Sunday, July 30, 2006
Sunday Morning Ideas About the Martial Arts and the Business of the Martial Arts
I don’t believe in the “power” of the martial arts.
I believe in the power to make change, the power of passion, the power of purpose, the power of courage and contribution and compassion ---and of course, I believe in the power of love for self, family, fellow man, for nature, and of wonder.
That is, of course, easy to say –but difficult to make manifest in my (your) day-to-day existence. This is, I think, “the practice.”
I don’t believe in the martial arts
The martial arts is architecture is art is science is invention is engineering is math is everything the world is. The martial arts represent another tool which people use to make love, war, science, beauty, pain, and what have you. Look at Frank Lloyd Wright and see Bruce Lee, see Jigaro Kano, see Buckminster Fuller, see Frieda Kahlo, see Albert Einstein, see Jhoon Rhee, see any man or woman who created, taught, inspired, and sought excellence and invention in the subject that called their name. The subject is irrelevant –the attitude and purpose behind it is the core. It’s the intent –it’s the following of the passion-- and it’s the desire to make, to create, to change, and at its highest levels --to inspire and make a difference in the world..
I don’t believe in styles
Let down the barriers you can perceive –forget about your “style,” forget about the country it originated in, forget about the martial arts, and see the world from as big a place as you can. Forget about the color of one’s skin, of their nationality, of what flag waves over their capital buildings; forget about their religion, their gender, their sexual preferences.
Whenever you hear “martial artist” –you hear or say “human being.” Whenever you hear “martial arts” –you hear or say “life.” There is no “martial arts” –there is only life and living. Spending your energy to be a master-level martial artist is a ridiculous pursuit –being an evolved, compassionate, empathetic, contributing human being –now there is something worth pursuing.
This is my “Business Advice” to you
Take all of the above, blend it (with crushed ice), add your own special ingredients, then slowly pour it over your business (your martial arts school, its curriculum, your promotional campaign, your black belt training, your own training) –or whatever else you care about –and I think THIS is the way to profit –to achieve “success,” to “get your gross up,” and to feel a kind of drive and purpose and passion that make you grateful to be alive.
We are (our “industry”) thinking TOO SMALL and we’re OFF COURSE
Let’s hear this (and more) out of the mouths of our “leaders” in the martial arts community. Let’s hear someone say, “We are being disrespectful to our planet, let’s do something about it.” Let’s hear them say, “We are massacring children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and all in the name of fear and hate and borders and religion and misunderstanding and greed…let’s DO something about it.” Let’s have the courage to talk about responsibility to nature, about the stupidity and evil of war and violence, of the absurdity of the distractions we pursue to avoid the things which really ought to have our attention. Let’s bring the integrity back to the martial arts (to life) by being the heroes we so admire.
If all of you are, indeed, pursuing “the martial arts” at its highest levels, then seek to define “mastery.” I, for one, am in the pursuit of mastery –and by looking for something… I think one is more likely to find it. I am not a “master” –I am actively involved in the discussion, the study of, the pursuit of, the idea that represents “the master’s work.” I’m not seeking to “become” a master –I’m seeking to create change and clarity in a way that indicates some degree of mastery (of clarity).
When I can bottle this (all of the above), and use it on the floor when I’m teaching my classes –I don’t need the ads…I don’t need the “renewal strategy”…I don’t need to phone script, the employee’s manual, the statistics, --all of those things become the clothing, not the person.
Let’s start tomorrow…with a deep awareness of what we consume –and the cause and effect of that consumption. Let’s teach what needs to be taught –not just what sells lessons, upgrades, and that builds “student retention.” Let’s start small and build momentum by engaging in a quality of thinking –and action –that represents the “power” we so often relate to the martial arts.
Our opportunity is to alter the intent and purpose of learning the martial arts –of its value as a form of “education.” If we do this, we can charge a rate for our lessons that supports our endeavors. We will also find some of the passion that fuels the fire of a business that transcends the meaning –and be teachers like the great, but simple, men and women (MASTERS) we all admire.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Team 4 Instructions
From Team Coach Tom
First off, I’d like to personally thank you all for having the guts to step up to the plate like this –and serve as role models for the martial arts industry. For some of you, serving as a role model for other martial artists is not a concern, as you have other reasons for participating. But, from my perspective, it’s a valuable thing that we get to help ourselves –while doing good things on a larger scale.
On that note, I find my inner-dialogue saying, “Isn’t it right for each of us to stand up as role models for every man, woman, and child on this planet? Wouldn’t my heroes, my best teachers, ask this of me? Don’t the people I admire the most do this –at least on some level? What kind of life do we lead --what kind of thinking do we do, what kind of mental and spiritual evolution do we undergo with this kind of thinking?”
Of course, you’d have to be a real “master” to think this way.
Lately teams (ok, during my entire career), I have been on an exploration of the why and what of the martial arts. As you may know, I work in the “industry” of the martial arts –and so I’ve been looking and trying and analyzing business concepts for, literally, years. I have studied things school owners could do, could embrace, that would help their business and keep them sane and growing. Out of all this has come the work I do now.
So the UBBT’s about business –but then, it’s not just about business.
I’ve coined a new phrase: “The master’s work.” The master’s work is the work we do after we’ve done all the necessary survival-based jobs. The master’s work is where the “master” focuses his or her energies. The master’s work is in creating, mobilizing, cataloging, teaching, and promoting ideas, beliefs, “causes,” and so on. Ernie Reyes, Sr. works on the martial arts and performance –it is the master’s work. Emil Farkas is contemplating the creation of a new “martial arts encyclopedia” –this is the master’s work. Bill Kipp seeks to arm people with the knowledge to turn fear into power –this is the master’s work. Keith Hirabayashi is making a film about the martial arts and peace –this is the master’s work. Dave McNeill founded his Keep On Pushin organization and heads his own martial arts association –the master’s work. Mike and Karen Valentine have spearheaded an environmental self-defense program in their school –the master’s work. Charles Chi gets things done, with his students, in his community…and on an extraordinary level –the master’s work. Dawn Barnes is writing educational stories that hundreds-of-thousands of children are reading –the master’s work.
Well, regardless of your age, experience, or rank, the UBBT is the master’s work. Only you, with your attitude and commitment, can take this on and MAKE it important, make it real, make it a tool for your own personal transformation, the transformation of your students, your community, our industry –and, if we are very diligent in our work, we have a chance to make an impact on the world. Yes, we do.
This is the master’s work because it’s so big –it’s so unbelievable –it’s so out of the ordinary. Participate in the UBBT, play full out, “go the distance” and beyond –and you have taken the heroes journey. You will, by your very example be a teacher and leader extraordinaire.
Now for some details:
On Quitting
Look over the Team 3 roster, look over the journal entries, and you will see success stories –and people who can’t find the self-discipline to follow thru on their commitment. On Team 4, we only want successes. We want fully participative people who won’t allow ANY difficulty, ANY obstacle, ANY challenge to sidetrack them. Yes, it’s going to be hard –maybe the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Well, damn-it, GOOD! Aren’t you just sick and tired of mediocrity? Isn’t the condition of people’s thinking and commitment and apathy just disheartening? The UBBT –and for that matter, the rest of your life (I hope) is a way to DO SOMETHING about all of that mediocrity and ignorance. And even if this has already been your path, this project is about re-committing yourself to “the way.” Your way.
Don’t quit. Don’t embarrass me by not-journaling and not trying. Don’t allow any excuse to keep you from participating in all events –and in any way. And, my friends, EXPECT bad things, unexpected things, hard things, to get in your way. EXPECT failure. EXPECT changes in direction. EXPECT the unpredictable. EXPECT the catastrophe –as those who apply themselves in ANY way to this program will have to deal with it all.
