Good evening teams,
There a lot happening, behind the scenes in the UBBT and, yes, even in The 100. Let me tell you what I’m doing, first:
I’m hard at work trying to get the 100 site up and functioning. It’s a lot of work with programmers and designers –but it’ll all be worth it in the long run. It’s sort of like NAPMA –which took a while to launch... Your financial support during this period is greatly appreciated. In this case the “founding members” of the group REALLY deserve credit…and you’re making the ship move.
The UBBT is moving along. You know, it’s all about collecting a team. When the right people are present, magic happens. The “right people” are those who commit themselves to the task at hand (whatever that is). Get capable people WITHOUT commitment, and the ship sinks. I’d wager that untalented people –who HAVE commitment, could outshine the opposite. (A lesson there for your own school teams)
In the UBBT the idea is to make a personal breakthrough –and then a Team breakthrough. In fact, the idea is to “breakthrough” in all areas of one’s life: personally; financially, emotionally, intellectually, etc.
What we’re doing, in the “big picture” is revitalizing the martial arts “industry.” We’re re-organizing and redesigning our methods. We’re redefining what it is to seek –and be –a “master teacher.” We’re laying a foundation for the next generation. We’re taking matters, quite literally, into out own hands.
Do you know what YOU have to do –as a part of these teams?
First, you have to train as hard and consistently as you ever have in your life. As you must be as good a representative of physical martial arts prowess as you possible can.
Second, you must undergo a mental transformation –kind of like you’re in a Master’s Program as a top university. You must spike the ol’ LEARNING CURVE. What to learn? Peace Education and Environmental self-defense (that’s where I’d have you start –but it’s really up to you). I’d also suggest that you turn off that stupid *#&#)$_) TV –and hit the books and lecture circuit.
You must undergo an emotional transformation. No more anger –no more frustration –no more apathy –no more bias and prejudice and opinionated misgivings. Get your “master” stuff together and start ACTING like one.
You are expected to pursue the spiritual side of your life. I don’t know what that means for you ---but we WILL NOT have a bunch of senior martial arts masters walking around with NO spiritual training. No, that won’t do.
You are expected tohave a breakthrough year –on all levels. You’re expected to bite off the big chunk ---face the demons –face the fears –do the unthinkable, the unbelievable.
If you’re not willing to go thru the fire –then, my friends, you absolutely are hanging out with the wrong crowd (especially me, as I don’t want to tolerate any more mediocrity among people I expect to be HEROES.
Behind the scenes, people on these teams are sitting idle or formulating (and living) excuses or they are making haphazard progress (but progress nevertheless) or steady progress or breakthroughs. BUT, when it’s all said and done, and these UBBT’s go down in martial arts history –you will remember your contribution –or lack thereof.
I hope you’re know for what you DID –not what you did not do. I hope you SHOW your students and all other teachers what it means to be a BLACK BELT –and a senior martial artist.
Come on all you novice black belts –make these old men and women, these sagely “veterans” of the martial arts –come on, SHAME them. Show them what it is to be young and hungry and willing to go the extra mile.
And you, all of you old timers –don’t let these KIDS show you up! Show em what we’re made of! What we lack in athletic enthusiasm, we’ll make up with absolute brilliance –with perseverance –and with BRAIN power.
Don’t let one little 12 to 24 month training coarse make you tap out. GET ON IT. Let’s show the world that martial arts “master teachers” really DO exist –and that they’re capapale of producing the extraordinary in everything they touch.
Some “Ultimate Black Belt Test” if the black belts in it fail to produce even the minimum. What a sad statement for the state of the martial arts leadership-world…and what an opportunity for the next generation to establish its path.
I, for one, am going to keep pushing. I’m going to keep thinking. I’m going to keep nurturing other pushers and thinkers. They are sorely needed in an industry gone astray –in a world gone astray. Maybe we can actually make the study and practice of the martial arts MEAN something –again.
Tom
Monday, August 28, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Sound and Vision
August 24, 2006
Good morning teams,
The following comments may take a few minutes to read. I wrote it all, this morning, in my normal “stream of consciousness” style –and I believe it offers both insights into what we are doing –and gives voice to why we are involved together at this time and place.
As you may be aware of, we are on the edge of a new educational “era” in the martial arts community. Our work in the UBBT –and the work that the 100 is beginning, has brought –and will usher in --an entirely new/old dimension to the what, how, and why of the martial arts –being a professional teacher –and our “path” as martial artists.
I write “new/old” as there might be no better way to describe this blending of universal concepts (peace education, sustainability, environmental self-defense, personal development, voluntary simplicity, cutting edge technology, global awareness-participation, web-based education/community, meditation, etc…) with the methods and intent of our collective work. Does that make sense? Do you recognize the shift in our thinking and actions? Can you see where, based on the last 20 years in “martial arts industry education”, we are making a radical “shift” in intent and method and purpose?
It’ very clear to me that we are changing; Now, what direction we will eventually head…I’m not exactly sure. I do know, however, that the glory days of “business method education” like we’ve seen from EFC, NAPMA, MAIA, and others --is over. They will continue to play a significant role in providing education and resources for the martial arts community, but there is a new “movement” among school owners/master teachers (and up-and-comings) towards ideas and intent with more “universal” meaning and purpose. It might best be described using college-metaphors: Business education is the Freshman and Sophomore years –the work we’re doing is what comes after that.
