New Shawano business combines local man’s two passions

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

September 9, 2024

SHAWANO – Retired U.S. Marine Raul Beltran has decades of experience in occupational therapy and acupuncture, but has also been practicing Brazilian jiu jitsu for many years – a martial art in which he holds a black belt. 

Beltran said it was his dream to be able to find a way to combine acupuncture with his martial arts training and skills.

Now, with the help of a client and friend, he said it has become possible.

“When I first started doing acupuncture, I always wondered if there was a way to blend the two – acupuncture and jiu jitsu – but I had no idea how to go about doing it,” he said. “Now, almost 30 years later, it all just sort of fell together.”

A dream come true

Beltran said not only was Captain Shane Stange from the Shawano Police Department a friend of his – he was also an acupuncture patient and jiu jitsu student of his.

“He’d been wanting to do a business of some kind with me pretty much since I’d met him,” he said. “Things were pretty comfortable at the fitness center I was (training and teaching) at. But Shane got wind of a 24-hour gym that had recently closed and was for sale. He’d always wanted to be a gym owner besides being a police officer, so he and one of his fellow officers acquired the gym.”

Beltran said he helped the two get equipment moved in, and did a lot of painting and other minor renovations with them.

The two officers now own and operate a 24-hour gym known as Arena 365. 

Next door to that gym was an empty space that, Beltran said unbeknownst to him, Stange had asked the property owners to temporarily put on hold – with the idea that he could move into the space.

Beltran said they presented the idea to him and in early August, Beltran moved in – realizing his dream with the opening of Acupuncture of Shawano and Jiu Jitsu of Shawano (820 E. Green Bay St.).

“The place (Stange) happened to hold for me was perfect for a small martial arts academy and perfect for a clinic,” he said. “It just fits together, and here we are.”

Beltran said Acupuncture of Shawano and Jiu Jitsu of Shawano is practically a “one-in-a-million kind of business.”

“There’s almost no one who has a black belt in jiu jitsu and is also a practicing acupuncturist with a degree in Chinese medicine,” he said. “There’s a place in Virginia where a husband and wife team are both acupuncturists, and he is also a black belt in jiu jitsu. When we looked at their website, we knew that was exactly how we wanted to put it together here.”

Beltran said Jiu Jitsu of Shawano is a martial arts academy with top-notch recovery options.

Unlike any other Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym in the state – and one of only a handful in the nation – it teams up with Acupuncture of Shawano to provide acupuncture, electrical acupuncture, rehabilitation, cupping, gua sha and tui na (a form of Chinese massage), as well as herbs and nutraceuticals for a person’s full recovery needs. 

Beltran said the acupuncture clinic treats a very wide variety of issues, ranging from sciatica, migraine headaches, hypertension, diabetes, depression, and anxiety to neuropathy, chronic pain, weight and addiction issues – and everything in between. 

“Since I have a background in rehab, I have a strong clinic (skill) set in orthopedic and neurological problems,” he said. “I’d say at least 80% of my patients come in with some kind of musculoskeletal or nervous system pain-related issue.”

But to understand how Beltran got to this point, he said, you have to go back to the beginning. 

Getting started

Beltran said he has been an occupational therapist since 1997 and an acupuncturist for more than 20 years.

Whenever possible, he said he has blended ancient traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, orthopedic acupuncture, neuro-acupuncture and modern rehabilitation techniques. 

Beltran said he started his career in Chicago, then did a big traveling stint in California – which is where he said he met his wife, Becky.

He said his career eventually brought them to Illinois where he was working as an occupational therapist at a hospital that was interested in exploring ways to integrate acupuncture into mainstream Western medicine. 

“Cook County Hospital in Chicago has a team led by Dr. Frank Yurasek that does in-patient and out-patient acupuncture,” he said.

“The hospital I was working at was very familiar with Yurasek and knew his reputation,” he said. “That’s why they were receptive to it. I was trying to get Yurasek to help me bridge that gap at my hospital.”

Much of what he was doing with occupational therapy, Berltran said, was Chinese medicine – “I just couldn’t put needles into people.”

“But in its place, I had some direct current electrical acupuncture pens for topical acupuncture instead of penetrating acupuncture,” he said. “They worked very well, and the hospital saw all the results I was getting for my patients. That’s why they were anxious to get me going on the acupuncture side of things, even though there was still a little bit of resistance. But when the COVID-19 pandemic happened, there was 100% resistance.”

Up to that point, Beltran said he and his wife had both been very happy living and working in Illinois.

“When COVID hit in 2020, it turned everything upside down,” he said. “I was leery about what was going on and wanted to wash my hands of the (hospital) situation and get back into 100% natural health care. I literally gave a big prayer to the Lord above, saying ‘I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I had to get out of the situation I was in.’”

