Calasanz Comes Clean : Why He Really Stayed Out of Hollywood

Discourse Taken from an Audio Recording of Calasanz

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 "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 Appears in Hollywood Movie : Only the Strong

Calasanz history and story is so unique, incredibly unique.  He has pursued
the true American Dream as fervently as any immigrant since his arrival.  Arriving here under pretense to go to college and instead became [and remains] a world renowned martial artist, coach, instructor and inspiration through unrelenting dedication and an unshakable vision.  His tale involves myriad and countless individuals; some unsavory and others the most magnanimous (and many more somewhere in between).

We take a look now at an unfortunate circumstance surrounding Calasanz in the early 90's and his experience with the Hollywood movie "Only the Strong".

The story as recounted by Calasanz

 

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"I remember getting the part for the movie "Only the Strong" ... I was hired on the spot.  When I was doing my audition Sheldon Lettich [writer and director] and Luis Esteban, [writer] who had worked with Jean Claude Van Damme, stopped me and said, "Wait! Wait! Wait!"  And they stopped to look around for a camera.  They said, "I want this guy on camera!" and I will never forget them telling the people around, "This guy is hired.  This guy, I want him to be the 2nd or 3rd part in the movie."  And that was my audition for Sheldon Lettich and Luis Esteban.

"...Then later on it was another disaster. [read about the first incident here]  It cost me a fortune.  But those stories are coming up... those stories are coming up.  I know that Frank Dux today says that he did not do anything wrong and that's okay, after all we are all infallible in our own minds.

"You don't know what happened after that...

"I went back to Connecticut after the audition and was told to wait for them to call me.  That call never came, however, in that time I received a call from Frank Dux and he said, "You don't have to come, we will call you."  I was waiting for that call for 1 week.  After 2 weeks passed by I finally called to ask,

"What's going on?"

"Sheldon Lettich didn't even want to talk to me.  [and understandably so]  He said, "You didn't show up."  I replied, "But no, Frank Dux called me and told me I didn't have to go there."  Immediately I hung up the phone and got on the next flight from Bridgeport.  I got on a plane.  I hate planes, but I did something I am terrified of because I had to do it.  I got on the airplane and went.  I got there and once I arrived almost nobody wanted to talk to me because I had done so well at the auditions.  I did the incredible, nobody else could do what I did there; I was just doing the incredible.

[Check out at 50 seconds]

"So as I stayed down there I finally made it to the set and Mark Dacascos saw me and called to me, "Calasanz!"  Then he came to hug me.  It was very late, maybe 2 in the morning when they were filming.  You see, many people from Hollywood knew me.  At that point I had over 40 or 50 videos traveling and circulating around to people in Hollywood.  I sent videos to a lot of people there so many of them had seen me before.  Mark Dacascos, the star of the movie saw me that day and he knew me very well.

"That day he was filming his last fight with Paco Prieto.  I remember Sheldon Lettich looking at me as they were getting things in order and said "Calasanz, we will put you in the movie".

 [Final Fight Scene]

"Back then the producer would have his story board on a clothes line to organize the movie and the scenes.  Right then and there they made space and opened a new scene.  They made a new space on the clothes line to put me in a fight with Mark Dacascos.


"That fight, I know it didn't go too well, and I know they are supposed to put us in a unique fight but I couldn't perform to my full ability.  I was so tired and put-off already from what had happened that I couldn't act the way I needed to.  I was going in with a strange taste in my mouth.  So, if you see the movie "Only the Strong" you will see me going into the laundromat for the fight scene and then the escalation up to the fight as it is getting ready to start and maybe a few stunts.  This is all you will see of me.  I had gotten a fight on camera but the footage was deemed unusable.  The producer of 20th century FOX decided not to use it because there was no Capoeira in it.  He was right, it wasn't Capoeira, it was real.  Maybe too real.

 
"They gave me a special fight, and that fight I am sure it didn't look so good because I had to wear a big T-Shirt.  I looked good you know.  I had a body better than Bruce Lee at that time.  Paco Prieto, Sheldon Lettich and Luis Esteban talked with Mark Dacascos for over an hour trying to persuade him to let me fight without the shirt.   But no, he wouldn't agree.  He refused and I ended up on camera with a big shirt covering, and that was it.  If you watch the movie you see me with 3 people.  One in the middle, the guy from Miami Vice, and then the other two guys are on the right and left as we enter the landromat and that was pretty much it.

"But again, this is a long story with much more that can be discovered.  Frank Dux today denies his involvement and action when confronted.  But for Paco Prieto to make sure that I made it into the movie, that I had a chance to save some face despite that mishap, that misunderstanding.. I cannot thank him enough.  He must have felt that he had to make sure that I was in the movie.  I mean, we were advertising all over Connecticut, all over the newspaper, radio ect.  Calasanz in Norwalk was jumping and kicking all over the place and then somehow there he was having lost his part in the movie!" 

