On the UBBT's Eco-Adventure

(Each year I take the members of the Ultimate Black Belt Test on a 3 or 4 day Eco-Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail outside of Lake Tahoe, CA)

We are going into the Sierra’s for a number of reasons…and I promote this event purposely and with intent (not because it’s easy or convenient or because “we have to do something”).

I truly believe that being close to nature, connecting, turning off the virtual world, and being close to the earth, to trees, and sleeping under the stars is something we need to stay sane. If you could “get” the value of these things, you would, I believe, be that much better of a teacher, leader, and inspiration to others.

The chance to do these things and create the time to talk with you, to give you the opportunity to mix and connect –and to do it all without the wiz and hum of cell-phones, air conditioners, i-pods, car stereos, servants, TV’s, bars, convention center lighting, gift shops, slot machines, and on and on –it’s perfect.

If I somehow motivated you to take your students, periodically, into the outdoors…that you would somehow tie in a “martial arts education” to connecting, at least occasionally, with nature…well, then what a feather in my cap! What a gift that would be.

That’s part of what I’m doing. I’m showing you what I think is important ---and I’m hoping you say to yourself, “yeah, this is good” ---and then implement it as a part of the education you provide for all of those people who so look up to you.

Simplicity is a common theme in my writing and work ---but how to practice it? How do we get in touch with it? How do we let go, even just for a day or two, with all of the crud we have encumbered ourselves with?

This trip does some of that –and a bonus is that we’re not trekking across Death Valley…this area we go to is beautiful ---and still looks like America looked when your father’s great-great grandfather was working on his methods for making a living on the planet.

We have, some of us, forgotten the power of nature to clear the slate and clean the soul.

Forget "Karate", MMA is The Ultimate!

Forget your karate, your taekwondo, your aikido, your gung fu, your jiu-jitsu, your kenpo; mixed martial arts is the ULTIMATE!

Mixed Martial Arts –In Perspective

By Tom Callos

Mixed martial arts is the perfect art for the space it occupies. I mean, why not use what works when it’s needed? Why not forget a style’s country of origin, it’s founder, it’s history, it’s lineage? Who really cares what art a technique is from?

Hey, if the kick works, if the choke chokes, if the punch lands, who could ask for more? When you’re in the octagon or any fighting ring, you’re on the spot -there’s no time for history or philosophy, there’s only time to do what you’ve come to do.

I love mixed martial arts for its efficiency, for its no-nonsense approach, for its adaptability, and for its lack of baggage. It is the ultimate martial art for the 625-square-feet of space that makes up a 25’ x 25’ ring.

The only thing is, and it’s worthy to note: Life does not take place in the octagon. The rules of MMA practice and fighting, the whole UFC fight thing, well…it’s made for the ring.

Life is, yeah, BIGGER! Life is...

Life is REALLY BIG!

The rules that work so well in the octagon or in ANY ring, don't apply to the big ol' world. No, for the world, to live here in peace, to let our children grow up and love, live, reach, enjoy, and prosper, there are lots, and lots, and lots of other things they need to know.

This then, all you "karate teachers" (replace "karate with your style, system, method, etc.), is a wake up call (if you need one).

If you're going to define your art with "fighting" in the first paragraph of your description of what you do, then you have limited your overall value (to the tune of about 625 square feet).

If you realize YOUR playing field in the world (read: large!) --and teach accordingly, then your style will go on, will prosper, will have value, and will make a difference (in a much larger and, dare I say, more relevant way).

If your primary focus is kicking, punching, grappling, etc. -well, it's your choice isn't it? It doesn't make you bad or weak or anything, that is except less valuable to the world.

Teach more than fighting; redefine your mission; create a new INTENT.

Message to the UBBT Teams and Members of the 100, following the MAIA Supershow:

MMA has Landed.

The UBBT concept is, I think, especially vital –now that MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) has permeated everyone’s consciousness. MMA isn’t new, as it’s what all the masters practiced before they did what they did best --and followers wrote those ideas in stone.
MMA is here, now, vital, and it’s the culmination of years of effort from masters of many styles.

The UBBT however, is ULTRA-MMA, and not just in the realm of fighting.

