Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nico Cavallino. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Nico, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission with my business is to create strong, healthy adults and kids. Not only physically strong and healthy but mentally tough and resilient. To be able to deal with adversity with a calm mind. The world we live in today has become filled with weak people that make bad decisions because they lack the strength and courage to rise above any resistance. When a child walks into my academy I have to identify what they need and why they are here. The goal is to make them very strong and self sufficient, to rely on nobody but themselves to fix a problem. We teach them how to become self reliant so that they don’t need to run to an adult to solve their issue because they can handle it themselves. They project strength so they don’t need to use force because of their training they know their abilities and what they can do. I’ve seen kids transform into strong minded warriors. For my adults have issues with stress and confrontation. Through the training they become more confident and healthy because they start to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle. They clean up their diet, they get better sleep and they relieve stress with their training in class. The people that walk in to the academy walk out feeling much better about themselves at the end of class. When you can change a person’s perception of themselves and show them the abilities that they possess and you have a hand in helping them find it is such a gratifying feeling as an instructor because part of you will always be with that person because you share that moment together.

Nico, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I come from a family of Italian immigrants. My family immigrated here to the US from Sicily in search of the American dream. As a young boy I was very hyper active and was very undisciplined and as a result I got into a lot of trouble in school. I had no outlet to pour my energy into. I was always fascinated by martial artists in the movies and I thought that they were almost like magicians. The way that they could use their body as a weapon was so interesting to me. There was also the mental and psychological part of the martial arts that intrigued me as well. I wanted to possess that same mental strength and discipline that I seen on the screen. The big action stars of the 80’s had a big impact on me as a kid from Stallone, Van Damm, Seagal but when I seen Bruce Lee he was the ultimate example for me. He was small like I was but he possessed such an aura of confidence and strength. I wanted that, so I gathered any information on the man and wanted to learn what he did. Finally after training on my own from books and videos I was able to find someone to teach me what Bruce Lee was teaching when he was alive. I dedicated myself to it and was able to explore and experiment with other martial arts styles from around the world and fell in love with the journey. I wanted to do something with the knowledge and experiences that I had so I wanted to educate the public about the beauty and the benefits of training in the martial arts. I was approached by an old friend about opening our own academy and we opened Allied Martial Arts Academy in Southfield Michigan. This academy is dedicated to educate and prepare the individual how to defend themselves in every possible situation. We create strong minds as well as strong and healthy bodies. We like to call what we do here “the art of expressing the human body” as Bruce Lee use to say.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I use to work in the automotive industry on the line in the factory and I really didn’t like it and I always felt in my heart that this is not what I was meant to do, I knew I was meant for more than this. I decided that I was gonna go for what made me feel fulfilled. I wanted to pass on my knowledge and experiences to others and help people gain confidence and help them become stronger and healthier. I know what martial arts did for me and I wanted to share feeling with others because it’s a special feeling. Making the change was scary but it’s been such an exciting and very rewarding experience that I wouldn’t change anything about my journey, the good and the bad. All experiences teach us things about ourselves and I learned a lot and Ivo had people that I’ve learned from along the way.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I first told my first instructor that I wanted to teach to be part of the legacy and to spread the arts and share it with people he tried to talk me out of it and I really valued his opinion at that time so I put it aside but over time I saw things differently and I wanted to pursue it and I wanted to run things better and differently than my instructors. I’ve always wanted to be different in everything, I was never a follower I always tended to do things differently and separate myself from the herd for different reasons. I believe in what I’m doing so I don’t need approval from anyone no Matt how much I admire them. I believe in myself and my path that I chose and that’s all that matters. People told me that I couldn’t do it and that it’s not the life for me but I don’t agree with them and I have proved them wrong because I’m doing it and doing it my way. I have no desire to be mediocre in anything I do, if I do anything I wanna be the best at it. I can’t do that if I’m just listening to what everyone else is telling me what I can’t do. You can’t tell me I can’t do something because I’m just gonna work that much harder to show you I can.   

Contact Info:

• Website: Alliedmartialarts.com
• Instagram: Nickcav19@instagram
• Facebook: Nico Cavallino
• Linkedin: Nico Cavallino
• Youtube: Adaptive martial arts