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Paco did a lot to help Calasanz to get back on the producers, directors and writers good side, to try to help him get his break; unfortunately the premise and styles featured in "Only the Strong" just weren't quite right to allow for his fight to be featured in the movie.

What might have been had Calasanz not been so deceived or had he been faster to act himself.. the world may never know; but his story continues on and only the future can show his story will develop.

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Inspired by Calasanz

Behind the Scenes - Saturday Night Fight

The two fighters featured here are Luca Cappoza, fighting in all black, for Calasanz' Norwalk school, and John, fighting in the white shirt for Peter Mottaza's New York City school.

Transcribed from an audio recording of Calasanz

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 And so the story goes...  

 
       Round 1            Round 2

Peter is a great instructor, a Greek guy, and a real guy who taught good martial art.  Prior this night in 1992 Peter had such respect for me that he told John to come and take 5 classes privately with me before stepping into the ring with any of my guys and he even paid for it himself.  For him to do that and tell that to a guy so young, so fit and so experienced was just unbelievable.  Just imagine the respect he had, and the lack of ego required for him to go and pay $100 an hour for his student to come take private training with me before taking the fight with my guy.  I still cannot even believe it, Peter is just incredible.

Because, if I would be a guy to be seen, I know that Bruce Lee was considered a Grand Master since day one.  But the beauty of it is that the people that knew him, of the people that knew Bruce Lee, they even knew that I was stronger and my martial art was superb in comparison with his martial art.  Now before you go calling 'blasphemy' understand, we are not talking about movies, we are not talking about as an actor.  Bruce Lee was a tremendous actor.  But to see that happen, to have that happen to me in real life, to experience a rival instructor scheduling his fighter to take 5 classes of private training with me before fighting one of my guys, its just incredible, even crazy.

 
Again the same thing happened with another fighter Michael Blazzie. If I remember correctly I think his instructor at the time was Tiger Schulmann.  Unfortunately Michael ended up in Norwalk Hospital for 10 hours in a coma when his bout came to an abrupt halt.


But moving on.. For me to experience those guys, to be training those guys and hearing them talk so much at the same time that I am training them to fight my guys...  John in particular would talk to me, "Oh my goodness Calasanz, I'm going to knock this guy out, I'm going to knock him down in seconds this is my fight.  It will be over so fast."  I mean, its just crazy, that I'm training him to fight one of my guys who has trained under me and here he is talking talking talking.  "Okay Calasanz, you are going to help me but I don't even know if I need that help."

Then to see later what happened in the ring... its almost ludicrous.

Luca Capozza prior to this fight had been trained only minimally in French kickboxing.  He trained with me for about 1 month then went off back to Paris.  He came back to me a while later and out of nowhere told me, "I want to fight."  So I told him, "Okay, you are going to fight Peter Mottaza's guy John.  He's not a regular guy though.  Really, you are not at his level.  He's a guy who has many fights and trains in Brooklyn and the Bronx.  He's a good fighter.  But Luca, I tell you, if you train with me for 8 hours just on counter attack, you can fight this guy, you can fight John and defend yourself."  I told him this and he agreed even after being told about John's superior skill; and he trusted me.

So I trained Luca for just 8 hours on counter attack.

When you look at the videos you can see all the counters, the great defense.  It's amazing what we did.  Luca, a guy who was just the equivalent of a casual yellow belt stepping into the ring against a guy who had participated in more than 70 fights.  Against a guy with a black belt, a guy with such precise and such strong punches.  Against a guy with the ability to throw a kick strong enough to knock down anyone it lands on.  Luca was just amazing, his performance was just amazing.  He was ducking punches or blocking almost everything and countering beautifully.  He ducked a lot of punches.  He ended up only taking a handful of solid blows while the rest ended up being blocked off or glancing at best.  What an incredible fight that was.  What a performance.

I can only imagine to be Peter, watching his guy getting knocked down, getting up, then knocked down again, up and down, up and down.  But, there was nothing I could do, I mean Peter respected me a lot and all I can say is sorry to Peter.  I mean, you were so respectful sending your guy to me like that.. but in the end his loss was not your fault or mine.  I know you are a great instructor, a great teacher.  It's just that John did not listen at all.  His focus was always towards fantasizing about how he was going to hurt our guy instead of focusing on learning or training.  But again, in the end reality had a nasty way of sobering him up.