Our curriculum engages boxing, BJJ, fitness training, traditional practices, and reality-based self-defense training, all components of MMA—but, as you know, we go way beyond the physical. We embrace meditation (and if you’ve done as instructed, you have already studied with a master), empathy and kindness training (character development), education (interviewing a master, reading, profiling 10 living heroes, journaling as leadership), and community involvement (environmental clean up, Alabama project, 50,000 acts of kindness project).

The 100 is my attempt to get “clients” and members to focus on Project Based Leadership Training and both environmental and peace activism in a way that enhances the education your school provides, opens up new promotional opportunities, and helps create a truly unique selling proposition for each school.

All of these ideas, for our little “industry,” are terribly (or wonderfully) radical and way, WAY ahead of their time. BUT, in the broadest sense, this is ULTIMATE MMA (if you view the martial arts as more than a sport or method of physical self-defense/combat).

MMA is built upon taking the best-of-the-best martial arts techniques from wherever they happen to come from, and blending them in a way that has nothing to do with politics, country of origin, or style. What works, works, what doesn’t is placed in another catagory. What we’re doing is exactly the same thing, but in a more holistic way.

Definition of Holistic:

ho·lis·tic [ hō lístik ] 1. analyzing whole system of beliefs: characterized by the view that a whole system of beliefs must be analyzed rather than simply its individual components.

Early on, Mike Valentine, the first person to join the UBBT, said that he thought the UBBT would be most effective (as a tool for change and business improvement) if participants took their physical martial arts training to the highest level. Being in top shape, actually being “good”, and being able to show a level of physical mastery would, for the martial arts community, demonstrate that we were striving for a healthy balance.

I agree, but I can’t get you in shape –I can only point the way and encourage you. My suggestion: Practice like this is your Olympics. Do that, and at next year’s Supershow, you will find yourself a part of those leading the pack.

UBBT Alabama / M Project UPDATE

One of the Most Interesting, but underrated accomplishments of the Ultimate Black Belt Test Team 4 (with help from other teams, as always and as it should be) is its work in Alabama with Pam Dorr, the Rural Studio, and in preparation for John Bielenberg and his PROJECT M.
The teams raised $40,000 to partially renovate two historic buildings in Greensboro, Alabama --structures to be used to launch art programs for local youth --AND to house the amazing PROJECT M.

I don't think most team members realize what we did --and who it is impacting.

It all began with our relationship with Pam Dorr --who I contacted because of my interest in the great teacher Sam Mockbee.

Then I read a story about Mockbee's influence on another amazing teacher (in another field), John Bielenberg. Project M --a radically different sort of training program for graphic designers, artists, writers, photographers, is in part named after Mockbee.

I e-mailed John about our work in Alabama --and asked if he'd like to participate in some way --and that lead to conversations with Pam Dorr --which lead to our plan to renovate a place for visiting artists, groups, etc. to come to in Greensboro --which lead to Project M actually coming to Greensboro.

Oh, and let me tell you a secret: I want to be a teacher like Mockbee and Bielenberg --in the martial arts world.

So, in part, because of our work in Alabama, we have formed a bridge between some seemingly disparate fields (architecture, art, design, martial arts), and become a part of a large family of dynamic people who are, in the end, all doing the same kind of work:

Inspiration; education; awareness; creativity; community activism; leadership training ---which, in my mind, all point to a very sophisticated and essential form of self-defense.

Good work Teams. Thank you to everyone who worked, raised money, fell off roofs, made films, and generally got down and dirty for this vision. Thank you to Jason and Claire, who came all the way from the UK to help. Thank you to Nancy for her amazing films. Thank you to all the schools who raised money. Thank you to Hal for his engineering advice and work. Thank you to Pam Dorr for allowing us to participate. Thank you to all the Mom's and Dads, Hal and John Miller, and Chris Natzke, and all that I've missed, for bringing your children into our work --they don't know what they played a role in, yet.

Thank you to everyone on the team who helped do something remarkable --without much praise, with very little fanfare, and with some healthy bumps and bruises. We left a mark there --thanks to you!

