Shunshifu Allen Casselman Sr.

Background and views

I will begin with explaining my background as it relates to the martial arts that began in early 1972 with my brother in law who was studying Shotakon Karate.  Don had achieved a decent level of proficiency.  In my back yard we hung up an army duffel bag and filled it with rags and sand.  I learned basic stances and punches with a few combinations over the next year.

I then tied up with a high school friend that had gotten his black belt in Shotakon Karate. For the next six months I was put through a variety of tortures.  I did learn discipline and focus as well as how to hit hard, I discovered that I had difficulty moving my feet. The last straw was the pain, I just couldn't handle it at that time. I was a young father that needed to feed a family and could not risk injury..

I continued to read books and work part time in my backyard on what I was reading and discovering about the arts. Practicing techniques and such the best I could.

In 1973 I began training in the art of Wing Chun and Choi Les fut with John, forgive me I have forgotten his last name. He had received private training from a young Chinese man who had moved from China whom he worked with.  As John explained to me he had a feeling that this man knew some martial arts and kept following him until he was accepted as a student.  For two years John had trained every Saturday in Wing Chun style Kung Fu.

With 2 students John taught us for 2 years it wasn't untl many years lLater I became aware of the back yard style he taught, When he had stopped teaching, got married, we students had to prove we learned something. I went into a few of the bars where I had difficulty before with this nice chip on my shoulder awaiting the smart remark or assault to come my way. Never happened, I was somewhat dissappointed. My fellow student did the same thing and got his but whipped pretty good, he went on to Moores karate. Never the less I did learn enough usable material to carry me for the next ten years in my own personal search into the capabilities of the so called mystic martial arts.

In 1986 I discovered the city of Tulare sponsored classes in Martial Arts. Herald Stailey was the Master in Red Dragon Kung Fu, hung lung pai, for the next year I worked diligently and quickly achieved an Orange Belt in that Style.  For my interests and physical build I preferred the Kung Fu style.  With the looseness of the style and performance of techniques I had confidence in protecting others and myself.

1995 I connected with Isidro Anaya who was a Brown Belt in the Red Dragon School when I was studying there.  I had hoped he would continue my training in that style but he was teaching Chinese Kempo. He telling me how large his classes were and that he needed some help so he asasked me to come in and help with his class.  I discovered very quickly that the moves that I could do when I was younger I no longer could do so I basically started at the beginning again.  I worked hard and progressed quickly and earned by black belt and began teaching in his school.  Within a year he wanted to retire and I began teaching under my own name.

It wasn’t long before Scott Harper joined me and began teaching me Tang-Te-Kempo of which we were partners in the school I named American Martial Arts Academy. With the input from his system we began doing well for the next two years. Life always gets in the way and he went on to teach in his own school Samari Dojo now located in Exeter, California.

I soon was approached by Carlos Melendez for a partnership in my Martial Arts School teaching his style of White Dragon Kung Fu, not to be confused with Chinese White Dragon Kung fu around the states.  I was with Carlos for 9 years earning Black belt rank of Second Degree. 

I learned a lot from Carlos about combat martial arts and the human body. The most important was how most martial arts being taught in America just didn’t work in real combat situations of today’s streets.

Through my training with Carlos I had learned different forms and styles of martial arts, such as Aikido, Ninjitsu, Nimpo, Jui Jitsu, Karate and many more animal techniques of Kung Fu.  Most important was the understanding of body movement and reactionary activities.  White Dragon was a compilation of all of these different forms and styles.

In 2005 an automobile accident came along and interrupted my training for about 2 years. Let me tell you that at the age of 52 an interruption in training costs more than just down time,  My body became my worst enemy.  I am sedentary by nature but not being able to teach and do limited work outs cost me a lot of mobility.  Carlos and I had a conflict and I was told to leave his studio, this emotionally devastated me.  I had not only lost my teacher, partner but my best friend in one clean swoop of unknown reasoning, leaving me with nothing but my school name.  I chose not to make a big stink out of it over the respect I have for Carlos and the students that would suffer with such turmoil. (within a year the school was no longer functioning as a school)

Ibegan teaching again in November 2007, now at 55 I started all over again with 4 students.  It is now just a little over a year later and the roster has multiplied greatly my mobility is beginning to return but my wind is hardest to master.