Your Students Become Limited By Your Limits

On the whole –and I speak for myself here too, we ask very little of ourselves. We do very little for our fellow man. We are absorbed in our business, in our things, in our personal drama, and in our desire (conscious or unconscious) to conform.

As “martial arts masters” –and in general, there is absolutely NO CALL to rise, no call to perform, no call to unite or make change or DO ANYTHING.

Our profession asks very, very little of us.

We have no physical “standards” of performance.

We have no reading or educational requirements.

We have no expectations of activism, involvement, and/or anything that borders on “work for humanity.”

There is no martial arts master-teacher’s journal or magazine speaking out against violence or war or consumerism –or for peace or social consciousness or advanced education or even higher standards of performance.

I think that our “industry” –that is, the business entities that survive on our commerce, the business entities that provide most of us with the tools we think we need to achieve “success,” --promotes a superficial, politically inoffensive, dumbed-down set of standards for martial arts teachers.











For the most part, the men and women who seem to be leading the “martial arts industry” are cemented into a 20th Century definition of success –the success of hoarding wealth, of driving it, of living in it, of wearing it on your wrist, of shopping for it, and of using it as a measure of achievement and quality of life.





Personally, every hero I look up to in my life, both living and no longer living, have asked me in one way or another to refocus my thinking from accumulating overt wealth to accumulating the tools to make a difference for my fellow man.

The more deeply I look at my practice the more simple my needs become.

SO, let this note be a call to you.

Are you a teacher? Are you on a path seeking some sort of “mastery?”

Are you willing to step up, this year, now, and fix that which needs to be fixed?

Will you explore with me, for the coming year, a new definition of “martial artist?”

Of “master teacher?”

I am calling you to be a part of a revolution in thinking and action. I am looking for 50 teachers who are willing to ask more of themselves ---so much more of themselves that they risk inspiring the next generation of martial arts teachers. I’m looking for 50 teachers who would be willing to bring along 20 students each –so that we collect 1000 men and women for a one-year action-oriented exploration of a new kind of martial arts –for a new world.

We will get fit; we will do more than one-million acts of kindness; we will do 1000 community-based projects; we will simplify; use less –and enjoy MORE. We will connect with people who don’t live near us physically, but who we join with emotionally –and in recognition of our collective influence.

For the Ultimate Black Belt Test 6 I’m looking for 50 teachers who will “Proceed and BE Bold” with nothing more than a connection to the Internet –and the willingness to take LOTS of action, personally, with and for others, for the “martial arts industry,” and for the world.

I’m calling you out –to join one of the few, if not the only, martial arts movement of its kind in the world. With your help, we can establish a new set of standards for what it to be –and live as –a black belt and a master teacher in today’s world.

Tom Callos 530-903-0286

It’s Time to Upgrade Your Idea of the Black Belt

It’s Time to Upgrade Your Idea of the Black Belt

by Tom Callos

Last year’s model was great. It’s a classic. We’ll never build them like that again! But this year’s model takes advantage of all the technology, all the learning we’ve done, all the mistakes we’ve made, all of the road-testing and repairs, and it’s designed, specifically, to deal with the world as it is today (and my, haven’t things changed!).

Nobody has to tell you that the world is a fast changing place. I just saw a video on YouTube of an anthropologist studying YouTube, who said that in just 6 months time there was more video loaded there than all of the TV programming created since the first television program aired in the 1950’s. Wow.

In the martial arts, some things have changed, dramatically, and some have not. One of the areas that I feel has not evolved enough in the martial arts is what it takes to earn, wear, and “be” a black belt.

Just the other day I watched a class in a martial arts school that was exactly like watching a black and white rerun of a TV show I first saw in 1971. The teacher was using the exact same methods, terminology, material, and class structure that I experienced when I started my first lessons in taekowndo in 1971. Now back then I thought it was all very cool. But now, 38 years later, I recognize it as not very cool, or practical, or even very refined. It might be “old school,” but it didn’t represent a school, in my opinion, that reflects the many years of growth, development, ideas, and education that have transpired since then.

What is a black belt?

No, the question should be, “What is the potential of a black belt?” It’s not what is that needs the most attention, it is what could be –if we changed our approach, intelligently redesigned our materials and methods, and modernized our expectations for being a black belt.

How does one prepare for the black belt test? What is the curriculum? And is it all physical? Does it all take place on the mat? Do we, as teachers, have the ability to teach our students to take their martial arts “out of the dojo and into the world?” And is there a way to measure, quantify, and record this process?

I am deeply involved in the 6^th year of an experiment, a “project,” specifically designed to revolutionize the what, where, and how of black belt testing in the world. The program is called the Ultimate Black Belt Test (UBBT). It is less of a “program” fixed in stone than it is a flexible and dynamic experiment to see what happens when we dramatically change our thinking and approach to testing for –and living as –a black belt.

The UBBT is, in my opinion, less of a black belt test and more of a Master Teacher’s training course; the first of its kind in the world. It is an experiential course that requires the participant to walk the talk of his or her martial arts, but far more importantly, it requires the participant to be a better, more cognizant, participative, compassionate human being.

Here is an excerpt of an interview that I did with What is Enlightenment? magazine that defines how I think about the rank of black belt:

What Is Enlightenment: What is the Ultimate Black Belt Test?

Tom Callos: The Ultimate Black Belt Test is a hero's journey—exodus, epiphany, and return—and passing it requires a physical, mental, and spiritual transformation ... Preparing for and taking a black belt test should be like preparing for the Olympic Games: win or lose, you are shaped by it. You go for it, full out. You hold yourself to the highest standards. You step out on the line and reach for a sliver of perfection.... To me, being a black belt is more than a physical experience. Yes, a black belt should be able to execute precise, effective, beautiful, and technically proficient martial arts techniques, whatever the style. But just as importantly, a black belt should be able to execute precise and beautiful ideas, equal to or better than their physical techniques. A black belt should have an attitude equal in its brilliance to his or her physical skills. What makes a master is not physical skill alone but mental clarity, emotional maturity, and spiritual awareness.

To read more about the UBBT and/or to see a film made on the project by Academy Award Winning filmmaker Nancy Walzog, visit www.ultimateblackbelttest.com.

The 13 month + UBBT 6 has begun, cut off for enrollment is January of 2009. I’m looking for a group of black belts, serious, career-oriented martial arts practitioners, who are interested in being in a project that’s intent is to change the martial arts world –and THE world –for the better.

It's time we re-design what it is to be a black belt in today's world. The UBBT is a training program for people who want to have a say in the best way to make that happen.

Tom Callos