The links below talk a bit about the project --and show some pictures of the houses:

http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/field_trip/project_m_at_the_rural_studio_heats_up_61220.asp

http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/field_trip/a_rural_studio_tour_61238.asp

http://projectm07.blogspot.com/2007/06/yee-haw.html

http://projectm07.blogspot.com/

Tom Callos
530-903-0286

Martial Arts Answers for a Filmmaker (FYI)

A filmmaker, whose name must remain a secret, sent me the following questions in regards to a feature film in-the-works...

Hi Tom, Getting down to business, what I am really looking for is information re. the following aspects of martial arts:

What is the founding philosophy for marital arts and the core values that it aims to maintain and sustain in individuals? Would you consider martial arts a means to creating goodness in the world? and how?What is the form/type of martial arts that is most suited to a woman's physique, energy and mentality? Which types do women tend to pioneer in? etc.

I guess that is a start for now, I am also reading numerous books and looking at varied resources but wanted to get the organic knowledge from someone with as much expertise as yourself. Very briefly, my feature film (which I can not really say a lot about at the moment) but is about women superheroes! That is the most I can say for now. I trust you will understand. We maybe shooting in Austin too!! Hope you are great Tom.Thanks,

Ok ______, Thanks…and good luck!

Here are my answers:

What is the founding philosophy for marital arts and the core values that it aims to maintain and sustain in individuals?

There is nothing about the founding of the martial arts –or its core philosophy, that isn’t easily understood or recognized about "life" in general. Think of Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs…first you satisfy hunger, shelter, companionship, and at the highest levels self-actualization and community contribution.

So too is it with martial arts.

Most people, now and historically, first started "practicing" martial "stuff" out of the basic need for protection…then came health, another form of protection, then came the expression of art, game, community, the search for mental clarity (peace) ---and all of the things you and I (human beings) think about when they’re not fighting the life-and-death struggle.

When you think of "martial arts" think "LIFE." When you say "martial artist", say HUMAN BEING. To be a martial arts master is embarrassingly easy ---being a solid, contributing, compassionate, empathetic, whole human being ---now THAT is hard work.

To be a martial artist is to have a self-defense consciousness (coined by my wife)…and "self-defense" is holistic –and not reserved for defense from physical attack alone. Follow me?

Oh, and I should mention, to be a "warrior" is easy. Pick up a weapon and kill. It is returning to be a whole human being, once you have faced the brutality of war, that is hard. People who want to be warriors have not, I think, experienced the horrible stupidity and uselessness of real war; the death of children, innocent and wide-eyed…the death of women who could have been their mothers…fathers who wanted no more than to watch their children play. People who aspire to a warrior attitude are not thinking clearly –as there is nothing about murder that feeds the soul or makes us better human beings.

If you are depicting people or super-heroes who are warriors, depict the understanding that consciousness and clarity, in this regard, is the highest form of "martial art." To lose the need and desire to fight. That is, at least at this time in my life, how I understand it.

Would you consider martial arts a means to creating goodness in the world? and how?

The martial arts, practiced diligently and with the right frame of mind ---like many things, has the potential to bring the practitioner to a centered, balanced, healthy, compassionate place.

If anger, as is said, comes from a place of fear –then the practice of the martial arts helps the practitioner overcome fear –to face fear (not just the fear of attack, but the fear of how one might feel if he or she "loses face" or feels intimidated or less-than or of losing something irreplaceable), then it is good for the world…as people do stupid things when they operate from a place of fear.

The practice of the martial arts does not bring enlightenment –just as "living" does not bring about enlightenment. There are just as many dysfunctional martial arts practitioners as there are dysfunctional human beings. What the martial arts has the potential to do, is make a person physically fit…which lends itself, for some, to mental and emotional fitness.

It is, above all else the PRACTICE of controlling one’s fear, the PRACTICE of staying clear headed under pressure, the PRACTICE of facing opponents without unjustified fear, the PRACTICE of moving the body in a way that deescalates conflict, minimizes the need for it –or its effects, it is in the quest to become clear –that one reaps the benefits of the practice of the martial arts. This idea is in everything –golf, the tea ceremony, the mountain climber…these are universal concepts.

Practice is where the value is. One doesn’t achieve "mastery", one practices the acts and concepts of mastery.

