Our Goal

Here at USSD Menlo Park we strive to offer the best of the martial arts world with a variety of classes. Our goal has been and will always be to help our students leave their problems at the door and have the opportunity to learn self defense so that they can be both safer and healthier and join our big martial arts family. All of our classes are designed to take the best of traditional martial arts training and bring it into the modern world with our unique approach of scenario based training and resistance drilling.

Our History

United Studios of Self Defense Menlo Park first opened its doors in 1993. The dojo has operated at 409 El Camino Real in Menlo Park since then and has enjoyed many years of great times. Over the years there have been a number of instructors and hundreds of students many of whom have left their unique mark upon USSD Menlo Park helping to grow our family and knowledge. Gary Caldwell opened the dojo as an accomplished black belt in USSD as well as an experienced martial artist in other styles. In 2020, Gary Caldwell passed the torch to a team of accomplished USSD Instructors, Sensei Reilly Curtis, Sensei Trent Zappen, and Master Jose Rodriguez.

Over the years we have added new classes such as our Urban Combat program, kickboxing classes, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu courses. We have continued to train and grow our knowledge base adding new techniques and teaching tools. As a member of USSD we encourage our students to compete and push themselves at our USSD regional tournaments every 6 months and also offer smaller competitions throughout the year.

The easiest way to encapsulate our 25+ years as a staple of the Menlo Park community is to explain that now, after all the years, our students whom have grown are returning with their own children whom they could not imagine sending anywhere else. The dojo has and will continue to be a friendly and happy environment for the families and individuals of Menlo Park for years to come.

History of USSD Corporate and Shaolin Kempo

Here at USSD Menlo Park we teach a variety of martial arts, Shaolin Kempo, Urban Combat MMA, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The history of all of these arts is a long one and a colorful and exciting story. The history of Shaolin Kempo is a story that is as much full of legend as it is of historical fact. Shaolin kempo is a combination of both Chinese Shaolin martial arts and Japanese Kempo martial arts. The more recent events of the combination of these arts can be traced back through the lineage of USSD and then past this to the development of the different styles from China and Japan.

For a full history of the lineage of USSD as an organization and where we get our martial arts style from we recommend reading the full history provided by the USSD website. This is also a great place to get a brief understanding of the extensive history of some of the martial arts and people whom have had a large role in shaping the martial arts style of Shaolin Kempo including the styles of the Chinese Shaolin Temple, and the styles of Kempo and Karate in Japan.