United Studios of Self Defense (USSD)

[Flying Crane]

lets face reality ,ussd has over 140 studios with over 50 thousand students they have helped alot of people loose weight gain self confidence etc.. i love people that use the term sell out ,ussd is using the same material that was taught to mattera by nick cerio just in a larger scale. bands sign multi million dollar deals are they selling out .no they accomplised what they set out to do and thats to let millions of people hear there music and become successfull. is that not what everyone sets out to achieve?

I think this is an apples and oranges comparison. A music band records music and plays live concerts. Anyone can appreciate and enjoy music on some level. It is essentially a passive activity for most people.

Martial arts training is completely active, both mentally and physically. Most people are not up to the task. Serving up martial arts to the masses is likely to produce many lousy practitioners, with only a very few quality ones. It is evey more difficult to produce the few quality ones, because the curriculum has become so lousy for the masses, that the gifted individuals are working with inferior material and teaching methods.

The idea that martial arts are for everyone is a myth. It is a marketing gimmick designed to bring in customers, to make a business grow, to make money. I am not against business or making money, but quality martial arts and business do not go well together. When martial arts becomes accessable to everyone and anyone, then it is guaranteed to be low quality. The vast majority of people are unable to practice martial arts at a high level. They lack the ability and the commitment.

But anyone can listen to music and enjoy it on some level, pay for concert tickets and buy a music CD.

 

[Blindside]

lets face reality ,ussd has over 140 studios with over 50 thousand students they have helped alot of people loose weight gain self confidence etc.. i love people that use the term sell out ,ussd is using the same material that was taught to mattera by nick cerio just in a larger scale. bands sign multi million dollar deals are they selling out .no they accomplised what they set out to do and thats to let millions of people hear there music and become successfull. is that not what everyone sets out to achieve?

I'm glad people have lost weight and gotten some self confidence, but can they defend themselves? Out of the 20 or so students and instructors I have met from the USSD schools, none of them equalled a decent blue belt from the kajukenbo, American Kenpo, or Tracy Kenpo schools that I have practiced at. I'm sure they are out there, if you have 50,000 students, someone may accidentally get competant.

Lamont

 

[John Bishop]

99% of you people have no clue about ussd,you sit here and talk so much crap but do you really dont know anything except what these washed up karate instuctors that make 35k a year or less at there studio tell you.

ussd is the most sucessfull chain of studios in the world and many instuctors in ussd make more than many doctors and other high paying jobs
do they charge alot of money? yes but when you are running a business you have too.all of there studios are at easy access locations and open 9 hours a day for the customers conveinence,not some instuctor that works as a plumber then teaches after work for three hours .and no mattera did not self promote himself he was tested at the temple and recived his 10th degree.
so all you looser instructors keep talkin crap and reading your martial arts profesional magazine and making everyone money except yourself,while mattera drives around in his aston martin vanquish.

Moderator Note:
Since you are a new member, I'm hoping you read the user agreement before you joined today. But this post indicates that either you are not aware of our policies, or you choose to ignore them.
So, I'm going to request that you follow one simple rule. Present your argument without attacking any members here. Feel free to attack their arguments, but calling the members "loosers" will not be tolerated here.

 

[texasbmas]

everyone is entitled to there opinoin,ussd has closed down maybe one or two studios in there history ,where other studios come and go like crazy they must be doing something right,its to bad you people are blinded by these washed up instructors on here that are so great becouse they say they are traditional ,big deal traditional dont pay the bills and if you want your style to stick around $49 a month lessons dont cut it that is why there has been such a huge increase in dojo failure.

 

[texasbmas]

for all of you who need ahistory lesson in the martial arts type in birthplace of the martial arts on any search engine and you will see that the shoalin temple is the place.that is a fact everything is an offshoot of shoalin kenpo

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

for all of you who need ahistory lesson in the martial arts type in birthplace of the martial arts on any search engine and you will see that the shoalin temple is the place.that is a fact everything is an offshoot of shoalin kenpo

Yep. Somehow you've managed to best a multitude of minds here; people who have dedicated decades to the martial arts, it's practice; it's history...including researchers and authors in the field. Thanks for the history lesson.

FYI...kenpo is not even a Chinese word, much less an art from Xaolin temples in China. Everything is an offshoot of Shaolin Gung-Fu. Kenpo, as a word (much less an art), still has an unagreed upon history. But you would already know that. Because of the erudite scholar and historian you be.

Regards,

Moi.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

everyone is entitled to there opinoin,ussd has closed down maybe one or two studios in there history ,where other studios come and go like crazy they must be doing something right,its to bad you people are blinded by these washed up instructors on here that are so great becouse they say they are traditional ,big deal traditional dont pay the bills and if you want your style to stick around $49 a month lessons dont cut it that is why there has been such a huge increase in dojo failure.