Martial arts is the car –not the trip. Martial arts are, primarily, about self-control…and self-awareness. Someone who exercises self-control –and who has a heightened sense of self-awareness OUGHT to function better as a human being. Someone who is highly self-aware, is then, I think, highly aware of the same ideas in his or her fellow human beings. That is good for the world, no?

Where martial arts might (or might not) be a more direct path to creating goodness, is directly related to the philosophy of the teacher…and "goodness" philosophy isn’t a martial arts thing…it is a very human thing. The wisest martial artists (human beings), look for teachers in everything –they look for the universal truths…not the one’s with specific labels of origin.
Martial arts is neither smart nor dumb, neither good or bad.

The Korean proverb is: The cow and the snake drink from the same pond ---the cow makes milk, the snake makes poison.

What is the form/type of martial arts that is most suited to a woman's physique, energy and mentality? Which types do women tend to pioneer in? etc.

Well, tough question, as women, like men, come in all shapes and sizes. Best to look, at least part of the time, at martial arts "styles" like state or country lines. Is there really a line between California and Nevada?

No…

and there’s really not that big of difference in style or system of martial arts for the advanced practitioner. Some styles or systems might argue that point –but most of their stuff is what is called "branding" ---they’re making borders and rules that don’t exist in the real world. Bruce Lee’s philosophy in the Tao of JKD, is the right approach: "way as no way, no way as way." (actually, it’s "Using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation")

All that being said, women with less muscle than men, use martial arts techniques that don’t require superior strength. All martial arts have something of this as a part of their stuff…
And remember, empty handed fighting is a last resort…a weapon is almost always superior to no weapon. A woman with the right weapon, is (can be) as capable as a man or animal twice her size…or more.

Note too, that martial arts that are primarily sport related, like much of taekwondo and judo –are practicing with "rules of the game." These rules govern what they can or can’t do (or what they primarily focus on in practice). A warrior fighting a life and death struggle has no rules (I’m hypothesizing) except to survive.

Tom

Cetificates of Gradutation for Team's 1 and 2

Here are the certificates from UBBT Team 1 and 2. Team 1's certificate was made by the famous poster artist Dirk Fowler. We did a firewalk on Team 1's graduation --and the poster represents the tranformation and rebirth of the testing process.

Team 2 had their poster designed by team member Patti Oji, an accomplished artist (and one tough black belt).

Graduate Certificate for UBBT Team 3

Well teams, this is one fine piece of art --created by Kim Christian, Dan Rominski's artistically gifted better half. This found and/or organic-object collage is a rendition of a photograph of a rock sculpture I did on the beach at Waipio Valley when team 3 was there for their eco-adventure. A rock sculpture is, to me, about balance --and about impermanence...two fine subjects for martial arts teachers to meditate on.

This is the 3rd certificate in the "black belt certificates as art" series...and my goal was to commission artists to make black belt certificates that were first recognized for their unique theme and beauty...and then only after that as an actual certificate.

In that we were all there at Waipio (one of the rocks is made up of a journal entry I made about my first visit to Waipio when I moved to Hawaii), and that we played hard on this beach (a couple of injuries too --and we almost lost John M.), AND that we moved about 6 ton of lava-rock at Jason Scott Lee's place there...well, it's the perfect piece.

Thank you to Kim and Dan! I am making a video on the making of this piece....which will be meant to accompany your certificate.
If you, after two years, actually MAKE it to the graduation, you will receive one of them.

Tom

Martial Arts Business Info (ala Tom Callos)

Short range; medium range; and long range –as martial artists we all understand the implications of these three distances when addressing a fight. Different techniques work at different ranges, period.

The idea of the three ranges could be expressed in three concentric circles, like in this picture:



But, the FIGHT is not any one of the circles, the fight is all of the ranges together –and each range is as important as the other in the context of a match. If you only work in one range you might find yourself in trouble if your opponent doesn’t give you the space you require. It is best to develop tools for all the ranges --and of course, that is stating the obvious, but the point is as follows:

Business is like this too.

You need to develop business and management skills that operate from any “distance” that relates to conducting a profitable and rewarding business (note: profitability is a factor of a rewarding business, but what profitability means depends on your own definition, goals, ambitions, needs, etc.).