If you can’t commit yourself at least 100 times more than you ask of your students, then, quite frankly, you don’t belong here. You see, I’m not out to get your money –and I’m not out to run a “program.” I’m out to change the world –and I need your help.
If you can’t do the UBBT ---you’re still a good person –and I hold no opinion of your value. But if you commit to it, I have HUGE expectations of you –and your ability to show the world what this crap we call “the martial arts” is supposed to be about (Excuse my French…did you know I was bilingual?).
On Filming a Movie
This is one complex son-of-a-gun. So much so, that even Nancy, an Academy Award winning filmmaker, can’t always get her head around how to proceed. I love it. Our first step, before you do anything on camera, is to prepare a variety of “pitches” to the industry. If the industry buys the rights to our project, we have a show–in-the-works. If they don’t, we’ll have a lot of home footage and a lot of memories. The odds are VERY good –but the way the story is to be told, that isn’t necessarily up to us. So, for your information, we are working on a pitch. In the mean time, you work on yourself. If and when you go on-camera in the UBBT, BE an example of the ultimate black belt, period.
On Our Events
Ultimate Black Belt Test TEAM 4 Special Events
Team 4 - Required Event 1
March 2007
Alabama House Building Project with Pam Dorr / The Hale County Housing Authority and the Rural Studio (www.ruralstudio.com).
Team, we are in the midst of crafting something extra-extra-ordinary here for this year's Alabama mission. More to come.
Team 4 - Required Event 2
July 5, 6, 7, 2007
Testing, events, and performances at the Century / MAIA Super Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The UBBT teams will perform their physical martial arts tests in front of more than 2000 professional martial arts teachers at the largest gathering for teachers in the nation.
Team 4 - Required Event 3
October 2007
Final Test - New JerseyMaster's Weekend and Final Test, to be held in New Jersey, hosted by UBBT Members.
The first event is going to require us to raise funds for the project. It’s going to be a BIG deal –and we will be looking for all kinds of help. This should be our greatest event ever –and major educational project. This project will, most likely, be a once-in-a-lifetime event where we will mix with the most amazing people –for an extraordinary cause. More to come.
The second event is crazy-intense –as we are going to be performing in front of EVERYONE in the martial arts business industry. Don’t think I don’t expect you to be UNBELIEVABLE. How? Practice Baby! Practice and training and due diligence.
The third event will be an amazing homecoming of emotion and completion –in and around New York City. More to come.
How to Proceed
Well, honestly, treat this test with 100 times the respect you want your own students to treat YOUR testing process. Do that, and you’ll ace this –and it’ll kick your school into high gear. START TRAINING. Go over the test curriculum with a fine tooth comb. Call me with questions. I’m here to help.
The UBBT Binder
You will be keeping your stats and blog on the test on-line. More to come.
First off, I’d like to personally thank you all for having the guts to step up to the plate like this –and serve as role models for the martial arts industry. For some of you, serving as a role model for other martial artists is not a concern, as you have other reasons for participating. But, from my perspective, it’s a valuable thing that we get to help ourselves –while doing good things on a larger scale.
On that note, I find my inner-dialogue saying, “Isn’t it right for each of us to stand up as role models for every man, woman, and child on this planet? Wouldn’t my heroes, my best teachers, ask this of me? Don’t the people I admire the most do this –at least on some level? What kind of life do we lead --what kind of thinking do we do, what kind of mental and spiritual evolution do we undergo with this kind of thinking?”
Of course, you’d have to be a real “master” to think this way.
Lately teams (ok, during my entire career), I have been on an exploration of the why and what of the martial arts. As you may know, I work in the “industry” of the martial arts –and so I’ve been looking and trying and analyzing business concepts for, literally, years. I have studied things school owners could do, could embrace, that would help their business and keep them sane and growing. Out of all this has come the work I do now.
So the UBBT’s about business –but then, it’s not just about business.
I’ve coined a new phrase: “The master’s work.” The master’s work is the work we do after we’ve done all the necessary survival-based jobs. The master’s work is where the “master” focuses his or her energies. The master’s work is in creating, mobilizing, cataloging, teaching, and promoting ideas, beliefs, “causes,” and so on. Ernie Reyes, Sr. works on the martial arts and performance –it is the master’s work. Emil Farkas is contemplating the creation of a new “martial arts encyclopedia” –this is the master’s work. Bill Kipp seeks to arm people with the knowledge to turn fear into power –this is the master’s work. Keith Hirabayashi is making a film about the martial arts and peace –this is the master’s work. Dave McNeill founded his Keep On Pushin organization and heads his own martial arts association –the master’s work. Mike and Karen Valentine have spearheaded an environmental self-defense program in their school –the master’s work. Charles Chi gets things done, with his students, in his community…and on an extraordinary level –the master’s work. Dawn Barnes is writing educational stories that hundreds-of-thousands of children are reading –the master’s work.
Well, regardless of your age, experience, or rank, the UBBT is the master’s work. Only you, with your attitude and commitment, can take this on and MAKE it important, make it real, make it a tool for your own personal transformation, the transformation of your students, your community, our industry –and, if we are very diligent in our work, we have a chance to make an impact on the world. Yes, we do.
This is the master’s work because it’s so big –it’s so unbelievable –it’s so out of the ordinary. Participate in the UBBT, play full out, “go the distance” and beyond –and you have taken the heroes journey. You will, by your very example be a teacher and leader extraordinaire.
Now for some details:
On Quitting
Look over the Team 3 roster, look over the journal entries, and you will see success stories –and people who can’t find the self-discipline to follow thru on their commitment. On Team 4, we only want successes. We want fully participative people who won’t allow ANY difficulty, ANY obstacle, ANY challenge to sidetrack them. Yes, it’s going to be hard –maybe the hardest thing you’ve ever done. Well, damn-it, GOOD! Aren’t you just sick and tired of mediocrity? Isn’t the condition of people’s thinking and commitment and apathy just disheartening? The UBBT –and for that matter, the rest of your life (I hope) is a way to DO SOMETHING about all of that mediocrity and ignorance. And even if this has already been your path, this project is about re-committing yourself to “the way.” Your way.
Don’t quit. Don’t embarrass me by not-journaling and not trying. Don’t allow any excuse to keep you from participating in all events –and in any way. And, my friends, EXPECT bad things, unexpected things, hard things, to get in your way. EXPECT failure. EXPECT changes in direction. EXPECT the unpredictable. EXPECT the catastrophe –as those who apply themselves in ANY way to this program will have to deal with it all.
If you can’t commit yourself at least 100 times more than you ask of your students, then, quite frankly, you don’t belong here. You see, I’m not out to get your money –and I’m not out to run a “program.” I’m out to change the world –and I need your help.
If you can’t do the UBBT ---you’re still a good person –and I hold no opinion of your value. But if you commit to it, I have HUGE expectations of you –and your ability to show the world what this crap we call “the martial arts” is supposed to be about (Excuse my French…did you know I was bilingual?).
On Filming a Movie
This is one complex son-of-a-gun. So much so, that even Nancy, an Academy Award winning filmmaker, can’t always get her head around how to proceed. I love it. Our first step, before you do anything on camera, is to prepare a variety of “pitches” to the industry. If the industry buys the rights to our project, we have a show–in-the-works. If they don’t, we’ll have a lot of home footage and a lot of memories. The odds are VERY good –but the way the story is to be told, that isn’t necessarily up to us. So, for your information, we are working on a pitch. In the mean time, you work on yourself. If and when you go on-camera in the UBBT, BE an example of the ultimate black belt, period.
On Our Events
Ultimate Black Belt Test TEAM 4 Special Events
Team 4 - Required Event 1
March 2007
Alabama House Building Project with Pam Dorr / The Hale County Housing Authority and the Rural Studio (www.ruralstudio.com).