Not long after, Beltran said he got a phone call from a physician friend who knew of a chiropractor in Shawano who was looking for an acupuncturist. 

He said he contacted them immediately, interviewed and was soon after hired for the position. Beltran said he gave his two-week notice at the hospital, and they moved to Wisconsin.

“Becky’s family owns Iola Pines, a campground over in Iola,” she said. “They had two houses that (were not being used most of the time) – so we had a place to stay. It was a tiny commute to deal with, but basically, an easy way to get into the job and start bringing natural health care back to the Shawano area.”

Beltran said he remained at the chiropractic until the offer came up to open Acupuncture of Shawano and Jiu Jitsu of Shawano.

Acupuncture patients singing its praises

Despite being open for only about a month, Beltran said the acupuncture clinic is already operating at more than 90% capacity and is looking to expand – possibly even adding employees.

He said he believes the fact that he’s trained with some of the best in the business, has had some amazing success stories with patients of his own and has already been treating some prominent people in Shawano, are all contributing to the clinic’s early success. 

“I’ve studied under some of the best in the world, including Matt Callison and Dr. Michael Corradino,” he said. “They’re internationally-renowned, and I have a deep relationship, especially with Corradino. Learning from them has taught me some amazing things to help people heal fairly quickly.”

Of course, it also helps to have some patients who are prominent locally – including Shane, Shawano Mayor Bruce Milavitz, the former mayor, the former chief of police and several ministers in the area.

“It’s a small town, so word gets around pretty quickly,” he said. “They’ve been sending new patients to me, as well.”

Putting to rest a myth

Acupuncture and other Chinese medicine, Beltran said, was widely used once upon a time, but then got suppressed, mostly by the traditional medical field. 

But, he said, that is slowly starting to change.

Beltran said physicians in the military are helping Eastern and Chinese medicine become more mainstream. 

“You can’t have military forces, especially those who operate at very high levels or within Special Forces itself, being addicted to opiates for treatment or management of pain,” he said. “So, battlefield acupuncture was born. They saw how well it worked and pushed it very aggressively. And today, acupuncture is covered 100% for veterans through the VA system.”

About 20 years ago, Beltran said, there were maybe 10,000 scientific studies that had been done demonstrating the benefits and success of acupuncture. 

“Now there’s millions, so acupuncture is rapidly becoming mainstream,” he said. “And there are insurance companies out there for civilians – including Medicare – that will cover acupuncture for certain conditions, too.”

Jiu Jitsu studio growing in popularity

When Beltran was working at the chiropractic office, he said he was also doing Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) in an upstairs space and had even formed a small jiu jitsu team – which included Stange.  

When the team started winning regional and statewide competitions, Beltran said he thought it was time to start a real martial arts academy.

Classes are led by Beltran, one of the original students at Carlson Gracie Headquarters of Chicago, the birthplace of BJJ/MMA in the Midwest.

He said he is the only certified Carlson Gracie Black belt within a 60-mile radius.

The academy focuses on self-defense, competitive jiu jitsu, Muay Thai, kids’ and adults’ jiu jitsu classes and self-defense classes.

Beltran said he has taught Brazilian jiu jitsu to the Shawano Police Department’s equivalent to a SWAT team, as well as some other officers – teaching them ways to apprehend and detain suspects without harming them.

“For anyone who doesn’t know, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was started by the Gracie family,” he said. “They wanted to show the world that of all the types of martial arts, their style was the most efficient when it came to fighting. It’s a form of wrestling, but it’s submission wrestling.”

Beltran said the objective of Brazilian jiu jitsu is to get an opponent on the ground so you can avoid the knock-out power kicks and punches.

“You restrain him or her, and then keep them there until they give up,” he said. “It is the fastest-growing sport in the world right now due to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Its popularity is spreading like wildfire.”

Beltran said he hasn’t marketed the jiu jitsu training facility a lot yet. 

“We’re trying to get control of the growth of the first business – it took off so fast that we really didn’t have time to get full on (promotion) for jiu jitsu,” he said. “But there is a trickle of people coming in for that, too, right now, as they figure out that we’re there.”

Located at 820 E. Green Bay St., Suite A in Shawano, Beltran said the academy currently has about 20 students.

Beltran said he has big plans for the future – including a five-year-plan that includes opening a joint facility that is at least 5,000 square feet complete with four treatment rooms and a full-on mixed martial arts academy. 

But for now, he said he’s thrilled to be in this space with Stange and his Arena 365 gym next door.

For more on Acupuncture of Shawano and Jiu Jitsu of Shawano, visit their respective Facebook pages.