The Inner Circle
Let’s say that the inner circle represents one aspect of your business, the basics. The basics are made of basic business protocol: appearance, cleanliness, procedures for greeting potential or current customers, dress codes, phone answering, client and prospect follow up, payroll, advertising and promotion, taxes, maintenance, profit and loss statements, etc. Very important stuff –and well-documented in the martial arts industry.

The Middle Circle
Let’s imagine that the next circle is personality based. This entails all the day-to-day interactions with potential students, current students, and former students. To be amazing at this range you have to have rapport-building skills –and a little charisma and charm don’t hurt either.

The Big Circle
The third circle, the big one, the long-range one, that’s about mission, direction, intent, vision –it’s all of the big-picture things. Why are you doing what you do? Are you a man or woman on a mission? Do you know exactly where you’re going? Do you have a selfish vision or a heroic one?

The little circle, most of it’s procedural; it’s how long you dip the French fries in the grease, it’s what color your uniform is, when you collect and pay taxes, it’s changing the retail display on Fridays, it’s everything that should and could be in a manual.

The middle circle is about smiling, focused, friendly, smart people. You can’t make a great people person by handing someone a business procedures book. You might help someone to learn some of the basics, but to master this range you need someone with a friendly, personable attitude.

The big circle? You need vision, you need purpose for being, and you need some wisdom.

You can buy a manual, you can hire good people, but for vision, well, for a vision that drives you, that serves you and everyone who works with you, you need to do “soul work.” You need to tap into a kind of thinking that is, well –visionary.

I believe that our industry is spending an inordinate amount of time focusing on short and medium range goals and ideas, both of which are vital, but incomplete if not backed up by big picture brilliance.

Making a profit, investing in moneymaking, wealth-building ventures, expanding your operation –these things are one fraction of what the biggest circle is made up of. Wealth building is the right hand of a 220-pound mixed martial arts fighter.

Spiritual awareness, community awareness, empathy for others, standing up against injustice, conscious consumption –these are just some of the big picture issues.

This is the realm of the Ultimate Black Belt Test and The 100. If you feel lost or like you’re too money-focused, if you easily lose your drive, if you wonder why you’re even doing what you do for a living –you are operating from a long-range perspective. This is the range I’m encouraging you to focus on, with at least one-third of your time as a businessperson.

If you want to talk about things in the small circle arena, turn to NAPMA, MAIA, EFC, UP, Member Solutions, Martialinfo.com, or any number of the other business groups ands information/content providers in the martial arts industry. They’re all good.

For medium range people-issues, learn how to develop good service providers by modeling companies that give amazing service, like Starbucks, like Pike’s Place Market, like Kovar’s Satori schools (PROMAC), Steve Lavallee’s schools in Florida, Tiger Schulman’s in New York, and almost any number of the larger martial arts schools in the world.

For vision? Look to people who are making a difference (or trying to) in the world. Like Olympic athletes, they aren’t EVERYWHERE, but they’re around. You may not stumble across one accidentally, but if you search you’ll find them.

One of the people that can help you with big picture stuff –is Thich Nhat Hahn. He’s going to be teaching at a week-long retreat in Estes Park, CO this August (for details, visit http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com/ and go to TEST REQUIREMENTS, then to SPECIAL EVENTS).

My self-appointed job in the martial arts world is to leave the small and medium circle issues to my very competent friends and peers in the industry --and focus on the big circle. I see all of us, collectively, as part of the “team” of people who serve you, of which I am a part. They say it takes a village to raise a child –and I say it takes a village to raise a “master.”

I’d like to discuss, with you –the big picture. I’d like to help you develop long-range techniques –and I think you will find the work in this range to be just as important as good, solid business procedures and good people on the floor.

I am Tom Callos --and I may be reached at 530-903-0286 or tom@tomcallos.com

About Your Black Belt Test and School

To the Teams:

Good afternoon! I’m going to write you, now, about YOUR black belt test. I’m going to write you about YOUR school –what you teach and what you “sell.”

You might like what I write –and you might not, nevertheless, as coach to the team, I am compelled to “coach.”

Note this, first, before I begin: There isn’t a single issue in the UBBT that you won’t face in your own school with your own students. The primary difference between what we are doing here –and what you do in your school…is you.