Team, we are in the midst of crafting something extra-extra-ordinary here for this year's Alabama mission. More to come.
Team 4 - Required Event 2
July 5, 6, 7, 2007
Testing, events, and performances at the Century / MAIA Super Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The UBBT teams will perform their physical martial arts tests in front of more than 2000 professional martial arts teachers at the largest gathering for teachers in the nation.
Team 4 - Required Event 3
October 2007
Final Test - New JerseyMaster's Weekend and Final Test, to be held in New Jersey, hosted by UBBT Members.
The first event is going to require us to raise funds for the project. It’s going to be a BIG deal –and we will be looking for all kinds of help. This should be our greatest event ever –and major educational project. This project will, most likely, be a once-in-a-lifetime event where we will mix with the most amazing people –for an extraordinary cause. More to come.
The second event is crazy-intense –as we are going to be performing in front of EVERYONE in the martial arts business industry. Don’t think I don’t expect you to be UNBELIEVABLE. How? Practice Baby! Practice and training and due diligence.
The third event will be an amazing homecoming of emotion and completion –in and around New York City. More to come.
How to Proceed
Well, honestly, treat this test with 100 times the respect you want your own students to treat YOUR testing process. Do that, and you’ll ace this –and it’ll kick your school into high gear. START TRAINING. Go over the test curriculum with a fine tooth comb. Call me with questions. I’m here to help.
The UBBT Binder
You will be keeping your stats and blog on the test on-line. More to come.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The 100.’s Projects – 2006/2007 (current draft)
The 100.’s Projects – 2006/2007
an outline for members
Idealism
Ok, I confess –The 100 is an idealistic organization. My dictionary listed the synonyms for idealistic as high-minded, lofty, rarified, and noble-minded. Yes, that is The 100. In being an idealistic endeavor, we will strive for the highest ideals. The dictionary defines ideal like this:
1. Ideal – The idea of something that is perfect; something one hopes to attain.
2. Ideal – Model of excellence of perfection of a kind; one having no equal.
Therefore, with the idea of being the ideal idealistic martial arts association, I am setting some rather lofty goals for members. We are, after all, coming together to do extraordinary, career-defining work; and with the idea of "beginning with the end in mind," we will be seeking to become an association with no equal.
What I’m Asking from Members
Be a Role Model of Fitness
I’m asking members of The 100 to get --and stay --in great shape. How great? As great as any Master of the martial arts should be; as great as any role model for the benefits of studying the martial arts should be. Near-perfect shape I would think.
Treat Each Other with More than Respect
I’m asking members of The 100 to treat each other as extended family. I mean that any fellow member of The 100 would be a VIP if visiting another member’s
school and, if at all possible, in their home as well. Now maybe that sounds like an odd request, but not in the ideal idealistic sense. Why not treat each other with an extraordinary level of respect, courtesy, and hospitality? What culture from times past has not had a tradition of welcoming travelers and strangers into their homes --and offering them food, shelter, and friendship? Likewise, if a member of The 100 calls or e-mails another member, I would expect that his or her request would be treated as something important.
Play Team with a Capital "T"
I’m asking members to play TEAM at an amazing level. How amazing? Amazing enough that ANY professional team builder, consultant, or coach would look at our association and be in awe; that they would use us as an example of what team means –and how a team is supposed to function. Is this not within the scope of our abilities? Is this not very little to ask of people who are striving to be "Masters" of the martial arts? No, it is not too much to ask; it is the core of the very lesson we are trying to teach our own teams --in our own schools.
The Attitude of a Master
I’m asking the members of The 100 to have the attitude one would have if he or she were a true, an ideal, martial arts Master. In my mind, this means an attitude along the lines of Martin Luther King or Gandhi or The Dalai Lama or Thich Nhat Hanh. This would be an attitude that could turn conflict into peace, disagreement into agreement, anger into understanding, and make obstacles become opportunities. This would be the kind of attitude that one would expect from a true Master –an attitude of compassion, wisdom, peace, reconciliation, and participation. If attitude is everything, then this is the ultimate test of whether someone is learning the lessons of the martial arts (and life) –or not.
In my book, the attitude of the Master is in understanding that you are not the "Master" at all –but the servant. The more you play the "traditional" role of "The Master" –the less of a Master you truly are.
The more humility you have, the better. When you are really thinking and behaving as a Master, you will not have to show or tell anybody --they’ll know.
Contribution and Participation
I’m asking team members to contribute to this association to the exact degree of benefit they hope to derive from it. The very nature of this beast, this "100," is that we have come together to realize ideals and ambitions that are outside of the status quo in our industry (and certainly in the world). Mediocrity is the enemy –activism, innovation, and teamwork are the weapons we will use to fight it.
I’m asking for 100-percent participation in our activities. I’m asking the members of The 100 to act as if they were the very backbone of the future of the martial arts –and of the world.
Idealism Revisited
Is all of this idealistic? Yes, it is, and I think it is high time for some idealism among the leadership in the martial arts community; we have nearly been taken over by salesmen, by businessmen, by dance-studio tactics, by for-profit-only hucksters with heads full of up-selling, gross profits, "return on investment," pro-shop sales, and market share. The 100 is out to reshape the business of the martial arts so that we can offer more than "product" and "service." The 100 seeks to build a new model for "martial arts education" in the international martial arts community. We are not against profit, but we recognize that it is not the primary fuel that fires our engines –it is not our reason we chose to make a career out of teaching the martial arts. Profit and business are factors in our lives, but not The Reason we are here.
For the most part, I would guess that members of The 100 have already progressed through and beyond those years when gross and net profit, the size of one’s student body, and the ranking of his or her school on a "highest gross" list ruled over their behavior and goals. Practicing the skills of good business are like practicing good hygiene; everyone needs to brush their teeth to stay healthy –but we don’t LIVE to brush our teeth.
Engage in "Sustainable Business Practices"
This is, I believe, the first time in the martial arts industry that the term sustainable business practices, or for that matter, the word sustainable, has been used in anything relating to the business of the martial arts. A sustainable business practice is one that doesn’t wipe out the very resources that make the business survive.
Clear-cutting a forest that can’t be re-grown for hundreds of years is not a sustainable practice. Removing all the fish from a lake or an ocean without regard for future catches is not a sustainable practice. Encouraging large cash payments for long-term memberships --and using contracts that bind students to payment regardless of their satisfaction with the product or service --and doing either with an assumption or expectation that the student will drop out before his or her course is complete, is not a sustainable business practice.
You cannot clear-cut students and their families in your community by taking advantage of them, financially, at the early peak of their enthusiasm. You cannot take money for hundreds of untaught lessons and consider it "yours" without regard to the needs, expectations, and feelings of the consumer. If we do that as an industry, if we leave behind hundreds –if not thousands --of people who have paid for services in advance, but didn’t enjoy those services as they unfolded, we leave ourselves open to the same kind of operational and legal restrictions that the ballroom dance "industry" are subject to.
In the not too distant past, unscrupulous dance school operators bilked lonely senior citizens out of untold thousands of dollars by selling expensive dance-lesson contracts and asking for large cash payments; that is, until the legal system got a hold of them. There are people in our industry doing almost exactly the same thing to customers that don’t know any better. If we do not police our own business practices, history has shown that some outside entity will come in and do it for us.
The 100’s written Code of Ethics and Sustainable Business Practices is in the works. The members of The 100 will be expected to serve as role models for sustainable business practices in the martial arts industry –by rejecting ALL forms of questionable, outright dishonest, manipulative, and suspect business and/or sales practices.
Project Based Leadership
The 100 is a "project" –and The 100 is all about taking action on projects, as projects and Project Based Leadership Training (PBLT) are a significant part of the new kind of martial arts education we are developing and promoting. In many ways, we will define ourselves –and promote our schools –by what we do in our projects, both as a team and individually.