I believe I am, at the moment, the leader of this “movement” ---however, I will very soon (if not already) be just one of many people who embrace --and take action on --the kind of martial arts education and direction I’m eluding to. Already we are collecting a group of thinkers and doers who are taking action in their own schools and communities in all new and interesting ways. Already we are beginning to “think globally” about the purpose and methods and education in the martial arts community –while “acting locally” to see the ideas manifest themselves in new and more-relevant/important programs, curriculum, --and results.
All of this is that “small turn of the steering wheel” I’ve mentioned in our talks. It may, right now, not seem like a big turn in direction ---but down the road we are going to find ourselves in an all new (and I think, BETTER) place.
What I’m hoping for is to collect a team of highly motivated and intelligent people ---action-takers, thinkers, creators ---who can collectively contribute to this “movement” that’s based on education and expansion of what the martial arts are all about. I think that in the long-run (and maybe immediately) we will see a broadening of our market (for students) and certainly we will feel and experience the thrill and power of creating a kind of work that speaks to the soul….that we know and recognize as “the master’s work” –and that is both therapy and solution…work that follows The Way so clearly that it empowers and energizes us in all sorts of extraordinary ways.
I don’t yet have a clear vision of how it will all come about or where it will lead, but I know for certain that I must proceed in this direction. All that I knew and cared about in the martial arts, you know, WHY I trained, WHY I attended classes, WHY I sought to be a teacher…all of this has evolved to where I am now. I don’t know about you, but I can’t go back. The business methods and the methods for promotion and the curriculum and the dialogue and the leadership and the motivations and intent in the present-day martial arts community, well…it no longer speaks to me as it once did. Now something new calls –it gets me up at 4 am, like this morning, it’s tugging on my brain and my spirit. Something bigger, something more important, something that makes more impact in the world –that raises peoples awareness. In it’s simplest form, you might call it a “new definition of self-defense training.” It is certainly a new definition of the term “martial arts education.”
The UBBT and the 100 depends on its members. If you guys and gals step up in every way you can, we will make history. If you use these programs to find the motivation to get in the best shape of your lives, then we will stand as representatives for the fitness-power of studying the martial arts. (OH, and the other element of this idea –is that you find the power to inspire all people you come in contact with to do the same. It’s not enough for us to serve as role-models ---we must inspire and mobilize [management] others. If it’s only about “us” and our personal growth, I think we will lose a most important ingredient to our long-term success and global-impact).
If you folks pursue the meditation and the much-needed expansion of the “spiritual” side of the martial arts/life ---then we will be taking back some of what the yoga world has embraced (and flourished with), something we had once in the martial arts community, but which had become displaced –and we will be leader in a revival of the esoteric aspects, the grounding aspects, the “feed your soul” aspects, the “wake up and live in the here and now –the in-the-moment” aspects of the serious study of The Way of the martial artist (The way of the Peaceful Warrior?).
If you men and women embrace Project Based Leadership and other forms of “martial arts activism” (defined as seeing the philosophy of the martial arts [read: life] manifest itself in the lives of our students –but OUTSIDE of our schools and outside of anything that has to do with kicking and punching), you will usher in a new unique selling proposition for the martial arts industry –which will shift the way we promote our schools –and CERTAINLY, the results we get from our work. PBLT and related ideas could give the martial arts an all new face –and all-new role in the world. We all know the real bullies in the world aren’t people ---they are empowering and selfish attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. We all recognize that in today’s world we don’t necessarily need “self-defense” from kicks and punches –as much as we need defense from apathy, ignorance, prejudice, violence-thinking, environmental degradation, conspicuous consumption, unwholesome dietary habits, junk food, junk thinking, and so on. The difference in our thinking, right now, is that WE can actually DO SOMETHING about all of this. That we might actually MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the world, based on how and what and why we TEACH. This, I believe, is part of the major shift in our thinking and action that I’m writing/talking/teaching about.
If all of you embrace PEACE EDUCATION and actually become the leaders in your communities for teaching non-violence education and anger management and other forms of clear and sustainable thinking ---well let me tell you, we will automatically take an all new –and vitally important role in our communities and the world. Need I say to you “a more valuable role” too? There is a mile-wide gap in each of our communities --that gap is an educational one, that we might fill. We can become the teachers for some of the things that are missing in the world ---that cause so many so much pain. We can become a integral part of THE VILLAGE that raises healthy, productive, centered, compassionate men and women. We are not “the answer” ---but we can become a vital part of the educational system that helps the world be a better place. What more could we ask for?
At the moment we are, I think, something LESS than what represents our potential. At the moment we are UFC fighters, mixed martial artists, fitness instructors, self-defense teachers, school owners, traditional karateka, black belts, seminar leaders, association heads, chief instructors, and all the other titles that don’t reflect the size and scope and power we might embrace if we all evolved and pursued the idea of “mastery” more intently. We’re going to have to define and redefine what a “master of the martial arts” is ---and then pursue it the way Martin Luther King pursued the ideas of civil rights –the way Thich Nhat Hahn and The Dalai Lama pursue the ideas of peace and compassion –the way the Cousteau family pursues ocean-awareness –the way Stephen Hawking pursues science –the way Armstrong attacked his beloved sport: with PASSION.