You are the teacher, a leader, the head person, and some of you even use the title “Master.” You are not one of your students; you are the person who points the way. You impart the education, you set the example, and you lead. You are supposed to have the answers –and if not all of “them” –then specifically the ones that pertain to learning the martial arts.

If most of your students can perform at “level 10” –it is most likely because you have shown them “level 20.” You are not governed by the same rules, nor are you expected to fall victim to the same challenges that keep your students from excelling.

In my eyes you are not to be compared to your students, you aren’t to be held to the same standards. No, your standards are different, better-than, higher –you are a champion, an Olympian, an elite teacher, a leader of people. Your standards, how you deal with difficult situations, how you skirt defeat, how you find the way to succeed –these things set you apart, give you real value, and these are, in essence, the things people really want to learn from you.

Your Black Belt Test

Have you heard of this expression: “We are a Black Belt School”? Do you use that to describe your own school? Well, tell me, what does that mean? Does it mean that “black belt” is a standard? Does the concept mean that being a black belt is a good thing?

If it’s a good thing, what exactly is good about it?

Can you make and take a test that proves it? Do you live your life as a black belt? If so, then what does that mean? Is it found in the way you eat? In the way you interact with others? In your reading list? In your “projects”? In your consumption? Is it just a physical thing? Or have you spent your life developing an outlook and problem solving skills that are indicative of your training and rank? Or are you just like everyone else?

The Ultimate Black Belt Test is just one more opportunity for you to challenge yourself –to PRACTICE being who you aspire to be. Your life, the next minute, hour, and day ---these are all just one more opportunity to live like a master, to teach like a master, to BE in the practice of mastery.

What is martial arts mastery? YOU determine this. Set your sights low –and there you are. Set your sights high, hero-high, and THERE you are.

Hey, I have an IDEA:
Let me tell you what I’m going to do to contribute to your personal growth and development (isn’t it nice to have help sometimes?): I’m going to make a process…I’ll call it “The Ultimate Black Belt Test” (after all, the term “black belt”, as I understand it, is a universally accepted mark of skill and excellence) and I will challenge you to participate in a program where you get to SHOW THE WORLD what you’re made of. I’ll present you with a bunch of challenges, some of them nearly impossible to do, and then I’ll step back and let you run the show.

It’ll be the perfect opportunity for you to show us what skills you have, how you overcome conflict and problems. Why, you’ll be able to prove to people, especially your students, exactly why you are deserving of respect and why you are “the leader.”

I’ll work as your “PR” man –I’ll start telling the world about your test –and you get to show them the rest. Each week you can write a chapter in the “book” about your journey. Your students can get some insight into the complex and enigmatic world of a top “black belt” teacher –and imagine what you will learn from each other as you bond with like-minded people who are willing to undertake such an adventure. Wow.

Maybe, through this process, you will show your community exactly what you teach and sell! There will be no doubt in their minds! You’ll prove to them how powerful the martial arts can be! That power for transformation and growth!

What a gift! All you have to do is walk the talk of the martial arts!

Each day you wake up –and you get to start again! You’ll get in the best shape of your life, you’ll do all sorts of new things, and best of all, you will challenge yourself in ways that most people wouldn’t even dream of doing. You’ll be an “action hero” to hundred if not thousands of people(or not).

How cool is that!

Tom Callos
www.tomcallos.com

Let’s Help Usher In a New Era of Martial Arts Education

Funakoshi, Kano, Ueyshiba, Choi, Lee, and the Gracie family (among many others) have, each in their own time and way, contributed to new movements and shifts of awareness in the martial arts community.

In my 37 years of martial arts study, I have been witness to some of these --and other --historical shifts in thinking and methods.

I remember the first time a Bruce Lee movie aired in my town. I remember watching Joe Lewis, Jeff Smith, Bill Wallace, Byong Yu, and Al Dacascos in 1974 on Mike Anderson’s spectacular debut of full contact karate and creative demonstrations on national TV. I remember the first episode of Kung Fu. I remember watching Royce Gracie defeating people twice his size, using methods I had never seen before. All of these events, for me, created a shift in thinking, expectations, and goals –and I think a lot of martial artists were influenced by them as well.

