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Cheshire Team Big Winner in Martial Arts
August 17, 1999
After days of breaking cement blocks, bats and boards, and hours of
self-defense competition, Team Bergamo returned home Monday from an
international martial arts competition held in Las Vegas, bearing seven awards,
including two first place trophies. Led by martial arts instructor and
sixth-degree black belt Ralph Bergamo of Prospect, the group proudly displayed
the trophies they won at the USA World Championships held at the Orleans hotel.
Contenders came from all over the globe."We were smokin'," said Bergamo,
appearing fatigued from the trip home. Arriving at his local studio Bergamo's
Cheshire Martial Arts Center where he was met by balloons, streamers and
glittery graffiti, Bergamo said, "There were tough competitors and it was quite
an experience."
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Mr. Ralph Bergamo
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Bergamo's team members are Scott Casolo, Clinton Murphy, Ted Greider, Drew
Serrano, Vinnie Milo and Eric Sousa. Sousa is a Naugatuck police officer and
Serrano, who holds a fourth degree black belt, is a Waterbury firefighter. We
dominated in breaking and self defense," Bergamo said of the team, whose talents
include using physical strength to smash concrete blocks, wooden boards and
other objects. "Everyone placed in the top 10 out of the 100 competitors." First
place for over all self defense went to Bergamo, who has been practicing martial
arts for over 25 years.
Casolo picked up a first in self defense, and Serrano, who said he has received
awards, in sparring and grappling, was awarded a third place in black belt self
defense. Bergamo also received a third place trophy in breaking for a black
belt. As spouses and children gathered around, the group relived the weekend's
action through a video that showed a dizzying array of men breaking cement
blocks with their hands, elbows and feet. One segment showed Bergamo lying on a
bed of broken glass, while a teammate wielding a sledge hammer smashed numerous
cement blocks set on his chest.
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Appearing as tag team wrestlers, team members took turns holding
bats and boards as others summoned strength to snap the bats, smash bricks -
some of which were in flames - and clobber whole coconuts. Boards held against
foreheads were struck and snapped in half. Bergamo said the show was taped for a
future segment that would appear on Pay Per View for cable television
subscribers. Filipino Kun Tao, the method that Bergamo teaches, was brought to
the United States by the Master Joe Rossi, who learned the combat maneuvers
after serving in the U.S. Navy outfit that precedes the Navy Seals. "We were
finally able to show the superior and effective style for Rossi Kun Tao System,"
Bergamo said. "As a team we work well together and closely. This is a tribute to
the late Grand Master Rossi." Bergamo, who owns the local center and Bergamo's
Martial Arts and Personal Training in Naugatuck, has another claim to fame in
that he is the father of Miss Connecticut, Lauren Bergamo.
By: Aimee Hartnett - CHESHIRE
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