The 100.’s Projects – 2006/2007
• Project - Living as an Example
• 1000 Community Projects
• The 10,000 People Project
• The Peace Education Project (including "acts of peace" and Peace One Day)
• The Invisible Children/Global Night March Project
• The Environmental Self-Defense Project
• The Media that Matters Film Project
• The 100Foundation Project; The Living Heroes Support Project
Project Living as an Example;
Living as an Example of The Way
The 100 is not a "martial arts association" as much as it is a movement. It’s a movement for improvement; as we are out to improve the quality of our own lives, the quality of life for our families, for our students, our communities, and the world.
We begin with our own thinking and behaviors. Diet, exercise, meditation, education, attitude, consumption, teamwork, relationships, community participation, and the pursuit of personal mastery are not just topics of discussion for this team; we pledge to live each area of our lives as examples of The Way.
What else is there? If not us, now, then who will step up –and when?
We will step up. We will make The Way of the martial arts instructor The Way of peace and extraordinary commitment to a quality of thinking and living that raises the standards for everyone we come in contact with. Why not? What have we dedicated most of our lives to in the martial arts for, if not the pursuit of mastery?
Diet
The association doesn’t advocate any particular kind of diet. Each member of The 100 is asked to eat with a consideration for the environment, for living things, for the people who produce the food, and for how the food is produced.
As a member of The 100, teaching other people about food and diet, by example, is as much a part of the martial arts as are kicks, punches, and throws. Members are expected to consume food consciously and with awareness –and this effort is to be documented in The 100’s journal pages so that we may teach others the value and importance of diet in the pursuit of martial arts mastery.
Exercise
Physical fitness is essential to participation and membership in The 100 If we are not "in shape" then how can we serve as role models for a new generation of martial arts practitioners? Each member of The 100 pledges to use his or her membership as a reason for getting in the best possible shape, now. Being grossly overweight because of poor dietary habits and insufficient exercise and attitudes about food and consumption are the norm in much of the western world today. To be in The 100 is to commit oneself to fitness and health in an extraordinary way –one that reflects what, exactly, a "martial arts Master" should look like. Our examples of fitness reside in the fitness regimes and practices of masters and athletes like Jhoon Rhee, Ernie Reyes, Sr. and Jr., the Gracie family (Helio, Rickson, Royler, Royce, Etc.), Chuck Norris, Keith Hirabayashi, Dave Kovar, Steve LaVallee, Mike Swain, Chris Natzke, Lance Farrell, Peter Johnson, Mike Valentine, Alicia Kastner, and our many other peers…
Meditation
For basic lessons in how to practice meditation, members of The 100 would do well to read and listen to the books and audio programs of Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tick-Not-Han); however, there are many ways to practice meditation –and many different teachers.
It is the goal of this association to reunite the martial arts and meditation (as most instructors have never had formal training in meditation). A martial arts master instructor should be as familiar and comfortable with the techniques of mediation as he or she is with the techniques of his or her martial art.
Education
The 100 is an association about education beyond the scope of simple business practices. Environmentalism, anger management, meditation, non-violent conflict resolution, voluntary simplicity, anatomy and physiology, and any number of other topics are where we will methodically put our focus. We do this, as we understand the evolution of the martial arts industry (and our own careers) is contingent upon better-educated instructors –and the blending of innovative education into our curriculums.
Consumption
How we treat the environment, how we deal with conflict, anger and peace, and how and what we consume (individually and as a society) are all related to self-defense and the kind of consciousness and awareness we are promoting through The 100.
Each member of The 100 is expected to take a long and honest look at his or her consumption of goods and resources –and then act in a way that reflects a concern for the welfare of our planet and its people.
Teamwork
The 100's the proving ground for people who desire to create their own dynamic teams.
Community Participation
Project Based Leadership Training will revolutionize your school –and the industry. Community involvement and activism is the ultimate end-product of sophisticated martial arts training.
1000 Community Projects: Project Based Leadership Training and The 100.’s Project Portfolio
Each member of The 100 is responsible for 10 community-based projects per year. Collectively this represents 1000 projects a year organized and implemented by team members. Each project is to be outlined in the members "Project Portfolio."
Projects are meant to be a manifestation of each member’s teaching and business philosophy. No member of The 100 shall launch a Project Based Leadership Training program for his or her students until he or she has completed and documented the required 10 projects.
The 10,000 People Project
Mobilizing 10,000 to 50,000 people in a day for community activism
Each member of The 100 pledges to mobilize a minimum of 100 people in his or her community on a given day for a given project. Collectively this represents a mobilization of a minimum of 10,000 people. The 100 will mobilize people for at least three projects per year.
Peace Education
The Peace Education program for The 100 is an extensive and multi-layered program. The goal is that The 100 schools in the association will each be a "Peace Education Center" –and that we will have all the tools, resources, and knowledge to teach peace-related ideas equal to our knowledge of martial concepts.
The association will, in 2006, design and launch a website that will define and track "acts of peace" –and The 100 will provide support to the Peace One Day campaign by organizing and/or participating in activities on Sept. 21st. of 2006 (the day the United Nations has delegated as an international "Day of Peace). Our website’s address
will be www.actsofpeace.com. The web address for Peace One Day is www.peaceoneday.org.
The Global Night Commute - Invisible Children: www.invisiblechildren.com
The 100 will be participating in the Global Night Commute, please visit their website for more information.
The Environmental Self-Defense Program
It would be an honor and a privilege if The 100 became known as "The Green Party" of the martial arts industry. Every school involved with The 100 is expected to go GREEN –and instructions on how to do this will be contained in the e-book "How to Green Your Dojo" –now in development.
The Media That Matters Film Program
The 100 has a relationship, through the Ultimate Black Belt Test program, with Tapestry Films International. Tapestry’s owner, Nancy Walzog, along with filmmaker Susan Hadary, introduced the UBBT program to King Gimp, a documentary film about a man with Cerebral Palsy. Ms. Walzog and Ms. Hadary won an Academy Award for the project.
After watching King Gimp, which delivers a powerful set of lessons about perseverance, self-determination, and courage, it occurred to me that The 100 would greatly benefit from showing this –and other –films as a part of each school’s curriculum.
Since watching King Gimp, I have found two other films relevant to the philosophy and mission of The 100, Peace One Day and Invisible Children.
The essence of the Media That Matters Film Project is that each of The 100 schools will engage in a year-long experiment where we use select documentary films to help us teach components of "character education."
It is our long-term goal to establish closer links to the film industry –and specifically to filmmakers who are making films that make a difference. No doubt there are 1000's of films I don't know about, but we will start with the three films mentioned above.
Using these films is a NO-BRAINER for the martial arts Master Teacher --who needs to use any and everything within his or her power to keep student focused and growing. I think the films would also be excellent tools for the teacher to use when visiting public or private schools ---as films like King Gimp speak more about the core education we hope to provide our students, than does board breaking, punches, kicks, grappling, and weapons training.
You may purchase King Gimp through www.films.com, Peace One Day at www.peaceoneday.org, and Invisible Children at www.invisiblechildren.com.
The 100 Foundation and, for now: The Living Heroes Support Project
The 100 Foundation will be organized with the concept that each member of The 100 will be required to fund-raise $1000 per year ($84 per month) for a scholarship and grant fund. With 100 schools raising a minimum of $1000 per year, we would accumulate $100,000 in 12 months. Those funds would then be issued to students of The 100 who apply, and qualify, for grant money needed for social-entrepreneurial and/or community-based projects.
