The Nobel Peace Prize

To the Members and Friends of KAMA, From Tom Callos, Following the Los Angeles Convention:

I have to tell you I enjoyed myself this last weekend, spending time with KAMA members and sharing ideas. As often happens at seminars, we hear all kinds of good things, but soon after forget about them as "life" once again steps heavily on the gas pedal.

For that reason, allow me, if you will, to remind you about some of what we discussed –and offer a couple of "follow-up" suggestions:

Anger Management Training

Go to www.angercoachonline.com and click on the training program for martial arts teachers. It's a brand new program –and I want to convince you that is represents the highest level of intelligent, benefit-driven education in the martial arts world. This isn't some slick strategy for increasing your gross income, this is wisdom and tradition wrapped in education. Let's OWN anger management training in our respective communities. Let's arm children with the tools they need to make the world, truly, "a better and more peaceful place." Dr. Tony has agreed to extend the KAMA event discount to Friday of this coming week. Call me if you need help registering –or if you would like to discuss any sort of strategy for using anger control training to your advantage.

The Ultimate Black Belt Test

The UBBT is the future of black belt testing –of all testing. Ask yourself this: Is your black belt test the ultimate? If not, what would make it so? And why would you not do something that made your testing, your training, your martial arts better, more relevant (to the world as it is today), and more important?

Are you restricted because of tradition? Are you afraid that change will make the end product less powerful? Less important?

Are you in a "comfort zone" of testing and training methods?

Whether you choose to engage in this grand experiment or not, it is time to reevaluate, re-design, and re-engineer the what, why, how, who, and when of black belt testing. The world needs help –and we can provide it. Call me if you want to talk about how to make your martial arts transcend the current status quo. Tom Callos 530-903-0286.

The Kukiwon and Taekwondo in General

To the Grandmasters and Masters who attended the event, I would like your help in securing a meeting with those people in the governing body of Taekwondo who would be willing to open a discussion about how we might collectively craft a new and/or altered mission for Taekwondo in the world.

Taekwondo put its sights on the Olympic Games –and succeeded in making it happen. Could Taekwondo also secure a Nobel Peace Prize for its work in the world? Could the millions of followers of this art take action in a way that could make the world a better and more peaceful place?

There is a literal Taekwondo army out there in the world; could the leadership of Taekwondo use this army for something amazing, something spectacular? Could we accomplish a billion recorded acts of kindness in 12 months? Could we implement a peace education program and reach a million youth? Could we take Taekwondo out of the dojang and into the world in a way that no sports activity, no martial art has ever done before?

If it is within our "realm of possibilities" --then why not?

We inspire people all over this planet to do millions and millions of techniques –every day/week/month/year. Could we also ask them for something else? What if we took on environmental education, diabetes, dietary self-defense, peace education, and/or anger management? With technology as it is today, how hard would it be to talk to and convince Taekwondo practitioners worldwide to put their training into action for the world?

Could KAMA start this movement?

If you are politically connected in a way that can offer ANY help in this matter –if you can help facilitate a discussion and/or meeting about the possibility of Taekwondo being connected to a new kind of world strategy, please don't hesitate to contact me; this is just the kind of project I would like to invest my energy in.

Thank you again for the privilege of being able to share time and ideas with you!

Your friend,

Tom Callos