And a huge decrease in the quality of skills. Thanks for your contribution, USSD. Now, if you would please avoid further peeing in the kenpo gene pool...

Nobody here is arguing that USSD does not have a successful business model. As a chain, seperating people from their wallets, they are hugely successful.

 

[Blindside]

for all of you who need ahistory lesson in the martial arts type in birthplace of the martial arts on any search engine and you will see that the shoalin temple is the place.that is a fact everything is an offshoot of shoalin kenpo

So explain to me how the Filipino martial arts owe their history to the Shaolin Temple....
How about the martial arts of India....
How about Europe....
Africa?
Mongolia?

please, enlighten us....

Lamont

 

[Flying Crane]

everyone is entitled to there opinoin,ussd has closed down maybe one or two studios in there history ,

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area there used to be at least a half dozen or so a few years back. I think only one now exists.

 

[Xue Sheng]

for all of you who need ahistory lesson in the martial arts type in birthplace of the martial arts on any search engine and you will see that the shoalin temple is the place.that is a fact everything is an offshoot of shoalin kenpo

Actually that is not correct.

Many of these claims you see, particularly on web sites, are putting the cart before the horse. They see Tai Chi, Xingyi and Bagua being taught currently at Shaolin and they then assume they all came from Shaolin and they do not. They came from somewhere else and are now trained at Shaolin as an option.

Not even all of the martial arts in China come from Shaolin (Buddhist - mainly external styles).

There is Wudang (Taoist - mainly internal styles) which has it's own brand of martial arts, mainly internal and decidedly not Shaolin.

There are also other martial arts that come from sources outside of Wudang and Shaolin. Shuaijiao is one of those. And one could argue so are Yiquan and Sanda as well. Actually the Chen family says they developed Tai Chi independently of both too.

Shaolins contributions are great but its contributions are mainly animal forms. It was also rather influential in many Okinawan and thereby Japanese Martial Arts too.

And speaking of Japan, Sumo is a martial art too and it is decidedly not from Shaolin.

 

[Carol]

everyone is entitled to there opinoin,ussd has closed down maybe one or two studios in there history ,where other studios come and go like crazy they must be doing something right,its to bad you people are blinded by these washed up instructors on here that are so great becouse they say they are traditional ,big deal traditional dont pay the bills and if you want your style to stick around $49 a month lessons dont cut it that is why there has been such a huge increase in dojo failure.

Your insults are neither enlightening nor appropriate.

 

[Flying Crane]

Actually that is not correct.

Many of these claims you see, particularly on web sites, are putting the cart before the horse. They see Tai Chi, Xingyi and Bagua being taught currently at Shaolin and they then assume they all came from Shaolin and they do not. They came from somewhere else and are now trained at Shaolin as an option.

Not even all of the martial arts in China come from Shaolin (Buddhist - mainly external styles).

There is Wudang (Taoist - mainly internal styles) which has it's own brand of martial arts, mainly internal and decidedly not Shaolin.

There are also other martial arts that come from sources outside of Wudang and Shaolin. Shuaijiao is one of those. And one could argue so are Yiquan and Sanda as well. Actually the Chen family says they developed Tai Chi independently of both too.

Shaolins contributions are great but its contributions are mainly animal forms. It was also rather influential in many Okinawan and thereby Japanese Martial Arts too.

And speaking of Japan, Sumo is a martial art too and it is decidedly not from Shaolin.

Yeah, absolutely right on here. Shaolin is often put up on a pedestal and revered as not just the origins of Chinese martial arts, but even of all martial arts, and neither are true. People have been fighting each other all over the world for as long as humans have been walking the planet. Martial arts have developed in some way virtually everywhere. In China and other parts of Asia, sophisticated martial arts existed long long before Shaolin ever had any at all. Shaolin has certainly had a strong influence on many martial arts since it got into the picture, but there are still plenty of arts today that have no connection to the Shaolin temple.

With regards to Kenpo, I think its history is cloudy and undetermined and undeterminable. I think it would be very difficult to establish a direct link to Shaolin. At best, it would be traced in a very circuitious route, and may really have no connection at all. Shaolin may have wielded some influence over what became Kenpo, but I doubt any of the Kenpo arts today can truthfully claim a link to Shaolin.

Mattera and Demascos' link to the current Shaolin Temple today is, at best, a goodwill gesture and an attempt at a cultural brotherhood, and at worst simply a deceptive marketing ploy on both ends.

 

[Danjo]

i think i might know a little more about mattera than you,and yes nick cerio did teach mattera along with villari.

