Sensei Michael A. Caloiaro

Michael A. Caloiaro was born on July 31, 1961 in Oakland, CA. He grew up in the East Bay Area and moved with his family to Sparks, NV at the age of 17. He was an avid baseball player and had aspirations throughout his youth and early adult years to become a professional player. He played organized baseball from the age of 5 to 20. He played baseball while attending Reed High School in Sparks, NV and was voted all-state and was named as MVP his senior year. He graduated in 1979 and went on to attend the College of Southern Idaho on a baseball scholarship and also played 1 year of semi-pro baseball in a Canadian league. In 1982 he received an Associative of Arts degree.

Around the age of 21 he started his martial arts training. His younger brother Frank was training at Senior Master Joey Walkers Academy of Martial Arts in Sparks, NV under Sensei Jim McElvain. Mike was impressed with how his brother had progressed while he was away at college and thought about giving it a try. He watched a couple of classes and was extremely impressed with how the instructors and master instructors moved, especially after watching a couple other classes from other systems.

Mike trained briefly with Sensei Jim McElvain in 1982 and continued his study with Senior Master Joey Walker and received his first-degree black belt in 1986. Mike had competed regularly in local and regional tournaments during the 80’s and early 90’s with favorable results. On the recommendation of Master Stephanie Gorden he was promoted to 5th degree black belt in October 2005 by Grand Master Stanford McNeal, SR. Currently, he is supporting Master Stephanie Gorden at the Kifaru-Jistu Schools in North Las Vegas, NV.