Until all the details and legalities of establishing a foundation are dealt with, this project will be "on hold." In the mean time, we will try another concept that I think could give us some remarkable opportunities:
The Living Heroes Support Project
The members of The 100 will pick one "living hero," a man or woman making a significant difference in the world, and offer financial support for his or her efforts. This "financial support" will come about by having each of The 100 soliciting $1 to $4 donations (with some mutually beneficial project) from a minimum of 100 people (or half as much from 200 people!). Association wide, this will amount to somewhere between $10,000 and $40,000. This project will take place in one specific month –date and project specifics yet to be announced. All tools for fund raising will be organized by the association.
Why send money to a living hero? And why make this idea a "project" for The 100? Sending financial support to someone doing amazing work allows us to mix with dynamic thinkers in arenas outside of the martial arts community. For just $1 a week (over a month-long period) your students can learn about and participate with some activist who is applying his or her "personal power" (Anthony Robbins calls personal power the ability to "take action’) to issues that need it.
If you were working on a project, investing your time and energy and struggling to make a difference, wouldn’t it be a wonderful gift to have some group send you $40,000 to help with your efforts? For some activists, this could change the course of their project –and his or her life. We can do this for someone worthy of help –and with very little effort on our part.
We may end up helping a child’s-rights activist working with children in need –or an environmental activist working on habitat restoration –or who knows? The 100 will engage in this experimental project just for the gift of finding out what we can learn –and whose lives we can alter with our efforts.
an outline for members
Idealism
Ok, I confess –The 100 is an idealistic organization. My dictionary listed the synonyms for idealistic as high-minded, lofty, rarified, and noble-minded. Yes, that is The 100. In being an idealistic endeavor, we will strive for the highest ideals. The dictionary defines ideal like this:
1. Ideal – The idea of something that is perfect; something one hopes to attain.
2. Ideal – Model of excellence of perfection of a kind; one having no equal.
Therefore, with the idea of being the ideal idealistic martial arts association, I am setting some rather lofty goals for members. We are, after all, coming together to do extraordinary, career-defining work; and with the idea of "beginning with the end in mind," we will be seeking to become an association with no equal.
What I’m Asking from Members
Be a Role Model of Fitness
I’m asking members of The 100 to get --and stay --in great shape. How great? As great as any Master of the martial arts should be; as great as any role model for the benefits of studying the martial arts should be. Near-perfect shape I would think.
Treat Each Other with More than Respect
I’m asking members of The 100 to treat each other as extended family. I mean that any fellow member of The 100 would be a VIP if visiting another member’s
school and, if at all possible, in their home as well. Now maybe that sounds like an odd request, but not in the ideal idealistic sense. Why not treat each other with an extraordinary level of respect, courtesy, and hospitality? What culture from times past has not had a tradition of welcoming travelers and strangers into their homes --and offering them food, shelter, and friendship? Likewise, if a member of The 100 calls or e-mails another member, I would expect that his or her request would be treated as something important.
Play Team with a Capital "T"
I’m asking members to play TEAM at an amazing level. How amazing? Amazing enough that ANY professional team builder, consultant, or coach would look at our association and be in awe; that they would use us as an example of what team means –and how a team is supposed to function. Is this not within the scope of our abilities? Is this not very little to ask of people who are striving to be "Masters" of the martial arts? No, it is not too much to ask; it is the core of the very lesson we are trying to teach our own teams --in our own schools.
The Attitude of a Master
I’m asking the members of The 100 to have the attitude one would have if he or she were a true, an ideal, martial arts Master. In my mind, this means an attitude along the lines of Martin Luther King or Gandhi or The Dalai Lama or Thich Nhat Hanh. This would be an attitude that could turn conflict into peace, disagreement into agreement, anger into understanding, and make obstacles become opportunities. This would be the kind of attitude that one would expect from a true Master –an attitude of compassion, wisdom, peace, reconciliation, and participation. If attitude is everything, then this is the ultimate test of whether someone is learning the lessons of the martial arts (and life) –or not.
In my book, the attitude of the Master is in understanding that you are not the "Master" at all –but the servant. The more you play the "traditional" role of "The Master" –the less of a Master you truly are.
The more humility you have, the better. When you are really thinking and behaving as a Master, you will not have to show or tell anybody --they’ll know.
Contribution and Participation
I’m asking team members to contribute to this association to the exact degree of benefit they hope to derive from it. The very nature of this beast, this "100," is that we have come together to realize ideals and ambitions that are outside of the status quo in our industry (and certainly in the world). Mediocrity is the enemy –activism, innovation, and teamwork are the weapons we will use to fight it.
I’m asking for 100-percent participation in our activities. I’m asking the members of The 100 to act as if they were the very backbone of the future of the martial arts –and of the world.
Idealism Revisited
Is all of this idealistic? Yes, it is, and I think it is high time for some idealism among the leadership in the martial arts community; we have nearly been taken over by salesmen, by businessmen, by dance-studio tactics, by for-profit-only hucksters with heads full of up-selling, gross profits, "return on investment," pro-shop sales, and market share. The 100 is out to reshape the business of the martial arts so that we can offer more than "product" and "service." The 100 seeks to build a new model for "martial arts education" in the international martial arts community. We are not against profit, but we recognize that it is not the primary fuel that fires our engines –it is not our reason we chose to make a career out of teaching the martial arts. Profit and business are factors in our lives, but not The Reason we are here.
For the most part, I would guess that members of The 100 have already progressed through and beyond those years when gross and net profit, the size of one’s student body, and the ranking of his or her school on a "highest gross" list ruled over their behavior and goals. Practicing the skills of good business are like practicing good hygiene; everyone needs to brush their teeth to stay healthy –but we don’t LIVE to brush our teeth.
Engage in "Sustainable Business Practices"
This is, I believe, the first time in the martial arts industry that the term sustainable business practices, or for that matter, the word sustainable, has been used in anything relating to the business of the martial arts. A sustainable business practice is one that doesn’t wipe out the very resources that make the business survive.
Clear-cutting a forest that can’t be re-grown for hundreds of years is not a sustainable practice. Removing all the fish from a lake or an ocean without regard for future catches is not a sustainable practice. Encouraging large cash payments for long-term memberships --and using contracts that bind students to payment regardless of their satisfaction with the product or service --and doing either with an assumption or expectation that the student will drop out before his or her course is complete, is not a sustainable business practice.
You cannot clear-cut students and their families in your community by taking advantage of them, financially, at the early peak of their enthusiasm. You cannot take money for hundreds of untaught lessons and consider it "yours" without regard to the needs, expectations, and feelings of the consumer. If we do that as an industry, if we leave behind hundreds –if not thousands --of people who have paid for services in advance, but didn’t enjoy those services as they unfolded, we leave ourselves open to the same kind of operational and legal restrictions that the ballroom dance "industry" are subject to.
In the not too distant past, unscrupulous dance school operators bilked lonely senior citizens out of untold thousands of dollars by selling expensive dance-lesson contracts and asking for large cash payments; that is, until the legal system got a hold of them. There are people in our industry doing almost exactly the same thing to customers that don’t know any better. If we do not police our own business practices, history has shown that some outside entity will come in and do it for us.
The 100’s written Code of Ethics and Sustainable Business Practices is in the works. The members of The 100 will be expected to serve as role models for sustainable business practices in the martial arts industry –by rejecting ALL forms of questionable, outright dishonest, manipulative, and suspect business and/or sales practices.
Project Based Leadership
The 100 is a "project" –and The 100 is all about taking action on projects, as projects and Project Based Leadership Training (PBLT) are a significant part of the new kind of martial arts education we are developing and promoting. In many ways, we will define ourselves –and promote our schools –by what we do in our projects, both as a team and individually.