All this was done based on the Calasanz system.  The fact is that Luca's success during that fight was because of only 8 hours training with me, Calasanz, because of training the best defense, because of training the counter attack.  Incredible.

... So, that is the story of all these things going on during Saturday Night Fight.

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Story Provided and Inspired by: Calasanz
Transcribed by: Alan Wedell

Calasanz Goes On About Jenifer Lee

A True Life Story : Taken from an Interview with Calasanz

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Jenifer is a lady, an amazing lady, I mean just spectacular.  I could write 20 books about this lady, talk about her non-stop for 2 years.  She is just incredible.  I met her when she was hired to be featured with me on a magazine after winning a beauty pageant.  She was 17 years old at the time of that photo and me, I looked even younger because I did not develop like most people.

You see I grew up on the farm working all hours.  I just had so much energy as a kid.  I would work with a machete for 8 hours, put 200 pounds of wood on my head to carry to the house 3 or 4 miles.  All sorts of chores and different types of work.  Normally if you have a baby like me you send them to the hospital because the baby has some problem, mental or something.  A baby with 24 hours energy?  That is not normal, they could not control it.  They could not control me.  But instead I was on the farm so they just let me work.  It ended up being for the best even though it effected my development.  They really let me have it on the farm when I was already 20 and completely clean all over without body hair.  I remember being embarassed by that, but really it is no big deal.

Now, getting back to the story of Jenifer Lee.

 

If you look at the footage, the beginning, the beauty, what is there.  Take a look at those movements, the poise, the posture.  Its just beautiful.  I choreographed those movements with her, together we made it superb.  Earlier on I was choreographing it but she became so sophisticated and so good that later on she would add movements herself and adjust others so well, and so perfectly to make it better and better.

I knew, when I was born with this gift, to understand beauty, what is reality, what
is a picture and what should be a martial arts picture.  I was born with it.  I didn't have to work for it.  Now, I can say over and over that in the 90's the mid 90's if you think you would find another body, another person that was more of a complete package than Jenifer you have got to be out of your mind.  She was a person that if she was around you HAD to look at her.


This lady, she had the complete package.  She can flow, she is strong, flexible, she had it all, everything just so precise and perfect.  Just to see her deliver a kick.  You can see on that side kick when she goes with full extension putting her leg all the way out.  It does not look real.  It looks fake.  It is uncanny and just unbelievable.  I know that, and I can describe it.  I know what is real, I know what is "looking good" but to look excellent, to look superb, that was Jenifer Lee.


Unfortunately, she was so good and so talented that I probably went out of control because I just wanted to teach her so much.  This came to a head leading to a time that it was more or less better for her to move on.  But if you look again at those movements you can see what is reality, what is the meaning of "fit", of "fitness".  You know, anyone can do beautiful movements in fitness.  Anyone can make a beautiful movement.  But to be a lady that is 19 years old capable of stepping into a ring with a man 6 ' 4 " and from nowhere delivering a perfect hook kick or roundhouse kick that if she really let it go and did not hold back that a man at 225 lbs. or whatever would be hurt, seriously hurt.  That is real Martial Art.  That was, or is, Jenifer Lee.


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Power, Beauty, Balance

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.

The Biggest Dummy : The Traditional Dummy Explained

Mook Yan Chong [木人樁]

And so now we come onto the topic of the wooden dummy.  When it comes to this we are obliged to discuss first the elements.  Here in the West we conjure up usually 4 (or 5 for you Captain Planet fans out there) elements.

Earth [土 tǔ]

Water [水 shuǐ]

Wind - [風 Fū or kaze or "air", in
                        the Japanese Tradition]

Fire [火 huǒ]

and of course..

(Heart [中心] - for you Captain Planet fans out there)

Many have also heard of the Stoic Greek addition of what is properly called by Plato and Aristotle: Aether  (or / sky / void / in the Japanese Tradition [空])

Fewer yet in the West have heard of the further Eastern
notions of  Wood [木 mù] and Metal [金 jīn].

And now we can get back on topic.  The wooden dummy is a phenomenal tool.
The repeated striking of the Wooden Dummy or Mook Yan Chong [木人樁] readies the body for impact, building the bone through repetition over time.

Hint:  Turn the arm such that contact is made with either the inside or outside narrow blade-y part of the forearm (as opposed to the flat, broad, softer part) and never with the "knuckle" of the wrist.

^^ Highlight for a Hint ^^

We give up these secrets in the spirit of not holding back.  We don't intend on taking anything to the grave because there is no time but the present.  That those who are real and intend to delve this deep also intend to practice critically and with an open mind.

That being said, remember to be conscious fully as you go through your repetitions, remember to be present.

The Zen Master would say the only way to do that is to not be conscious at all, in other words "Just do it".