Apparently you don't. Nick Cerio was the instructor of Fred Villari up to 2nd degree Black Belt, Charlie Mattera was an Orange Belt with Cerio when Villari left the school. He left with his instructor, Villari, and was skipped from Orange to Blue Belt by him (I had this from Mattera himself at a Shaolin Monk Show in Anaheim in 2003) He talked about how he'd never had a purple belt because he was skipped past it, and what a shame it was because it was his favorite color. From then on, it was pure Fred Villari up to 7th degree black belt in 1988. Mattera left F.V. in 1988 and started his USSD. He then went back to Cerio to get rank. He got Zero training from him, however, and Cerio soon broke off all contact with Mattera due to personal reasons. After Cerio died, Mattera put Cerio back in his lineage chart to make it look as though he was trained by him rather than Villari. When I mentioned Villari's name at my blue belt test, the "Masters" looked at me like I had cut a fart in an elevator. After Steve Demascos left Villari in 1993, he joined up with Charlie and ran the east Coast branch of the USSD. He had contacts with the new tourist attraction called the Shaolin Temple in China, and they both went there with a lot of cash and got rank from them. When they brought them to the USA in 2003, the USSD donated a reported 150,000 dollars to the Temple and had a monument erected at the Shaolin temple also with USSD carved on it.

Now, tell me where I am wrong here about Charlie Mattera.

 

[Gentle Fist]

Apparently you don't. Nick Cerio was the instructor of Fred Villari up to 2nd degree Black Belt, Charlie Mattera was an Orange Belt with Cerio when Villari left the school. He left with his instructor, Villari, and was skipped from Orange to Blue Belt by him (I had this from Mattera himself at a Shaolin Monk Show in Anaheim in 2003) He talked about how he'd never had a purple belt because he was skipped past it, and what a shame it was because it was his favorite color. From then on, it was pure Fred Villari up to 7th degree black belt in 1988. Mattera left F.V. in 1988 and started his USSD. He then went back to Cerio to get rank. He got Zero training from him, however, and Cerio soon broke off all contact with Mattera due to personal reasons. After Cerio died, Mattera put Cerio back in his lineage chart to make it look as though he was trained by him rather than Villari. When I mentioned Villari's name at my blue belt test, the "Masters" looked at me like I had cut a fart in an elevator. After Steve Demascos left Villari in 1993, he joined up with Charlie and ran the east Coast branch of the USSD. He had contacts with the new tourist attraction called the Shaolin Temple in China, and they both went there with a lot of cash and got rank from them. When they brought them to the USA in 2003, the USSD donated a reported 150,000 dollars to the Temple and had a monument erected at the Shaolin temple also with USSD carved on it.

Now, tell me where I am wrong here about Charlie Mattera.

OWNED!!!

 

[Gentle Fist]

Question for USSDers.

Some arts in the U.S. have commercial versions as well as "family" versions. Is USSD strictly commercial or does it have a closed curtain curriculum as well?

Those who have been around the Kenpo block should know what I am referring to.

 

[Danjo]

Question for USSDers.

Some arts in the U.S. have commercial versions as well as "family" versions. Is USSD strictly commercial or does it have a closed curtain curriculum as well?

Those who have been around the Kenpo block should know what I am referring to.

Well, having talked to a number of instructors there, it's all about the money. They tested the celebrities right next to us in Lake Forrest, (Christian Slater and I went for Green belt at the same test session, and Steven Seagal's kids also trained there) and it seems that if there were a "Special Club" that they would be the one's who would have gotten it.

When I would go to the tests in Charlie's Lake Forrest HQ, I would work my butt off before testing to learn all of my material and be able to do it well. I would be standing next to people that forgot forms and combinations and some that even had to take a break and sit out part of the test. Well, at the end of the session, everyone got their tested for rank. When one of my fellow students that was testing at the same time asked one of the "Masters" what the deal was, the "Master" shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's a business." That's a quote I heard myself right from the mouth of Dennis B.

 

[Gentle Fist]

Well, having talked to a number of instructors there, it's all about the money. They tested the celebrities right next to us in Lake Forrest, (Christian Slater and I went for Green belt at the same test session, and Steven Seagal's kids also trained there) and it seems that if there were a "Special Club" that they would be the one's who would have gotten it.

When I would go to the tests in Charlie's Lake Forrest HQ, I would work my butt off before testing to learn all of my material and be able to do it well. I would be standing next to people that forgot forms and combinations and some that even had to take a break and sit out part of the test. Well, at the end of the session, everyone got their tested for rank. When one of my fellow students that was testing at the same time asked one of the "Masters" what the deal was, the "Master" shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's a business." That's a quote I heard myself right from the mouth of Dennis B.

WOW!! That sounds horrible! I only hear of schools/systems like this. Which is more than enough for me.

 

[MJS]

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MJS

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