Why? FUN! PASSION! PURPOSE! MEANING! All the things that fuel our fires –that keep us young and alive and alert and interesting! How about relevant! And inspired and growing and learning! Yeah…those are the reasons WHY.
Ok, Team 3, you men and women must rise to an all-new place: physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually ----AND, you’re going to have to do it both alone and together. You need to get yourself training HARD and consistently –and then you need to fulfill your potential in the context of this program. DO THE WORK, now. BOND as a team and HELP each other. This is your chance to do what you said you would do. ARE YOU a martial artist? A leader? A visionary? A “role-model?” OR NOT? Get on it.
Team 3 –consider yourself members of Team 4 (and Team 1 and 2 while you’re at it). There is no separation with us; only the mission to make a difference and apply ourselves like the “Masters” we want and hope to be.
Team 4, you guys and gals are going to start on the effort and sweat equity of all the other teams. You’re going to take what’s been done already –and craft an even more amazing journey. You’re part of a family of people who believe we should do and be more.
YOU-TUBE: www.youtube.com is the UBBT of the communication world. You-Tube is an amazing cultural phenomenon. Get on the site and STUDY it. Eric Kastner (Alicia’s brother) will be a Team 4 member –and will be serving as a technical advisor to an all-new approach to our film-making adventure. Watch for more input from Eric in the coming weeks.
Why You-Tube? It’s immediate. It’s powerful. It’s an amazing connection tool for us –for our students –for our communities –and for the martial arts. It’s here and now and insanely affordable and easy. You will be creating an on-line video journal of your testing process. THIS WORK may become our “film” –and we’re looking for a kind of journaling and presence that gets hundreds-of-thousands, if not millions, of spectators to your journey. It takes the price of our film equipment from $4000 to between $40 and $400 (depending on your camera). Wow. It also means that we won’t be waiting a year or more for a film to “come out” ---our individual and collective journey airs almost immediately. We’ll know how many people are watching. We’ll hear from our audience, immediately. And if we are authentic in our quest, we will have the opportunity to teach and impact and inspire uncountable numbers of people.
On top of all that, if and when a film-deal falls upon us, by using You-Tube, now, we will all have become ultra-comfortable in front of a camera –communicating our ideas. This will serve us in many ways –let production people see what we’re capable of –and give us a huge leg-up when the opportunity arises. Preparedness is what makes for good luck. Best of all, your students and community can “tune-in” NOW and see what you’re doing / going thru / working for.
Ladies and gentlemen: Let the games begin.
Teams 1, 2, 3, and 4 -----now’s the time to ask yourself about HOW you can be or stay involved. Now is NOT the time to rest –now is the time to join and pitch in. Now is the time for 100 like-minded people to step up and, together, change the world as we know it.
If you think the martial arts are something “special” ---if you think being a “martial artist” is something important ---then let this be a wake-up call to MOVE ---NOW. Now is your time! You’re at that age ---you’re in the peak of your careers –WE ARE THE MASTERS of tomorrow –and the work we do today –will leave a legacy for those that follow us. We are the Joe Lewis’, the Jhoon Rhee’s, the Ernie Reyes’, the Bruce Lee’s , the Bill Wallace’s of the future. This is our arena! Education! Advancement of curriculum and methods and INTENT.
I think it’s our time. I can upon you to contribute to and support the work.
Rules:
NO Negativity –only contribution.
Respect for self and others –TEAM.
Perfect training –perfect diet –perfect thinking.
Participation no matter the obstacles.
Tom
Good morning teams,
The following comments may take a few minutes to read. I wrote it all, this morning, in my normal “stream of consciousness” style –and I believe it offers both insights into what we are doing –and gives voice to why we are involved together at this time and place.
As you may be aware of, we are on the edge of a new educational “era” in the martial arts community. Our work in the UBBT –and the work that the 100 is beginning, has brought –and will usher in --an entirely new/old dimension to the what, how, and why of the martial arts –being a professional teacher –and our “path” as martial artists.
I write “new/old” as there might be no better way to describe this blending of universal concepts (peace education, sustainability, environmental self-defense, personal development, voluntary simplicity, cutting edge technology, global awareness-participation, web-based education/community, meditation, etc…) with the methods and intent of our collective work. Does that make sense? Do you recognize the shift in our thinking and actions? Can you see where, based on the last 20 years in “martial arts industry education”, we are making a radical “shift” in intent and method and purpose?
It’ very clear to me that we are changing; Now, what direction we will eventually head…I’m not exactly sure. I do know, however, that the glory days of “business method education” like we’ve seen from EFC, NAPMA, MAIA, and others --is over. They will continue to play a significant role in providing education and resources for the martial arts community, but there is a new “movement” among school owners/master teachers (and up-and-comings) towards ideas and intent with more “universal” meaning and purpose. It might best be described using college-metaphors: Business education is the Freshman and Sophomore years –the work we’re doing is what comes after that.
I believe I am, at the moment, the leader of this “movement” ---however, I will very soon (if not already) be just one of many people who embrace --and take action on --the kind of martial arts education and direction I’m eluding to. Already we are collecting a group of thinkers and doers who are taking action in their own schools and communities in all new and interesting ways. Already we are beginning to “think globally” about the purpose and methods and education in the martial arts community –while “acting locally” to see the ideas manifest themselves in new and more-relevant/important programs, curriculum, --and results.