        .... Try it, you might 

                 like it! ....     

This also happens to be the secret of the true Thai Boxers.  If you ask a guy where he studied Thai boxing.  He says, "America" then he goes to Thailand and loses in seconds.  Why?  Because he takes a kick from a guy who has been conditioning his shin since he was 16.  The shin is so well developed through repeated impact over time and use of special topical medicines and oils they rub on the leg that it's not even a competition!  One of the most famous Australian kickboxers got taught this lesson, losing handily upon his going to Thailand.  We have similar stories here even at Calasanz Physical Art in Norwalk involving one of our students who was also a soccer player.  (What do you think the leg chi sau is for?) 

  

[Warning: DO NOT go start wailing on your dummy with your shin!]

  Hint:  Begin with rubbing and repeated light tapping.

 ^^ Highlight for a Hint ^^

If you do Taekwondo, a wonderful MA, you will develop really wonderful and good kicks, but you have not truely trained your leg for impact striking.  (We've all seen those clips. [Warning: Graphic and Cannot Be Unseen!!!])

This is why it is important to be making contact with the Wood [木 mù] itself and not padding which is (after pushing the analogy to the extreme) hitting a pillow.  It's too soft.  In the long run it will definitely give you something, but think about that guy versus a guy who has been hitting Wood [木 mù] for 30+ years, if it is indeed Kung Fu (or 'the long run') we are talking about.

Body development is a life-long every day happening whether you want it to or not.  It never stops.  What will you become?  Will you waste away in atrophy or will you rise above?  What will you be capable of down the line?

Happy Practice!

Inspired by Calasanz

Developed by Alan Wedell  

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Don't Lose It!

Calasanz on Forgiveness and Redemption:

Master Calasanz

I hate to give up on anyone in this world.  I believe that if somebody does something wrong and tries to make it up, that is enough to be forgiven.  There are cases that make it impossible for 99% of the population to forgive, but when confronted with a person who repeatedly acts against their nature, who has time and time again acted impulsively, seemingly unawares that their acting out is transgression in its basest form, then there is more to think about.

  

It is like depression, you cannot blame a person that is depressed for anything they do, why? Depression is the worst illness on the face of earth, but because mostly the entire world is ill people don't take it seriously; the public, their Doctors and even their families.

In my life there was a problem which, without a fraction of doubt was the most devastating problem to myself and my business, ever.  Let me tell you the truth, the only reason I remain in business today is because those around me know me very well, plus, there is one thing I do right, and that is that, the more pressure and adversity I face, the more I focus on staying healthy.

You find people that try so very hard not to do something that they just wait and wait to see if something will change.  This is not far from the Zen Buddhist concept of action through inaction.  In the world you will encounter people that do not listen to anybody, and despite their unwillingness to concentrate and consider perspectives to achieve a broader sense of things they insist that their knowledge is already complete and perfect.  And through their subjectively complete and perfect knowledge they insist that still, they can help best.  (Logically one with a broader more informed knowledge base would be able to make a more helpful decision than a more narrowly informed individual.)  

Today I ask myself many questions.  

Calasanz with student John Recor

Are we doing the right thing?  

Or rather, are we being too patient or passive?  

Are we just waiting for the worst?  

And we have indeed waited, in the past and into the present, meaning I was wrong to let all of this happen.  I personally do not belong with those who believe in the worst.  Those pessimistic attitudes, negativity, anger and hate.   The worst is when you "lose it", when you lose your patience and are genuinely unruly.  Later on, once those moments have passed, and as you reflect on those times, you remember what occurred and you begin to question your mental attitude and your intelligence.  

"How could I have done that?"  

"What was I thinking?"  

You might ask yourself these questions but there are no answers; for it was not really you who did it, and there was no conscious thought in the moment.  Passion and emotion had taken complete control.

Allowing anger, or any emotion for that matter, to arise to such a degree that you are no longer present in the world, no longer aware of your actions despite how radical they may be, is a quick way towards a self-guilt laden future of continued masochistic introspection and a yearning desire to "undo" those actions as they are remembered and come to mind again and again.  

This is why patience is king.  To be able to consistently remain calm, to learn to suppress the seeds of rage before they blossom fully so as to remain conscious, aware, functional, and deliberate.  To remain focused enough to have the foresight necessary to avoid taking unnecessary radical action.  To maintain composure even in the face of adversity and opposition.  Remember, the view to the bottom of the pond is clearest when it is devoid of agitation. (again I also remind you that breath control and awareness of breath are the proper tools of this suppression, discipline and control of self)

Patience Will Win the World, That is the Fact of Life.





Written by Calasanz

Editing / Concept Development by Alan Wedell