The 100.’s Projects – 2006/2007
• Project - Living as an Example
• 1000 Community Projects
• The 10,000 People Project
• The Peace Education Project (including "acts of peace" and Peace One Day)
• The Invisible Children/Global Night March Project
• The Environmental Self-Defense Project
• The Media that Matters Film Project
• The 100Foundation Project; The Living Heroes Support Project
Living as an Example of The Way
The 100 is not a "martial arts association" as much as it is a movement. It’s a movement for improvement; as we are out to improve the quality of our own lives, the quality of life for our families, for our students, our communities, and the world.
We begin with our own thinking and behaviors. Diet, exercise, meditation, education, attitude, consumption, teamwork, relationships, community participation, and the pursuit of personal mastery are not just topics of discussion for this team; we pledge to live each area of our lives as examples of The Way.
What else is there? If not us, now, then who will step up –and when?
We will step up. We will make The Way of the martial arts instructor The Way of peace and extraordinary commitment to a quality of thinking and living that raises the standards for everyone we come in contact with. Why not? What have we dedicated most of our lives to in the martial arts for, if not the pursuit of mastery?
Diet
The association doesn’t advocate any particular kind of diet. Each member of The 100 is asked to eat with a consideration for the environment, for living things, for the people who produce the food, and for how the food is produced.
As a member of The 100, teaching other people about food and diet, by example, is as much a part of the martial arts as are kicks, punches, and throws. Members are expected to consume food consciously and with awareness –and this effort is to be documented in The 100’s journal pages so that we may teach others the value and importance of diet in the pursuit of martial arts mastery.
Exercise
Physical fitness is essential to participation and membership in The 100 If we are not "in shape" then how can we serve as role models for a new generation of martial arts practitioners? Each member of The 100 pledges to use his or her membership as a reason for getting in the best possible shape, now. Being grossly overweight because of poor dietary habits and insufficient exercise and attitudes about food and consumption are the norm in much of the western world today. To be in The 100 is to commit oneself to fitness and health in an extraordinary way –one that reflects what, exactly, a "martial arts Master" should look like. Our examples of fitness reside in the fitness regimes and practices of masters and athletes like Jhoon Rhee, Ernie Reyes, Sr. and Jr., the Gracie family (Helio, Rickson, Royler, Royce, Etc.), Chuck Norris, Keith Hirabayashi, Dave Kovar, Steve LaVallee, Mike Swain, Chris Natzke, Lance Farrell, Peter Johnson, Mike Valentine, Alicia Kastner, and our many other peers…
Meditation
For basic lessons in how to practice meditation, members of The 100 would do well to read and listen to the books and audio programs of Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tick-Not-Han); however, there are many ways to practice meditation –and many different teachers.
It is the goal of this association to reunite the martial arts and meditation (as most instructors have never had formal training in meditation). A martial arts master instructor should be as familiar and comfortable with the techniques of mediation as he or she is with the techniques of his or her martial art.
Education
The 100 is an association about education beyond the scope of simple business practices. Environmentalism, anger management, meditation, non-violent conflict resolution, voluntary simplicity, anatomy and physiology, and any number of other topics are where we will methodically put our focus. We do this, as we understand the evolution of the martial arts industry (and our own careers) is contingent upon better-educated instructors –and the blending of innovative education into our curriculums.
Consumption
How we treat the environment, how we deal with conflict, anger and peace, and how and what we consume (individually and as a society) are all related to self-defense and the kind of consciousness and awareness we are promoting through The 100.
Each member of The 100 is expected to take a long and honest look at his or her consumption of goods and resources –and then act in a way that reflects a concern for the welfare of our planet and its people.
Teamwork
The 100's the proving ground for people who desire to create their own dynamic teams.
Community Participation
Project Based Leadership Training will revolutionize your school –and the industry. Community involvement and activism is the ultimate end-product of sophisticated martial arts training.
1000 Community Projects: Project Based Leadership Training and The 100.’s Project Portfolio
Each member of The 100 is responsible for 10 community-based projects per year. Collectively this represents 1000 projects a year organized and implemented by team members. Each project is to be outlined in the members "Project Portfolio."
Projects are meant to be a manifestation of each member’s teaching and business philosophy. No member of The 100 shall launch a Project Based Leadership Training program for his or her students until he or she has completed and documented the required 10 projects.
The 10,000 People Project
Mobilizing 10,000 to 50,000 people in a day for community activism
Each member of The 100 pledges to mobilize a minimum of 100 people in his or her community on a given day for a given project. Collectively this represents a mobilization of a minimum of 10,000 people. The 100 will mobilize people for at least three projects per year.
Peace Education
The Peace Education program for The 100 is an extensive and multi-layered program. The goal is that The 100 schools in the association will each be a "Peace Education Center" –and that we will have all the tools, resources, and knowledge to teach peace-related ideas equal to our knowledge of martial concepts.
The association will, in 2006, design and launch a website that will define and track "acts of peace" –and The 100 will provide support to the Peace One Day campaign by organizing and/or participating in activities on Sept. 21st. of 2006 (the day the United Nations has delegated as an international "Day of Peace). Our website’s address
will be www.actsofpeace.com. The web address for Peace One Day is www.peaceoneday.org.
The Global Night Commute - Invisible Children: www.invisiblechildren.com
The 100 will be participating in the Global Night Commute, please visit their website for more information.
The Environmental Self-Defense Program
It would be an honor and a privilege if The 100 became known as "The Green Party" of the martial arts industry. Every school involved with The 100 is expected to go GREEN –and instructions on how to do this will be contained in the e-book "How to Green Your Dojo" –now in development.
The Media That Matters Film Program
The 100 has a relationship, through the Ultimate Black Belt Test program, with Tapestry Films International. Tapestry’s owner, Nancy Walzog, along with filmmaker Susan Hadary, introduced the UBBT program to King Gimp, a documentary film about a man with Cerebral Palsy. Ms. Walzog and Ms. Hadary won an Academy Award for the project.
After watching King Gimp, which delivers a powerful set of lessons about perseverance, self-determination, and courage, it occurred to me that The 100 would greatly benefit from showing this –and other –films as a part of each school’s curriculum.
Since watching King Gimp, I have found two other films relevant to the philosophy and mission of The 100, Peace One Day and Invisible Children.
The essence of the Media That Matters Film Project is that each of The 100 schools will engage in a year-long experiment where we use select documentary films to help us teach components of "character education."
It is our long-term goal to establish closer links to the film industry –and specifically to filmmakers who are making films that make a difference. No doubt there are 1000's of films I don't know about, but we will start with the three films mentioned above.
Using these films is a NO-BRAINER for the martial arts Master Teacher --who needs to use any and everything within his or her power to keep student focused and growing. I think the films would also be excellent tools for the teacher to use when visiting public or private schools ---as films like King Gimp speak more about the core education we hope to provide our students, than does board breaking, punches, kicks, grappling, and weapons training.
You may purchase King Gimp through www.films.com, Peace One Day at www.peaceoneday.org, and Invisible Children at www.invisiblechildren.com.
The 100 Foundation and, for now: The Living Heroes Support Project
The 100 Foundation will be organized with the concept that each member of The 100 will be required to fund-raise $1000 per year ($84 per month) for a scholarship and grant fund. With 100 schools raising a minimum of $1000 per year, we would accumulate $100,000 in 12 months. Those funds would then be issued to students of The 100 who apply, and qualify, for grant money needed for social-entrepreneurial and/or community-based projects.
Until all the details and legalities of establishing a foundation are dealt with, this project will be "on hold." In the mean time, we will try another concept that I think could give us some remarkable opportunities:
The Living Heroes Support Project
The members of The 100 will pick one "living hero," a man or woman making a significant difference in the world, and offer financial support for his or her efforts. This "financial support" will come about by having each of The 100 soliciting $1 to $4 donations (with some mutually beneficial project) from a minimum of 100 people (or half as much from 200 people!). Association wide, this will amount to somewhere between $10,000 and $40,000. This project will take place in one specific month –date and project specifics yet to be announced. All tools for fund raising will be organized by the association.
