Meet Cyrus Moshrefi | Owner, Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cyrus Moshrefi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cyrus, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Our goal at Sanctuary Boxing Gym is to help the community feel confident, protected, and most of all healthy. Since we have opened we can see the progress in all of the students. When most people think of a boxing class they think of just standing in front of someone and hitting them. But you will see just from your first session here that if you are not breathing right then everything will fail. So we are putting a great emphasis on breath work – and a community can grow tremendously just if they focus on their breathing more. So that is just one small example of how a martial arts technique such as proper breathing can change ones personal daily life. Of course you will learn how to defend yourself – but we like to go a bit deeper here at Sanctuary and work from the inside out. As bruce lee says – there is no opponent. The entire goal here is to make you an egoless fighter. How great is it for a community to become egoless?

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Cyrus Moshrefi is a Persian-American performer, filmmaker, and martial-artist. He is a member of The Collapasble Hole Theatre in NYC and also operates a self-defense and boxing gym in Texas. He has worked with theatre company Sister Sylvester in the past on multiple projects as a performer and video designer. He was last seen in Segal Theatre Centers New York Theatre Artists for Ukraine with Jim Findlay and Jim Dawson. He received his black belt from Allen Steen under the instruction of late Ralph Messersmith. —
My practice as a martial artist and my practice as an artist go hand to hand. For example my work at The Public Theatre in NYC dealt with the human body during political protest – specifically the state sanctioned violence – like the treatment of the student body at any college campus occupation by the police.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them probably first to the fort woof dog park with my two dogs. Its a huge park where my my dogs can really run around and its a great time to watch them. Then id probably take them to zonk burger. They have great veggie burgers. After Lunch Id show them the water garden in fort-worth and then take them for a drink to Branch and Bird. Great roof top bar and restaurant. Id end the night walking through the streets of downtown and cap it off with some ice cream at Melt if the line isn’t out the door.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout can only go to my late master Ralph Messersmith. He will always be a master in my heart and his spirit lives on. I would also like to to thank Ms. Laronda Hawkins for continuing teaching his practices for all these years in Jacksboro, Texas. She never let the flame go out.

Instagram: @sanctuaryboxinggym