It’s Happening, Again, Right Now
The martial arts community is, again, in the middle of a huge transition in methods, focus, and thinking. It’s being ushered in by the media, by TV and films; It’s being supported by a new generation of athletes –and fans of the martial arts. Ang Lee’s films, the UFC, too many Brazilians to mention by name, and You-Tube are all doing their part to create change –and opportunity –for all of us.

I would like to suggest that we (professional martial arts teachers) take this opportunity, this time and place, to step into and embrace our own changes. I think it’s time to take a leap forward in thinking, in teaching methods, and, most of all, in our expectations, our “desired outcome” from the work we put into our students.

Specifically, I am referring to what we teach our students, why we teach them, and what we expect them to know and be able to do when they “graduate” from our programs. Borrowing from Stephen Covey’s second “habit” of highly effective people (Begin with the End in Mind), I’m thinking about what we can do now to positively affect the future of the martial arts, untold numbers of martial artists, and perhaps, if we’re lucky, the world.

I don’t think that we should teach the martial arts only from a place of tradition, or for sport, but from a reevaluated position based on the needs of our society, today. New attitudes about self-defense and fitness stand to make the martial arts more “now”, more useful and relevant to the world as it is –and as it will be in the future. For teachers, more relevancy translates into more “value”, and we are all trying to increase the value (real and perceived) of what we do in –and for –the world.

From a business standpoint, what we offer to our students, in the way of education and services, has a direct effect on how we market and promote our schools. The more we expand and refine our subject matter, the more things we have to talk about with the media, with schoolteachers, with parents, and with prospective students.

Where to Begin the Transformation
Expand the Ring
There is a powerful vintage video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) that shows a three-minute piece of a documentary film featuring the great judo man, Kimura (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkDBflFtPIw). In the film, Canadian judoka Doug Rogers talks about Kimura and his training. He says that the university team, under Kimura’s supervision, does 600 pushups a day, and sometimes as many as 1000. Rogers says, “This is unreasonable, we know that. But it pushes us beyond a physical limit, to another place, way outside --or way inside, I don’t know where exactly, but I’ve been there.”

When you watch the film you can see how hard this team trained --and how focused both Kimura and his students were on winning and playing “great judo.” It’s beautiful: the commitment to that game, to the sport, to the mat and the training. It is exactly what you think judo is, what it was, and what it should be.

In judo competition, the ring is 33-feet by 33-feet; in boxing, a ring usually measures 24-feet square; in life, the ring is 24-7. Learning how to be a champion on the mat or in the ring is like writing one beautiful and poetic sentence –out of a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. The sentence is an integral part of the work, it is, in its structure, a vital component of the work, but it is not the novel. If only life could be narrowed down into a 33-foot square ring; Oh how easy it would be!

To expand the ring, to teach students how to take the lessons learned there and apply them to their lives, this is the new martial arts education –to be the Kimura of life-lessons! The teacher seeks to make champions in the ring, of course, but also (and more importantly) in life, the 24-7 variety. Fighting in the ring can be an art, but life? Winning in life is the real victory. Finding ways to teach these lessons, effective ways, measurable ways, this is the new challenge --and opportunity. This is the shift.

Fighting in the ring is so manageable; you win or you lose, sometimes you draw, and it’s oh-so contained. Life is a big, big ring –and as martial arts educators we need to teach those skills, so that our students go forward in their lives armed with what they need for an arena where defeat and victory really make a difference.

Make Self-Defense Global

MSN Encarta Definition for "Self Defense":

1. legal right to defend self: the use of reasonable force to defend yourself, your family, and your property against physical attack, or the right to do this
2. fighting techniques: fighting techniques used to defend yourself against physical attack, especially unarmed combat techniques such as any of the martial arts

The narrow definition of self-defense above, taken from the Internet, doesn’t begin to describe what we teach in the martial arts, nor does it give any hint whatsoever about the potential of what self-defense instruction could be.

In America, 7% of the population has diabetes, which is 20.8 million people. It’s estimated that another 14.6 million have the disease, but are currently undiagnosed. More than half-a-million people in America will die of cancer this year. The leading cause of death among children here, ages 5 to 14, is unintentional accidents, mostly auto related. A Cornell University analysis estimates that 40 percent of world deaths can now be attributed to various environmental factors, especially organic and chemical pollutants.
The estimates both in America and worldwide for the number of people killed or injured by side-kicks is unavailable, but my guess is that it’s only slightly more than are killed by back-fist attacks.