All of this is that “small turn of the steering wheel” I’ve mentioned in our talks. It may, right now, not seem like a big turn in direction ---but down the road we are going to find ourselves in an all new (and I think, BETTER) place.
What I’m hoping for is to collect a team of highly motivated and intelligent people ---action-takers, thinkers, creators ---who can collectively contribute to this “movement” that’s based on education and expansion of what the martial arts are all about. I think that in the long-run (and maybe immediately) we will see a broadening of our market (for students) and certainly we will feel and experience the thrill and power of creating a kind of work that speaks to the soul….that we know and recognize as “the master’s work” –and that is both therapy and solution…work that follows The Way so clearly that it empowers and energizes us in all sorts of extraordinary ways.
I don’t yet have a clear vision of how it will all come about or where it will lead, but I know for certain that I must proceed in this direction. All that I knew and cared about in the martial arts, you know, WHY I trained, WHY I attended classes, WHY I sought to be a teacher…all of this has evolved to where I am now. I don’t know about you, but I can’t go back. The business methods and the methods for promotion and the curriculum and the dialogue and the leadership and the motivations and intent in the present-day martial arts community, well…it no longer speaks to me as it once did. Now something new calls –it gets me up at 4 am, like this morning, it’s tugging on my brain and my spirit. Something bigger, something more important, something that makes more impact in the world –that raises peoples awareness. In it’s simplest form, you might call it a “new definition of self-defense training.” It is certainly a new definition of the term “martial arts education.”
The UBBT and the 100 depends on its members. If you guys and gals step up in every way you can, we will make history. If you use these programs to find the motivation to get in the best shape of your lives, then we will stand as representatives for the fitness-power of studying the martial arts. (OH, and the other element of this idea –is that you find the power to inspire all people you come in contact with to do the same. It’s not enough for us to serve as role-models ---we must inspire and mobilize [management] others. If it’s only about “us” and our personal growth, I think we will lose a most important ingredient to our long-term success and global-impact).
If you folks pursue the meditation and the much-needed expansion of the “spiritual” side of the martial arts/life ---then we will be taking back some of what the yoga world has embraced (and flourished with), something we had once in the martial arts community, but which had become displaced –and we will be leader in a revival of the esoteric aspects, the grounding aspects, the “feed your soul” aspects, the “wake up and live in the here and now –the in-the-moment” aspects of the serious study of The Way of the martial artist (The way of the Peaceful Warrior?).
If you men and women embrace Project Based Leadership and other forms of “martial arts activism” (defined as seeing the philosophy of the martial arts [read: life] manifest itself in the lives of our students –but OUTSIDE of our schools and outside of anything that has to do with kicking and punching), you will usher in a new unique selling proposition for the martial arts industry –which will shift the way we promote our schools –and CERTAINLY, the results we get from our work. PBLT and related ideas could give the martial arts an all new face –and all-new role in the world. We all know the real bullies in the world aren’t people ---they are empowering and selfish attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. We all recognize that in today’s world we don’t necessarily need “self-defense” from kicks and punches –as much as we need defense from apathy, ignorance, prejudice, violence-thinking, environmental degradation, conspicuous consumption, unwholesome dietary habits, junk food, junk thinking, and so on. The difference in our thinking, right now, is that WE can actually DO SOMETHING about all of this. That we might actually MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the world, based on how and what and why we TEACH. This, I believe, is part of the major shift in our thinking and action that I’m writing/talking/teaching about.
If all of you embrace PEACE EDUCATION and actually become the leaders in your communities for teaching non-violence education and anger management and other forms of clear and sustainable thinking ---well let me tell you, we will automatically take an all new –and vitally important role in our communities and the world. Need I say to you “a more valuable role” too? There is a mile-wide gap in each of our communities --that gap is an educational one, that we might fill. We can become the teachers for some of the things that are missing in the world ---that cause so many so much pain. We can become a integral part of THE VILLAGE that raises healthy, productive, centered, compassionate men and women. We are not “the answer” ---but we can become a vital part of the educational system that helps the world be a better place. What more could we ask for?
At the moment we are, I think, something LESS than what represents our potential. At the moment we are UFC fighters, mixed martial artists, fitness instructors, self-defense teachers, school owners, traditional karateka, black belts, seminar leaders, association heads, chief instructors, and all the other titles that don’t reflect the size and scope and power we might embrace if we all evolved and pursued the idea of “mastery” more intently. We’re going to have to define and redefine what a “master of the martial arts” is ---and then pursue it the way Martin Luther King pursued the ideas of civil rights –the way Thich Nhat Hahn and The Dalai Lama pursue the ideas of peace and compassion –the way the Cousteau family pursues ocean-awareness –the way Stephen Hawking pursues science –the way Armstrong attacked his beloved sport: with PASSION.
Why? FUN! PASSION! PURPOSE! MEANING! All the things that fuel our fires –that keep us young and alive and alert and interesting! How about relevant! And inspired and growing and learning! Yeah…those are the reasons WHY.