Why send money to a living hero? And why make this idea a "project" for The 100? Sending financial support to someone doing amazing work allows us to mix with dynamic thinkers in arenas outside of the martial arts community. For just $1 a week (over a month-long period) your students can learn about and participate with some activist who is applying his or her "personal power" (Anthony Robbins calls personal power the ability to "take action’) to issues that need it.
If you were working on a project, investing your time and energy and struggling to make a difference, wouldn’t it be a wonderful gift to have some group send you $40,000 to help with your efforts? For some activists, this could change the course of their project –and his or her life. We can do this for someone worthy of help –and with very little effort on our part.
We may end up helping a child’s-rights activist working with children in need –or an environmental activist working on habitat restoration –or who knows? The 100 will engage in this experimental project just for the gift of finding out what we can learn –and whose lives we can alter with our efforts.
Monday, July 17, 2006
May 5th, 2006 ROSA PARKS Message to the Teams
Rosa Parks Inspired The 100.
Rosa Parks, the soft-spoken civil rights activist/icon, the diminutive 42-year-old seamstress who refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger on that amazing day in Montgomery, Alabama, the woman who through one simple action helped change the course of history — she is the spiritual force behind the founding of The 100.
The question is:
Is it possible that 100 martial arts MASTER instructors could, combined, muster the power and determination of one 42-year-old seamstress?
Could we not, collectively, refuse to yield to injustice and refuse to accept things as they are? Could we, if we took the right action at the right time, change the course of history? We believe it is an idea worth pursuing.
In honor of Rosa Parks — and all brave men and women who take a stand for what is right, we have come together to make a difference in the world. We stand for peace, for global self-defense, for environmental protection, for honor, for courage, for compassion, and for being the change we want to see in the world.
In 1982 I wrote a letter to Ms. Parks, asking her about inspiration. She sent me a two-page handwritten letter offering her thoughts on the subject. From that day on I committed myself to making the work I do something that was important to the world. I realized that I was in the perfect business for making a difference. The 100. is made up of martial arts teachers who believe that their years of training have been for more than learning how to kick, punch, and throw. Like Rosa Parks, we will not be giving our seat up to ignorance, apathy, and obstacles.Many other teachers, activists, and masters have their hands in this association, but Rosa Parks is the first person I think of when I visualize our potential to make things happen.
Rosa Parks, the soft-spoken civil rights activist/icon, the diminutive 42-year-old seamstress who refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger on that amazing day in Montgomery, Alabama, the woman who through one simple action helped change the course of history — she is the spiritual force behind the founding of The 100.
The question is:
Is it possible that 100 martial arts MASTER instructors could, combined, muster the power and determination of one 42-year-old seamstress?
Could we not, collectively, refuse to yield to injustice and refuse to accept things as they are? Could we, if we took the right action at the right time, change the course of history? We believe it is an idea worth pursuing.
In honor of Rosa Parks — and all brave men and women who take a stand for what is right, we have come together to make a difference in the world. We stand for peace, for global self-defense, for environmental protection, for honor, for courage, for compassion, and for being the change we want to see in the world.
In 1982 I wrote a letter to Ms. Parks, asking her about inspiration. She sent me a two-page handwritten letter offering her thoughts on the subject. From that day on I committed myself to making the work I do something that was important to the world. I realized that I was in the perfect business for making a difference. The 100. is made up of martial arts teachers who believe that their years of training have been for more than learning how to kick, punch, and throw. Like Rosa Parks, we will not be giving our seat up to ignorance, apathy, and obstacles.Many other teachers, activists, and masters have their hands in this association, but Rosa Parks is the first person I think of when I visualize our potential to make things happen.
Letter to the 100. April, 2006
Good Morning to the 20 or so of us that currently make up The 100.
This morning, here, in a few hundred words, I am going to offer you some instructions/directions to help make your involvement in this Association (which is really a movement — a revolution and/or shift in our thinking) something that guides and inspires you — -and something that benefits your school — -and, perhaps, if we're very fortunate, everyone you come in contact with.
First, imagine that I produced a large variety of promotional materials — REALLY good ones — around self-defense instruction. Imagine I gave you an angle with which to promote your business that just knocked people out...and that as a result you enrolled hundreds of new students.
Now imagine you really didn't know anything "authentic" about self-defense. I mean, you could go thru the motions — but the truth was that you'd never defended yourself, you'd never taken any authentic self-defense courses, volunteered at a rape crises or domestic violence program — — -let's just say that all of your "self-defense training" was practicing traditional martial arts up and down the dojo floor. All sizzle — no steak.
This is exactly what we DON'T want to have happen with our activities in The 100. I am going to produce promotional materials (print, video, partnerships, curriculum, audio, whatever-is-best) around subjects like PEACE EDUCATION and ENVIRONMENTALISM and SUSTAINABILITY.... And the materials will be good...no, excellent. T
he strategies for expanding our impact in our communities — and inspiring all sorts of new people to look at your schools with new interest...they will come. However, first, we must educate ourselves, authentically, in the new subject matter — so that when the opportunities arrive, we are truly prepared.
You follow me?
One of the things you MUST PLEDGE TO DO — as a member of this team of activists and, dare I say, "revolutionaries," is to fully and authentically educate yourself on the subjects we tackle as a team. You make sure that when we start laying down our sizzle — that you've got a freezer full of steak (or, for you vegetarians, some sort of soy-based alternative).
Step # 1 — We are going to re-embrace PEACE EDUCATION as a team — in a way that has not ever been done in the martial arts. Now realize that Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, was a peace activist in a very profound way — -he even named his art "The Art of Peace."
So too were many of the great masters who have proceeded us... Now it's our turn. We're going to adopt a set of tools that we will, first, LIVE, then we will teach to our students — and then, with their help, we will arm every interested citizen in our communities. Our education will be like the Polio vaccinations of the 60's and 70's — with one simple shot we will protect millions of people from harm. We will arm people with Peace tools that will help them get a mental, emotional, and physical grip on conflict — and how to resolve it without aggression...both internally and externally.
It's nothing new my friends, we're just going to make it our mission to teach these skills — the very deepest "roots" of authentic self-defense — to our friends, students, families, and fellow citizens. It will be our gift to the world. If you embrace this idea with your full potential — YOU will become THE MOST proactive Peace Activist in your community. You may become THE (or one of the) most respected spokes-people for Peace and non-violent conflict resolution.
ANY parent or employer who wants his or her charges to learn the skills of peace-in-life-and-action — -will want to send them to you for instruction and training. That is our objective. We don't have to reinvent the wheel on this one. There are many, many people who have dedicated their lives to peace and peace education...what we're going to do, after studying the subject matter thoroughly, is to take action on these ideas in an unprecedented way.
I'm now going to assign you two books (or books on tape?) to begin your journey (as we must begin somewhere):
Book # 1: THE ART OF PEACE by Morihei Ueshiba, as translated by John Stevens. I have corresponded with Mr. Stevens — and I hope to have more of his input on the subject in the future. You don't have to study Aikido to appreciate Ueshiba (although it's not a bad idea)...and his ideas should (when studied with an open heart and mind — searching for opportunity) have a profound impact on your martial arts CORE BELIEFS.
Book # 2: Thich Nhat Hanh: CREATING TRUE PEACE: ENDING VIOLENCE IN YOURSELF, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD. If you have not been blessed with meeting/reading/listening to this amazing peace activist, you're in for a life-changing treat. Your learning curve is going to go right off the scale.
So there you have it.
