicking with two and one-half pound ankle weights on.  In those three days I changed my kicks to be just as fast.  I did that, I changed that in just three days.  The next time I went there I was kicking as fast as or faster than any other student I might confront over there.

That same dedication, that same process, I did it with my punches, throwing punches for 3 days.  I trained everything in that same way.  That year, it destroyed me.  I was over-training my body.  I was over-doing it.

After taking the days, weeks, months to heal from that overly intense training year; going through the proper process, listening to my body, I would make the realization.  I would go back and start listening to my body.  I said to myself, "Wait a minute, I am doing too much to the muscle, now I know how I can do it, this is how it follows."  

This is what I did to be able to put 120 - 130 (I believe I can do 140) pounds on each leg without getting hurt.  This is not a thing that any one can try.  If an injury happens doing that, especially with that massive weight it is the kind of injury that will cost you many many years to heal if you are lucky and it doesn't end your career because this is VERY dangerous.

But yes, probably everybody has read about the history about how we have gotten here, how we have come up from so far and made such progress.  All of it has progressed to this point based on science.  By going slowly.  Don't go and try to get a split in one day, something like that, it takes time.  But then again, it is not just time that determines the progress, there are plenty of people working for 10 to 15 years trying to get a split but can never get there because their process is flawed and ends in stagnation.

If you come to me for 6 months and you follow the system closely, my program, it does not matter how tight you are.  I can get you into primarily a Japanese split and a Russian split and it doesn't take too long, especially if you are under the age of 30.  

Even if you give me a guy over 90 years old, as long as he doesn't have a terminal illness I can have that guy completely raised, I can have that guy build every muscle.  I can do that because I have done it.  I have done it and I have done it even with people that are sick.  One of them, John Ryan from a neighboring town.  He had an illness and I brought him from being already 3 or 4 inches hunched over, I brought him to be straight.  One of our more widely recognized trainers, Alex Sascha, from Russia trains very hard and demands a lot from his students and is not afraid to push them far beyond their limit; but within 6 months I had John Ryan go from being ill and hunched over to being capable of taking a class with Sascha.

So the facts is that there are many ways that I can help people.  I can help them one-on-one and train them in person or I can custom train someone through focused instructional videos.  For example, people with love handles I can give them videos of 4 or 5 exercises to take home, watch, learn and perform them on their own.  Someone else says, "Calasanz I want to get a split."  So we start from the very beginning and I give the first video, then the second, the third, the fourth.  By the time you have 10 videos, or whatever, in 10 months you will have the split WITHOUT getting hurt.

But what makes us unique is our approach.  Again, it is scientific, it is based on logic.  Many don't realize its important to train strength AND flexibility.  You will not achieve the same results training just flexibility without the strength or vice versa, you cannot be doing just strength without the flexibility.  If you do too much strength then you just get tight.  So it is a combination of many different aspects being put to work with our system under science.  The science means you have to follow certain processes.  

It's like a pressure point.  With a pressure point you have a circle, then you press for example in the middle, go 45 degree angle up, 45 left, right and so on.  You go pressing all the different points, that is how pressure points work.  Death Touch for example is the same way.  If you want to deliver that shot to a person you have to deliver it specifically to that pressure point.  That Death Touch or impact must be 100% precise, it has to be performed exactly the way its supposed to be done, otherwise it doesn't work.  It's just like doing a bong shou or a tan shou.  One little bit off means your center line or your chi is not applicable, it is not a proper representation or expression of the concept, or of the structure.  And the same dedication, precision and focused attention are necessary in order to train and accomplish something like that split... especially after knowing how muscle can become frail.

I experienced first hand how tender muscle can be when I was a little bit younger.  I would do a lot of pounding, stomping on concrete.  I was pounding one day from 4 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon.  Pounding, pounding with 10 pounds on each leg.  In each class that I taught I would be pounding more than the students I was training.  I remember my last student that day, his name was John Winking.  I am teaching this young guy, 22 years old, and I am pounding and pounding.  The muscle over the course of that day got so warm... its like taking a wire and you twist it, twisting, twisting, twisting.  It gets warm and then it will break.  That is what happened to me.  I over did it and my calf exploded, but again, over time I would fix it.