Ok, Team 3, you men and women must rise to an all-new place: physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually ----AND, you’re going to have to do it both alone and together. You need to get yourself training HARD and consistently –and then you need to fulfill your potential in the context of this program. DO THE WORK, now. BOND as a team and HELP each other. This is your chance to do what you said you would do. ARE YOU a martial artist? A leader? A visionary? A “role-model?” OR NOT? Get on it.
Team 3 –consider yourself members of Team 4 (and Team 1 and 2 while you’re at it). There is no separation with us; only the mission to make a difference and apply ourselves like the “Masters” we want and hope to be.
Team 4, you guys and gals are going to start on the effort and sweat equity of all the other teams. You’re going to take what’s been done already –and craft an even more amazing journey. You’re part of a family of people who believe we should do and be more.
YOU-TUBE: www.youtube.com is the UBBT of the communication world. You-Tube is an amazing cultural phenomenon. Get on the site and STUDY it. Eric Kastner (Alicia’s brother) will be a Team 4 member –and will be serving as a technical advisor to an all-new approach to our film-making adventure. Watch for more input from Eric in the coming weeks.
Why You-Tube? It’s immediate. It’s powerful. It’s an amazing connection tool for us –for our students –for our communities –and for the martial arts. It’s here and now and insanely affordable and easy. You will be creating an on-line video journal of your testing process. THIS WORK may become our “film” –and we’re looking for a kind of journaling and presence that gets hundreds-of-thousands, if not millions, of spectators to your journey. It takes the price of our film equipment from $4000 to between $40 and $400 (depending on your camera). Wow. It also means that we won’t be waiting a year or more for a film to “come out” ---our individual and collective journey airs almost immediately. We’ll know how many people are watching. We’ll hear from our audience, immediately. And if we are authentic in our quest, we will have the opportunity to teach and impact and inspire uncountable numbers of people.
On top of all that, if and when a film-deal falls upon us, by using You-Tube, now, we will all have become ultra-comfortable in front of a camera –communicating our ideas. This will serve us in many ways –let production people see what we’re capable of –and give us a huge leg-up when the opportunity arises. Preparedness is what makes for good luck. Best of all, your students and community can “tune-in” NOW and see what you’re doing / going thru / working for.
Ladies and gentlemen: Let the games begin.
Teams 1, 2, 3, and 4 -----now’s the time to ask yourself about HOW you can be or stay involved. Now is NOT the time to rest –now is the time to join and pitch in. Now is the time for 100 like-minded people to step up and, together, change the world as we know it.
If you think the martial arts are something “special” ---if you think being a “martial artist” is something important ---then let this be a wake-up call to MOVE ---NOW. Now is your time! You’re at that age ---you’re in the peak of your careers –WE ARE THE MASTERS of tomorrow –and the work we do today –will leave a legacy for those that follow us. We are the Joe Lewis’, the Jhoon Rhee’s, the Ernie Reyes’, the Bruce Lee’s , the Bill Wallace’s of the future. This is our arena! Education! Advancement of curriculum and methods and INTENT.
I think it’s our time. I can upon you to contribute to and support the work.
Rules:
NO Negativity –only contribution.
Respect for self and others –TEAM.
Perfect training –perfect diet –perfect thinking.
Participation no matter the obstacles.
Tom
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Instructions for the UBBT 3 and 4 (and more)
About The Ultimate Black Belt Test
How
The UBBT is about accomplishing the gigantic, by breaking it down into little, bite-sized pieces. This is how one of your students becomes a black belt, becomes a doctor, becomes an engineer, becomes a great mother, father, friend, inventor –or what-have-you.
This is how YOU become a “master of the martial arts” ---which, in this day and age, seems like an impossible feat (Where are our role models? What are the standards?). By engaging in the DAILY training/learning requirements of the UBBT, you demonstrate to your students, and to yourself, exactly how one works on himself ---how one creates transformation, in any form, in one’s life.
All you have to do is get up and TRAIN; keep track of what you do; THINK “out of the dojo” ---and ACT like the teammate and student you want your students to be –your children to be –your mate to be --your friends to be –your employees to be. All you have to do is LIVE with passion and purpose and vision and SELF-DISCIPLINE.
And, most of all, two things:
1. Work on your attitude –by studying THE MASTERS and the work of masters.
2. No matter how hard it is, no matter how many times you drop the ball ---you get back on track and never, ever, ever quit. You don’t fail when you try –you fail when you fail to try.
Why You Do the UBBT
We’re doing the UBBT because there is something wrong with the martial arts “world.” We, collectively, are not reaching our potential. We are not fulfilling the promise of all the training –and the philosophy of the martial arts. We are living, for lack of a better term, a lie.
We are doing the UBBT because there is something wrong in the world. We, collectively, are not reaching our potential as human beings. We are not fulfilling the promise of all the abundance and philosophy in the world –we have become mired in life, so much so that we have nearly forgotten how to live.
The training is our car. The martial arts is our vehicle. The journey is for meaning, method, purpose, passion, and most of all –for clarity and enlightenment. Can we transcend the mundane? Can we wade through the advertising, the sex appeal, the trivial, the gossip, the ignorance, the misunderstandings, the mis-information, the anger, the FEAR, the aggression, the apathy, and see the simple? Can we find our center? Can we be Buddha? Christ? The Dalai Lama? Mother Theresa? Albert Einstein? Rosa Parks? Or anyone that holds the image and the ideals that move us? Can we make a difference in the world? Are we connected –or disconnected? Are we one? Is it our job to live as an example for others? What is The Way?
