A.B.T.M.A.F.M.A Videos

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It was 1995, and Angel Velazquez had just returned to Banning, the city where he was born and grew up in. He had recently handed over control of the five martial arts schools he was running in Mexico.

Having just survived a bout with lung cancer, he was practicing his kung fu forms, called katas, at a park to keep himself fit, when a kid approached him and asked him what he was doing.

Fascinated, the young man wanted to learn from Velazquez, and began to come back to the park just to watch and work with him — and started bringing his friends.

“It wasn’t long before I had 10 kids following me” and learning kung fu, Velazquez says. “And it kind of grew into this community event: parents would come and bring their barbecues. Then Banning Police Department came by and told us we couldn’t teach like that in a public park.” 

Parents, according to Velazquez, rallied to his support, and rented a space in what was once the Haven coffee shop so that their kids could continue to have classes with him.

Velazquez taught — for free — in a couple of locations for nearly two years before he opened his Five-Star-Rated Martial Arts studio, Black Tiger Kung-Fu Academy in 1995, in what he says was formerly a 99 Cent Store.

Black, Velazquez explains, “is the unity of all colors.” And black tiger is one of the five animal “forms” taught at the studio”; and Velazquez graduated from training in the Year of the Tiger. Black tiger is not the exclusive form of movement taught at the academy: systems of bear, eagle, drunken monkey and praying mantis are also taught there.

From an anteroom, parents and visitors can openly watch participants in any of Velazquez’s classes. They can see he’s not a totalitarian dictator in his studio, or the bad-ass who’s better-than-thou that could be imagined in movies.

In fact, at least with the kids he works with, he makes his classes seem fun.

Kids, some 8 or 9 years-old, come in, bow, and take their position on a mat. They start out with some stretching exercises, before moving on to kicks.

“My grandmother kicks higher,” he chides. “And she only has one leg. What’s up with that?”

Kids giggle, and together they add an inch or so to the height of their kicks.

He walks around to individually inspect each person’s performance.

He nods at one of them. “Almost as good as my grandma,” he said. “Almost.”

Angel’s Black Tiger Academy is one of the few organizations in the U.S. to be considered a headquarters for the Ng Ga Kuen martial arts system, which incorporates “forms, concept, theory, philosophy and martial art etiquette.”

Any studio that wishes to open a martial arts studio in Southern California using Ng Ga Kuen must be accredited by Angel’s Black Tiger Academy in Banning. According to Velazquez, only four schools since 1995 have qualified to open using the martial arts system, with 10 others still in the process of being accredited.

Black Tiger Academy is also one of the few organizations to receive a Hall of Fame Award from Martial Arts World, which is a tai kwon do association.

Velazquez explains the martial arts differences: the Korean tai kwon do fighting form utilizes high kicks; karate, which originates in Japan, is an open-hand, “straight line” martial art; while kung-fu, which Black Tiger Academy teaches, incorporates weapons, forms and circular movements, and originates from China.

“Parents may come in and want their kids to learn to kick butt right away,” Velazquez says. “Well, not all kids are of that character. We find that some kids are hyper, some are passive, others are more aggressive, and we have to find that center.”

As Velazquez sees it, “We have customers, and then we have students. Everything is so Americanized: in two years, in three years, you’re ready” to get the next colored belt, “but it’s much more than that. I strongly believe every student learns the way the instructor has been taught. If the student has a bad attitude, it probably reflects on the teacher.”

He has high standards: belts are earned, not simply given because someone has been a student for a specific length of time.

“In the 15 or so years I’ve had the school, I’ve only given seven black belts,” says Velazquez, who, at 41, has a 7th degree black belt in Shaolin kung-fu. “You can give a young person a junior black belt, but you have to be sure they don’t have the mentality that they can suddenly go out and take over the world. We want them to practice the art,” he says.

Classes tend to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, starting at 4, 5, 6 or 7 p.m. (No 7 p.m. classes on Fridays). Enrollment fees are $130 a month, and contracts are on a month-to-month basis; participants can attend as many classes as they wish during the month. Limited scholarships are also available.

Black Tiger Academy has about 150 students altogether, dispersed within several classes of no more than 35. Each class is catered to the age of the students in them: he’s easier with the younger kids; expects more discipline from teens, and “for adults who need to go to work in the morning and don’t want to go home limping,” contact with other members is minimal.

Tiger sparring, which he uses with younger kids, involves jumping kicks without touching others, and helps customers develop at their own pace. Leopard sparring and crane sparring, still involves no physical contact with others, while helping to hone in on speed. The academy’s snake technique involves rolling and sweeping ground techniques; and dragon sparring involves contact.

During the day, Velazquez also does personal training. He has master’s degrees in sports management, chiropractic, business administration and physical therapy from the University of California in Baja, Mexico.

“It was never my intention to teach martial arts,” Velazquez says. “I just came back to Banning to recover from cancer. That first official class had 30 kids. The fact that former kids are now bringing their kids in for lessons speaks volumes to me about their satisfaction.