After that happened I knew what I was supposed to do with the tendon.  And that was when I started combining strength and flexibility training simultaneously into my exercises.  Before that I had the flexibility, but I did not have the strength necessary to manage that flexibility.  Now we have both.  But that is a perfect example.  The explosion of my calf, I've never seen something like it before.  My calf exploded such that it swelled to probably 5 times bigger.  But I knew exactly at that point what I had done, that I had overworked it.


Some of our students they pick up on that very quickly.  These pupils have an understanding of what they are doing and the meaning behind Physical Art.  They can understand the meaning.

(I asked him then...)

How long did it take you to develop to the point to accomplish the ability to do a split like that with so much weight?

 

 
(Paraphrased response)

"I would say that to get to that point, if I wasn't working and could completely devote myself to that... I could have reached something like that in 4 years or less.  But working, having to rest, having to be careful.. it can take someone up to 10 years to develop up to that.  You see, if you push too hard trying to get it faster, faster, faster you are going to burn out or get injured.  You will be healing for 2 years doing nothing.  Nothing you can do for 2 years or more, that is a big set back.  This is the science behind it.  It takes 10 years or maybe more but just because I work, and sometimes I am so sore and burned out from doing something like that... Just understand, that when I did that it took me around 5 weeks to just come back and be able to do it again because the muscle is so internally, and the last thing you want is to go and pull that muscle, that going in cold or without developing you are going to get hurt.  So, I would say not working, just doing that, doing a camp or something dedicated, someone working like that trying to accomplish it and safely can probably do it in 2 years.  But again, working teaching on top of attempting that accomplishment it takes longer.  It's like me trying to do this fight.  I could have done this fight in 1990 but I couldn't because I had too many problems in other areas; so now I am building what I need to do to do that fight slowly... But I would love that I wouldn't have to do that, that I could have enough sponsorship that....  I did have enough sponsorship back then but again, too many problems so I have to go slowly, building.  It might even take me another 10 years before I say, 'I am ready.'"

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Transcribed from an audio recording of Calasanz

Provided by: Calasanz


Transcribed and Developed by: Alan Wedell

Coaching 3 Lady Martial Artists

 Commentary taken from an Audio Recording of Calasanz:

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Coaching vids:

 

The movements when I coach them, the movements.  

Remember head movement is 98 percent of the battle of you not getting hurt.  That is head movement.  That is why no one who trains within our system gets hurt.  Its because of head movement.  Closing the gap, the best defense, the best grounding, the best balance, that is the Calasanz System.  To see them doing a Thai boxer's block so well.  The balance they could present.  To see them clenching a fist or doing a side kick or breaking a board, they were and they are excellent.


But then as you watch these 3 girls, Jenifer Lee, Lisa C., and Amanda P. .. to see these people getting coached, Lisa, with beautiful front kicks and round kicks.  That is martial art.  There is a kick over there delivered by Amanda, it even nearly got me.  I mean, she is a lady that can fight that the kick was so hard, so well delivered that anyone who gets hit by it.. oh my!  Her leg is so powerful and the kick is delivered so well according to body anatomy, it is passing through someone, it is not just making contact.  I mean, just.. Wow.  And that is done by Amanda P.  The same thing with Jenifer and Lisa.  Some of those attacks they were delivering to me, and am I just to trying to imagine what they are really capable of if pushed too far.. I don't even want to think about.  Anyone getting hit by those strikes is in serious trouble.

Just describing and following and watching what these ladies are doing in that video, during that show during one of those Saturday Night Fights that we used to have.  That alone makes any instructor or anyone, any audience member to get excited, to get inspired.  Incredible.  And that is what we did and what we had back then.  Because we were at that time when we did those shows, we were beyond, and we did not understand, we did not care, leaving everything other than the reality of what is beautiful, the reality of Martial Arts.

  And that is the story of that video, of those 3 girls. 

 

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Inspired by Calasanz

Developed by Alan Wedell

Real Martial Arts for Real People

The Beauty of our system is that it is so simple even children can understand it and put it to good use.  Our training exercises and programs are remarkably similar with only minor adjustments necessary to compensate for age and ability.