In the UBBT, in a perfect world, each participant would, literally, be “on a quest to be her best” ---a slogan we’ve all uttered, which is utterly meaningless unless embraced on a “cellular” level. But forget the UBBT –it’s not this program’s objectives you/we strive for, it’s LIFE’S objectives –it’s striving to be a fully conscious, aware, evolved, compassionate human being; that’s all we’re trying to be. To connect, through study and self-discipline, and ritual, and effort, and focus –to those things that keep us learning, asking, contributing, and growing.
In the UBBT, as in life, as in your school, as in your business, as in your thinking, whatever is difficult is your teacher. All the reasons you can’t –are why you must. All of your obstacles are your opportunities. All of your excuses are your enemies –is your thinking –is your downfall –is your education.
The UBBT has given you a very public forum with which to live out the drama of YOU trying to find purpose and clarity ---and most of all, to prove yourself as both student and teacher and man or woman –but that’s no difference than “life” –is it?
To succeed at the UBBT you train. You study. You learn. You get up off your ass, no matter how many times you get knocked on it. You learn from the masters. You don’t give in to excuses, you make solutions. You contribute. And TEACHER…You teach (thru your actions).
For the next year: There is a curriculum, which is very flexible. Get on it. Break it down into bite-sized pieces. Make everything a lesson (for yourself, your students, your community). Be one of the FEW who actually get up and DO something. DO the curriculum. Do the activities. DO the projects. Do the acts of kindness. DO the diet. Do the training.
BE the teammate that you want your students to emulate. BE the student you want your students, children, friends, to be. BE the man or woman you want to be. BE the “master teacher” in training? Be the ULTIMATE STUDENT. Be the ULTIMATE BLACK BELT.
That’s all you have to do.
Tom Callos
How
The UBBT is about accomplishing the gigantic, by breaking it down into little, bite-sized pieces. This is how one of your students becomes a black belt, becomes a doctor, becomes an engineer, becomes a great mother, father, friend, inventor –or what-have-you.
This is how YOU become a “master of the martial arts” ---which, in this day and age, seems like an impossible feat (Where are our role models? What are the standards?). By engaging in the DAILY training/learning requirements of the UBBT, you demonstrate to your students, and to yourself, exactly how one works on himself ---how one creates transformation, in any form, in one’s life.
All you have to do is get up and TRAIN; keep track of what you do; THINK “out of the dojo” ---and ACT like the teammate and student you want your students to be –your children to be –your mate to be --your friends to be –your employees to be. All you have to do is LIVE with passion and purpose and vision and SELF-DISCIPLINE.
And, most of all, two things:
1. Work on your attitude –by studying THE MASTERS and the work of masters.
2. No matter how hard it is, no matter how many times you drop the ball ---you get back on track and never, ever, ever quit. You don’t fail when you try –you fail when you fail to try.
Why You Do the UBBT
We’re doing the UBBT because there is something wrong with the martial arts “world.” We, collectively, are not reaching our potential. We are not fulfilling the promise of all the training –and the philosophy of the martial arts. We are living, for lack of a better term, a lie.
We are doing the UBBT because there is something wrong in the world. We, collectively, are not reaching our potential as human beings. We are not fulfilling the promise of all the abundance and philosophy in the world –we have become mired in life, so much so that we have nearly forgotten how to live.
The training is our car. The martial arts is our vehicle. The journey is for meaning, method, purpose, passion, and most of all –for clarity and enlightenment. Can we transcend the mundane? Can we wade through the advertising, the sex appeal, the trivial, the gossip, the ignorance, the misunderstandings, the mis-information, the anger, the FEAR, the aggression, the apathy, and see the simple? Can we find our center? Can we be Buddha? Christ? The Dalai Lama? Mother Theresa? Albert Einstein? Rosa Parks? Or anyone that holds the image and the ideals that move us? Can we make a difference in the world? Are we connected –or disconnected? Are we one? Is it our job to live as an example for others? What is The Way?
In the UBBT, in a perfect world, each participant would, literally, be “on a quest to be her best” ---a slogan we’ve all uttered, which is utterly meaningless unless embraced on a “cellular” level. But forget the UBBT –it’s not this program’s objectives you/we strive for, it’s LIFE’S objectives –it’s striving to be a fully conscious, aware, evolved, compassionate human being; that’s all we’re trying to be. To connect, through study and self-discipline, and ritual, and effort, and focus –to those things that keep us learning, asking, contributing, and growing.
In the UBBT, as in life, as in your school, as in your business, as in your thinking, whatever is difficult is your teacher. All the reasons you can’t –are why you must. All of your obstacles are your opportunities. All of your excuses are your enemies –is your thinking –is your downfall –is your education.
The UBBT has given you a very public forum with which to live out the drama of YOU trying to find purpose and clarity ---and most of all, to prove yourself as both student and teacher and man or woman –but that’s no difference than “life” –is it?
To succeed at the UBBT you train. You study. You learn. You get up off your ass, no matter how many times you get knocked on it. You learn from the masters. You don’t give in to excuses, you make solutions. You contribute. And TEACHER…You teach (thru your actions).