My first act in this new association, The 100., is not to send you a packet of promotional materials — or a new strategy for member upgrades, or a slick and fancy campaign for school promotion...no, it is a request for you to lay a foundation of understanding about conflict, peace, passion, purpose, and education.
Honestly, Men and Women, our teachers should have been laying down this foundation for us from day 1....they just didn't know any better (if they didn't). We will. For all the future teachers of our various arts, we will lay down a heavy foundation of education in peace and non-violence that doesn't just scratch the surface, but that leaves a powerful and permanent positive impact on our students lives — and everyone they have the good fortune to come in contact with.
Peace is as important a part of the martial arts and life — as is any other subject.
The two books I've assigned you to read, above, is as good a place to start as any.
More to follow — (and I task you all to open your mental "window" to anything and everything about Peace...and you watch, all sorts of stuff is going to start flying through it). Keep in mind it takes a village to raise a "master." All of our education will NOT come from any one source (including The 100.). Together, collectively, we will teach each other, learn together, tap into all of our resources (like the great peace teacher and our friend, Terrence Webster Doyle — and others).
Oh, and one more thing: If you already have read these books, if you're already Mr. or Mrs. Peace Education, then it's your job to help, not to think or act like you're already there (of course you know this, but it's better to address ego up front, no?). The assignment above should take you no more than two weeks. Let me know how you do. Oh, and keep in mind...there's study — and then there's STUDY. Practice STUDY.It's time to prepare...Oh man are we in for a wild ride!
Tom Callos www.theonehundred.org
This morning, here, in a few hundred words, I am going to offer you some instructions/directions to help make your involvement in this Association (which is really a movement — a revolution and/or shift in our thinking) something that guides and inspires you — -and something that benefits your school — -and, perhaps, if we're very fortunate, everyone you come in contact with.
First, imagine that I produced a large variety of promotional materials — REALLY good ones — around self-defense instruction. Imagine I gave you an angle with which to promote your business that just knocked people out...and that as a result you enrolled hundreds of new students.
Now imagine you really didn't know anything "authentic" about self-defense. I mean, you could go thru the motions — but the truth was that you'd never defended yourself, you'd never taken any authentic self-defense courses, volunteered at a rape crises or domestic violence program — — -let's just say that all of your "self-defense training" was practicing traditional martial arts up and down the dojo floor. All sizzle — no steak.
This is exactly what we DON'T want to have happen with our activities in The 100. I am going to produce promotional materials (print, video, partnerships, curriculum, audio, whatever-is-best) around subjects like PEACE EDUCATION and ENVIRONMENTALISM and SUSTAINABILITY.... And the materials will be good...no, excellent. T
he strategies for expanding our impact in our communities — and inspiring all sorts of new people to look at your schools with new interest...they will come. However, first, we must educate ourselves, authentically, in the new subject matter — so that when the opportunities arrive, we are truly prepared.
You follow me?
One of the things you MUST PLEDGE TO DO — as a member of this team of activists and, dare I say, "revolutionaries," is to fully and authentically educate yourself on the subjects we tackle as a team. You make sure that when we start laying down our sizzle — that you've got a freezer full of steak (or, for you vegetarians, some sort of soy-based alternative).
Step # 1 — We are going to re-embrace PEACE EDUCATION as a team — in a way that has not ever been done in the martial arts. Now realize that Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, was a peace activist in a very profound way — -he even named his art "The Art of Peace."
So too were many of the great masters who have proceeded us... Now it's our turn. We're going to adopt a set of tools that we will, first, LIVE, then we will teach to our students — and then, with their help, we will arm every interested citizen in our communities. Our education will be like the Polio vaccinations of the 60's and 70's — with one simple shot we will protect millions of people from harm. We will arm people with Peace tools that will help them get a mental, emotional, and physical grip on conflict — and how to resolve it without aggression...both internally and externally.
It's nothing new my friends, we're just going to make it our mission to teach these skills — the very deepest "roots" of authentic self-defense — to our friends, students, families, and fellow citizens. It will be our gift to the world. If you embrace this idea with your full potential — YOU will become THE MOST proactive Peace Activist in your community. You may become THE (or one of the) most respected spokes-people for Peace and non-violent conflict resolution.
ANY parent or employer who wants his or her charges to learn the skills of peace-in-life-and-action — -will want to send them to you for instruction and training. That is our objective. We don't have to reinvent the wheel on this one. There are many, many people who have dedicated their lives to peace and peace education...what we're going to do, after studying the subject matter thoroughly, is to take action on these ideas in an unprecedented way.
I'm now going to assign you two books (or books on tape?) to begin your journey (as we must begin somewhere):
Book # 1: THE ART OF PEACE by Morihei Ueshiba, as translated by John Stevens. I have corresponded with Mr. Stevens — and I hope to have more of his input on the subject in the future. You don't have to study Aikido to appreciate Ueshiba (although it's not a bad idea)...and his ideas should (when studied with an open heart and mind — searching for opportunity) have a profound impact on your martial arts CORE BELIEFS.
Book # 2: Thich Nhat Hanh: CREATING TRUE PEACE: ENDING VIOLENCE IN YOURSELF, YOUR FAMILY, YOUR COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD. If you have not been blessed with meeting/reading/listening to this amazing peace activist, you're in for a life-changing treat. Your learning curve is going to go right off the scale.
So there you have it.
My first act in this new association, The 100., is not to send you a packet of promotional materials — or a new strategy for member upgrades, or a slick and fancy campaign for school promotion...no, it is a request for you to lay a foundation of understanding about conflict, peace, passion, purpose, and education.
Honestly, Men and Women, our teachers should have been laying down this foundation for us from day 1....they just didn't know any better (if they didn't). We will. For all the future teachers of our various arts, we will lay down a heavy foundation of education in peace and non-violence that doesn't just scratch the surface, but that leaves a powerful and permanent positive impact on our students lives — and everyone they have the good fortune to come in contact with.
Peace is as important a part of the martial arts and life — as is any other subject.
The two books I've assigned you to read, above, is as good a place to start as any.
More to follow — (and I task you all to open your mental "window" to anything and everything about Peace...and you watch, all sorts of stuff is going to start flying through it). Keep in mind it takes a village to raise a "master." All of our education will NOT come from any one source (including The 100.). Together, collectively, we will teach each other, learn together, tap into all of our resources (like the great peace teacher and our friend, Terrence Webster Doyle — and others).
Oh, and one more thing: If you already have read these books, if you're already Mr. or Mrs. Peace Education, then it's your job to help, not to think or act like you're already there (of course you know this, but it's better to address ego up front, no?). The assignment above should take you no more than two weeks. Let me know how you do. Oh, and keep in mind...there's study — and then there's STUDY. Practice STUDY.It's time to prepare...Oh man are we in for a wild ride!
Tom Callos www.theonehundred.org
From the Desk of Tom Callos
The 100 is a martial arts association made up of 100 professional martial arts teachers located in 100 different cities around the world.
We have come together to become a force for positive global change.
Along with traditional topics within the martial arts, we are embracing environmentalism, peace education, sustainability, community activism, non-violent conflict resolution, voluntary simplicity, and other ideas that reflect what we consider to be “Self-Defense Education” for the modern world.
Our Association is driven by these words from the legendary martial arts master, Jhoon Rhee:
“If a picture is worth a 1000 words, then an ACTION is worth 1000 pictures.”
Above all else the members of this association are committed to taking action on the ideas and philosophy of the martial arts. Just as we have become experts in our chosen field by applying ourselves one training session at a time, so too will we use our influence and personal power to change the world for the better, one act at a time.
Thank you for visiting us. Please, don’t hesitate to contact me if I may be of service.
Tel: 530-903-0286
Email: tomcallos@aol.com
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