We take a look now at some archived footage of two young students (one is 3 and 1/2 the other 4 years old) sparring at one of those Calasanz Saturday Night Fight nights that used to be hosted here at Calasanz Physical Art, 507 Westport Avenue in Norwalk.




These two babies, they are incredible.  Even at their young age they are attacking, punching, kicking, blocking.  They have so much energy.  They could fight forever.  All they were doing was implementing the basic concepts of the system, cover the head, move the head, close the gap.  It is incredible to see them do it so well and speaks to Calasanz' ability as a coach and a trainer that even kids so young can be so well balanced, grounded and proficient with their bodies.  The balance they present, their fists clenched well for the punch.  This is how they can break a board at such a young age, with simple techniques and a no-nonsense attitude towards training, stressing responsibility and accountability even with people so young.

Over the years Calasanz has taught and trained many many children.  These people today as they grow up and as they are growing up are not regular kids.  They are super babies, super young athletes.  We have over 1000 of these kids walking around today, probably more.  Years later these children come back and say "Calasanz, do you remember me?  I am 'so and so'."  And of course they are remembered.  Nathan Paige for example had come back in his late teens after having been trained here between the ages of 5 and 8.  And literally just yesterday (5/10/2013) one of our brightest students Spencer, now in law school, dropped in to say hello.

In the case of these children, to teach them how they can grow up with this sort of balance, grounding and confidence.  It's just unbelievable.  Still up to today, teaching since 1986, our young students they never get in trouble, they don't go out hurting people.  In fact, in the past when police officers have noticed a child getting into a lot of trouble or getting beat up they would tell them, "Hey, go to Calasanz for a month or two."  That is the beauty of it.  To teach a kid to breathe, to take a deep breath.  Teaching them to concentrate on the right things, how to throw a punch, close the gap and cover up.  Besides, we are famous for the best defense.

One of our students (the one in all white) seen here breaking a board in this video (also shown below) came in one afternoon to tell Calasanz that he had been involved in a fight.  Calasanz got angry immediately but then fell out in laughter after hearing that the aggressor had hurt his hand just from punching our student who had raised his hands and leg to block the strike in classic Calasanz fashion.  Perfect.



We also remember Gina, a young girl not more than 4 years old, when putting an attacker at her she would jump up and throw the perfect traditional punch within 1/4 inch of another baby.  You don't see that other places, that is how we built such a strong name.  Keep in mind, there were people who used to come to the school, Calasanz Physical Art, from all over with a lunch bag just to sit and watch Calasanz train.  Although those days are gone now, that is a fact of life.

Our young students and athletes do not become normal people, they become super people and we are proud of them!

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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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

10 Respects at Calasanz Physical Arts and Dojo

1 - Proper Attitude - A DOJO is NOT a gym, nor are the Martial
Arts simply exercise.  Without "Proper Attitude" study of the
Martial Arts can be potentially very dangerous, the least of
which is serious injury to yourself and others.

2 - Respect - Respect those things that we respect and treat them
with great care and do not take them for granted.  Respect for
teachers, the school, its equipment and other students should
be self evident.




 3 - Bow when entering or leaving the school
    when approached by more advanced belts
     when beginning or ending an exercise with another student
      when Calasanz or other senior instructor approaches or    
         departs during training

4 - Display your PATCH on your SHIRT or PANTS while you are in
           the school.  When testing under traditional karate
             or kung-fu a proper uniform is required

5 - Recognize and respect the space of those who are engaged in a 
      class or workout and do not interfere or interrupt.

6 - Competition, Performance, and Sparring are not mandatory here
  at Calasanz Physical Art, but we encourage those who are interested
   in these pursuits to participate and inquire within.

 
7 - In order to work out with ANKLE WEIGHTS you must first receive instruction
   on how to use them.  Wearing them too often is not advisable
      and may lead to injury.

8 - Belts must be worn at all times with a GI or when      
participating in formal group classes.

9 - Testing - Tests are carried out every SIX MONTHS, we let
students know 2 months in advance in order to start training for a
test which will be video taped.

10 - Hours - The CALASANZ School is open from 4am to 11pm.  Depending on the
     program you sign up for you will know the hours available and
      not available to you.

Bonus: Other Schools - The 5 Cards Program will allow you into any
                  other school open under the CALASANZ System.