For the next year: There is a curriculum, which is very flexible. Get on it. Break it down into bite-sized pieces. Make everything a lesson (for yourself, your students, your community). Be one of the FEW who actually get up and DO something. DO the curriculum. Do the activities. DO the projects. Do the acts of kindness. DO the diet. Do the training.
BE the teammate that you want your students to emulate. BE the student you want your students, children, friends, to be. BE the man or woman you want to be. BE the “master teacher” in training? Be the ULTIMATE STUDENT. Be the ULTIMATE BLACK BELT.
That’s all you have to do.
Tom Callos
Friday, August 18, 2006
We Have Only Just Begun
Good morning UBBT and 100 Teams:
Know that whatever it is we are doing --whatever stance and/or actions we have taken --that we have only just begun.
Our understanding of mastery of peace of activism of making a difference in the world of compassion of love of the martial arts themselves ----all of this is in development. It's to become clearer as we age --as we experience --as we aim and push and pull and move towards The Way (whatever that is for you).
Note too that all of the above --these are the things that make your business FLY. It's not the promotions --it's not the systems --it's not your employee handbook, your sign, your location, your understanding of rotating curriculum ----it's your ability to live as if you were on a heroic journey --it's your striving for compassion and to be authentic --to be clear and participative.
MOST OF ALL it is your understanding that you are a TEACHER --and a student.
Maybe that's: STUDENT/TEACHER?
Steps to take (for those of you searching for business tips/direction):
1. Establish your MISSION. After the mission is clear --I mean as clear as your own face in the mirror, then how you communicate this MISSION TV mechanical (ads, tv, radio, demos, fliers, posters, etc.)
2. Make a product that EVERYONE NEEDS. And when you make it, create something that people can see and hear and feel immediate results with. Communicate that message in such a way as it drives it to the soul --to the guts --beyond the rational mind.
The rational mind understands "two-for-one" --and "summer special" and "50% off" and all of that. The guts feel genuine caring, compassion, love, empathy, and deep concern for the human condition.
3. The best thing you will ever do (in my opinion) is to sow the seeds of ACTIVISM (as in "taking action on those things you care about --those things you see that need doing") in your students. Imagine if you could inspire people to take action to improve the quality of their own lives --and then to their fellow man --and the world). That's something that should keep you VERY busy, very relevant, and in a mode where your work is your life's work (not just a job or the work you do to buy the things/experiences you really want to do).
More tips:
A. Return to the organic. Take as much of the plastic, the in-organic, the fake ---OUT of your school. Return to nature --and if you have to live some of your life in a box under florescent lights, then bring as much of nature in it as you can.
Choose organic colors, GO GREEN with your entire scene (green as in eco-friendly), bring the wood (salvaged and/or sustainable) into your school --bring plants, bring light and air.
Go ahead, try it! See what happens to the "feel" of your school.
Become a "Peaceful Warrior." Explore peace in all of it's forms. Remember when (for those of you who have been in the "industry" for some time) we were urging you to keep your statistics and adopt a 3-lesson introductory? Well, this is 100 times more important to your business future than any of that --you just can't see it yet.
Oh there's a LOT more --but let's start with these things, first.
Why? The future of our industry --and the quality of your awareness --and the genuine pursuit of some kind of personal mastery beyond the "business" of the martial arts ---beyond style and technique.
We have only just begun. How exciting!
Tom Callos
Know that whatever it is we are doing --whatever stance and/or actions we have taken --that we have only just begun.
Our understanding of mastery of peace of activism of making a difference in the world of compassion of love of the martial arts themselves ----all of this is in development. It's to become clearer as we age --as we experience --as we aim and push and pull and move towards The Way (whatever that is for you).
Note too that all of the above --these are the things that make your business FLY. It's not the promotions --it's not the systems --it's not your employee handbook, your sign, your location, your understanding of rotating curriculum ----it's your ability to live as if you were on a heroic journey --it's your striving for compassion and to be authentic --to be clear and participative.
MOST OF ALL it is your understanding that you are a TEACHER --and a student.
Maybe that's: STUDENT/TEACHER?
Steps to take (for those of you searching for business tips/direction):
1. Establish your MISSION. After the mission is clear --I mean as clear as your own face in the mirror, then how you communicate this MISSION TV mechanical (ads, tv, radio, demos, fliers, posters, etc.)
2. Make a product that EVERYONE NEEDS. And when you make it, create something that people can see and hear and feel immediate results with. Communicate that message in such a way as it drives it to the soul --to the guts --beyond the rational mind.
The rational mind understands "two-for-one" --and "summer special" and "50% off" and all of that. The guts feel genuine caring, compassion, love, empathy, and deep concern for the human condition.
3. The best thing you will ever do (in my opinion) is to sow the seeds of ACTIVISM (as in "taking action on those things you care about --those things you see that need doing") in your students. Imagine if you could inspire people to take action to improve the quality of their own lives --and then to their fellow man --and the world). That's something that should keep you VERY busy, very relevant, and in a mode where your work is your life's work (not just a job or the work you do to buy the things/experiences you really want to do).
More tips:
A. Return to the organic. Take as much of the plastic, the in-organic, the fake ---OUT of your school. Return to nature --and if you have to live some of your life in a box under florescent lights, then bring as much of nature in it as you can.
