Charlie Puth knew better than to mess with Sipoo Shelene Hearring.
The female martial arts master instructor, 68, said throwing the popular singer over her shoulder in a video aired at this year’s Grammy Awards was easy.
“It wasn’t a hard deal. He dropped and he’s like, ‘Oh wow, do it again,’” she said.
Hearring’s TV debut is a bright spot in a year when she lost her decades-long business, her home and all the memories of her Altadena life. And now, she’s gearing up for another battle.
“It gives me energy…We have to learn how to live in our cycle of life in the flow we find our peace,” says Master Kung Fu Instructor Shelene Hearring of wearing a universal pattern of life around her neck on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025 on the land where she lost her Two Dragons Martial Arts studio in the Eaton fire in Altadena. Hearring is trying to raise funds to buy the lot at Mariposa Street and Lake Avenue and rebuild her studio. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Master Kung Fu Instructor Shelene Hearring stands on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025 on the land where she lost her Two Dragons Martial Arts studio in the Eaton fire in Altadena. Hearring is trying to raise funds to buy the lot at Mariposa Street and Lake Avenue and rebuild her studio. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Master Kung Fu Instructor Shelene Hearring is trying to raise funds to buy the lot at Mariposa Street and Lake Avenue in Altadena to rebuild her Two Dragons Martial Arts studio that was lost in the Eaton fire. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 3“It gives me energy…We have to learn how to live in our cycle of life in the flow we find our peace,” says Master Kung Fu Instructor Shelene Hearring of wearing a universal pattern of life around her neck on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025 on the land where she lost her Two Dragons Martial Arts studio in the Eaton fire in Altadena. Hearring is trying to raise funds to buy the lot at Mariposa Street and Lake Avenue and rebuild her studio. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) ExpandHearring is facing an urgent deadline to raise $600,000 to buy the lot where her studio, Two Dragons Martial Arts Studio, once stood. Supporters of the GoFundMe campaign say rebuilding Two Dragons at the same spot is critical in keeping the character of the Lake Avenue neighborhood.
“This is a very special corner of the city, and a vulnerable stretch of it now,” said Brooke Lohman-Janz, who lived nearby. Hometown favorites once surrounded the studio: Side Pie in one corner, Cafe De Leche, Rancho bar, Ace Smoke Shop and Minik Market across the street. The storied row of shops at Mariposa Junction are also nearby.
Lohman-Janz, founder of the Altadena Dining Club, which supports local restaurants post-fire, is helping in the charge to buy the land where the Two Dragons story began.
“Let’s band together and keep what can be a useful, versatile space for the community,” she said, adding she’s optimistic that the crowdsourcing campaign will succeed. Supporters have a plan to rebuild the location as a hub for youth programs, senior wellness, cultural events and local partnerships, the kind of stuff Two Dragons has nurtured for more than 30 years.
“Altadenans are plucky. It’s all possible,” Lohman-Janz said.
One Altadena son determined to champion the Two Dragons cause is Zaire Calvin, cousin to Steve Hearring, founder of Two Dragons and Sipoo Shelene’s husband. They were married for 27 years until his death in 2007. Calvin’s children, he said, among thousands of others, have been blessed by the teaching of Two Dragons, which is more than a martial arts studio.
“It has been a pillar of discipline, family, and transformation, a place where young people learn strength through humility, and respect through focus,” Calvin said. “Steve founded this space with love for his people and faith in the next generation, shaping lives through karate, mentorship and moral example.”
What students learn at Two Dragons extend far beyond the dojo, carrying over into classrooms, homes, and everyday life, Calvin said.
“The kind of impact is priceless, and it’s what makes Two Dragons so vital to the heartbeat of Altadena,” he added. “Two Dragons Martial Arts is not only my family, it is our community’s family. It’s building, its programs, its presence, they represent the soul of the town.”
Shelene Hearring (the title “sipoo” means female master instructor in Cantonese) said her husband’s passing in 2007 left her twins, son Solomon and daughter Sarah, now age 30, determined to continue his legacy.
A day after the Eaton fire broke out, a television crew filmed as flames dropped on the building and stayed as it slowly burned to the ground. Hearring said seeing what she and her husband had worked together smolder into ash made “everything drop, my whole mind, my body.”
“Everything that had him in it was in this building,” she said. “Everything that showed his legacy was there. But you know what? I’m wrong. Let me correct that. Everything that showed his legacy is all these kids. Everything that showed his legacy is all his students all over the country that have been taught by him and trained by him, and they are passing the knowledge along still.”
Two Dragons students and staff gathered at Brookside Park in Pasadena on Jan. 27, mostly to check in and hug and cry together, Hearring said, before getting back to work. Classes were held there and then Loma Alta Park until Hearring found space to rent on Woodbury Drive back in town.
Only about a quarter of her students, about 30, have returned, with some attending online classes, Hearring said. Most remain displaced.
“I had kids cry more for the studio gone than they did cry for their own home,” Hearring said. “We’re all on this journey together. This is the journey back.”
That people, from a Hollywood chart-topper to her Altadena neighbors to former students across the country, care enough to help is a balm for Hearring, who is living in Arcadia for now. She is in her beloved Altadena almost everyday, teaching the latest batch of young martial artists about resilience, discipline, and responsibility.
“We gotta hold the children close so they’ll know what family is, because that’s what you teach them through the martial arts, discipline and grit. And they have to be responsible to the community. Those are part of our Black Belt characters. What has been given to you must be given away for you to get better.”
That’s a mantra, Hearring said, she hopes resounds for everyone.
To donate, visit the GoFundMe, Zelle Twodragonsaltadena@gmail.com or call .
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