Choose organic colors, GO GREEN with your entire scene (green as in eco-friendly), bring the wood (salvaged and/or sustainable) into your school --bring plants, bring light and air.
Go ahead, try it! See what happens to the "feel" of your school.
Become a "Peaceful Warrior." Explore peace in all of it's forms. Remember when (for those of you who have been in the "industry" for some time) we were urging you to keep your statistics and adopt a 3-lesson introductory? Well, this is 100 times more important to your business future than any of that --you just can't see it yet.
Oh there's a LOT more --but let's start with these things, first.
Why? The future of our industry --and the quality of your awareness --and the genuine pursuit of some kind of personal mastery beyond the "business" of the martial arts ---beyond style and technique.
We have only just begun. How exciting!
Tom Callos
Monday, August 14, 2006
The Peace Book
http://web.mac.com/toddworld/iWeb/Site%203/Toddcast/238F77DD-9B5E-4DBA-8DD6-E31CA0859B30.html
Teams,
The link you see above is to Artist/Author Todd Parr's site --and a "Todd-Cast" where he reads his book, "The PEACE BOOK."
Not only do I like Todd's website, but I think this book addresses peace in a way that is easy and relevant. One of our (I mean, my) projects is to define what an "act of peace" is --as we can't really have an acts-of-peace program if we can't explain how to perform one (well, a LOT more than one).
Todd covers plenty of ground in his handsome little book --and he writes for a young audience that we also entertain in our schools.
Part of our (did I mean, My?) peace project is to define what a "Peace Education Center" is ---as you know, I'm asking each one of The 100 schools (ok, honestly? I'm asking everyone who is a fan of my work --or at all embraces the UBBT /100 / Acts of Kindness concepts) to embrace peace education in a powerful, proactive, and productive way ---and make his or her school a center for Peace Education....
Of course, I have to define what a "Peace Education Center" is ----and I've yet to do that...except to say that we talk about peace from a broad perspective --kind of like Todd. Having a large library of Peace books and films is a good start...and I'd like to suggest that you add Todd's book to your reading list (listen-list too)...
Today I'm reading Pema Chodron's book, Practicing Peace in Times of War --kindly sent to me by Shambala Press.
Anyway, visit Todd's site and see how we can start, very slowly, to make a difference in people's lives by embracing peace --no matter what kind of clothes it wears.
Tom
Teams,
The link you see above is to Artist/Author Todd Parr's site --and a "Todd-Cast" where he reads his book, "The PEACE BOOK."
Not only do I like Todd's website, but I think this book addresses peace in a way that is easy and relevant. One of our (I mean, my) projects is to define what an "act of peace" is --as we can't really have an acts-of-peace program if we can't explain how to perform one (well, a LOT more than one).
Todd covers plenty of ground in his handsome little book --and he writes for a young audience that we also entertain in our schools.
Part of our (did I mean, My?) peace project is to define what a "Peace Education Center" is ---as you know, I'm asking each one of The 100 schools (ok, honestly? I'm asking everyone who is a fan of my work --or at all embraces the UBBT /100 / Acts of Kindness concepts) to embrace peace education in a powerful, proactive, and productive way ---and make his or her school a center for Peace Education....
Of course, I have to define what a "Peace Education Center" is ----and I've yet to do that...except to say that we talk about peace from a broad perspective --kind of like Todd. Having a large library of Peace books and films is a good start...and I'd like to suggest that you add Todd's book to your reading list (listen-list too)...
Today I'm reading Pema Chodron's book, Practicing Peace in Times of War --kindly sent to me by Shambala Press.
Anyway, visit Todd's site and see how we can start, very slowly, to make a difference in people's lives by embracing peace --no matter what kind of clothes it wears.
Tom
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Out of the Dojo and into the World
I am not the first martial artist to engage in activism. I am, however, taking credit for the term "martial arts activist." It is my new "title" --and one I will gladly wear.
Becoming a martial arts activist and embracing activism, in one way or another --and as my primary focus, has deepened my ability to feel compassion, broadened my perspective of the world, and created a more profound purpose to my life.
I no longer separate the study and practice of the martial arts with the study and practice of living as a conscious and compassionate human being. When I say “martial arts,” I think "life." When I say “martial artist,” I think "human being."
The greatest teachers, regardless of the discipline, teach that we are all connected. Beyond race, religion, gender, geography, sexual preference, wealth or lack thereof --we are all one. The martial arts, as with life, is about opening and expanding one’s awareness. It is about recognizing the interdependence between all things, the micro and the macro, the left and the right.
I believe that it is our job, each of us, to live as an example to others. I feel a sense of responsibility to actively participate in the transformation of consciousness and behavior in the martial arts community --and subsequently, in the world.
I am asking other martial arts teachers to become activists too. We must engage with our communities, educate ourselves, and help alleviate the fear, ignorance, and prejudice which are often associated with our global emergencies --such as incurable diseases, abuse, poverty, sexual exploitation, and environmental destruction, to name only a few. Without our compassion, interest, time, money, voice, intelligence, or whatever we have to offer, change cannot happen --and tragically, fear, pain, discrimination, violence, and even death is perpetuated.
The 100 (http://www.onehundred.org/) is part of my contribution to these ideas.
(Special thanks to yoga teacher Seane Corn for helping me find the right words to express my ideas and feelings)
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