And forget about death, what about things that hurt us? Like financial issues, relationship issues (Ouch!), conspicuous consumption! Oh, and the worst of the worst: negative internal dialogue! How about diet? Racial bias and other unhealthy prejudices? How about that crippling un-awareness we have as our children grow up around us while we are absorbed in some business that someday we will come to realize didn’t mean 1/1000 as much as our loved ones?

Self-defense is so much more than we currently deal with, the opportunity to view it as something holistic, to look at it from a global perspective, is the martial arts shift-in-thinking of the century.

Out of the Dojo and Into the World: Project Based Leadership Training
Trophies in the windows of martial arts schools; how many have you seen? There have been schools that were mistaken for trophy shops, where people walked in to order their bowling awards. It may be true that trophies are a measure of some kind of success, a sign perhaps that “we are skilled,” and so an indication of quality instruction. However, the new “trophy in the window” in the martial arts world, the most evolved measure of an instructor’s skills is not forged in metal or plastic, it is the record of how students take what they are taught and practice on the mat –and apply to the real world.

It is in how they take their martial arts out of the dojo and into the world.

It is a major shift in thinking to visualize that, in the future, teachers will instruct their students on how to apply their hard-earned skills to “projects” –and that the recording and documenting of those projects will be how a teacher will not only prove that he or she is effective and skilled, but that the projects will be all of the advertising –the best advertising –a school will ever need.

Leadership training is a buzzword in the martial arts industry. The idea that leadership will be taught experientially, through community-based projects, and that the instructor’s “job” will be to help his or her students choose projects, gather resources, and then execute and record them, is a radical departure from the status quo in the martial arts industry. But what a thing! Actually teaching people to achieve by using the philosophy of the martial arts. Revolutionary!

Just the Beginning
These ideas are just part of way we could transform the martial arts industry. The most important ingredient of the transformation is our own. Elevating our thinking, increasing our action-in-the-world, and actually applying our winning “ring strategies” to a larger arena (read: life), will bring about an all-new respect for the martial arts. We could increase our value ten-fold, sort of the way Bruce Lee kicked the martial arts into millions of households --and the way The UFC has garnered millions of fans.

My work, projects like The Ultimate Black Belt Test and The 100. are exercises in transformation-thinking. The people involved in them are combining forces to make radical and much needed changes in the martial arts industry. They are working on themselves while working on the martial arts, our image, and our purpose. I think there projects represent a part of this new shift in thinking, this opportunity in the world for making the martial arts a bigger and more valuable part of everyday life.
Come join us in our dialogue about a new kind of martial arts education. Contact me at 530-903-0286 or by e-mail at
tom@tomcallos.com.

About the Author
Tom Callos is a “martial arts activist” committed to making a difference in the world by applying martial concepts in the world. He is team coach for the Ultimate Black Belt Test and the founder of The 100. Visit http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com/ and http://www.theonehundred.org/.

Big Picture Instructions for Martial Arts School Owners

Allow me to state the obvious: Every living thing on this planet goes through its cycles of life, from birth to disintegration. The needs, focus, and desires of the infant differ from that of the teenager, the mature adult, and the senior citizen. The same idea applies to ones career (the way one makes a living from the time he or she is required to do so, until it is no longer a need).

In a career, like yours for example, your needs, focus, and desires change as you mature. What drives you now might not drive you in the near future. The reasons you do what you do now --and in the future --are probably going to shift. That shift is an opportunity for you to make your career ever more important and relevant to the world and your spiritual connection to it.

That last statement is written with the assumption that you might start your career with very self-focused needs and desires, but that as you mature the motivations might become focused on something else. That is how it has worked in my career. As I’ve matured, my idea of what I do for a living and why I do it has shifted. The circle of my thinking has expanded. I started out taking care of and feeling a sense of responsibility for myself. It expanded to include my family --and now, I have a feeling like a part of what I do for a living is about taking care of the world.

If you share this feeling –or if you see yourself moving in a similar direction, then the remainder of this article is for you.

The Big Picture of School Ownership
Front kicks, phone calls, mats, microphones, retail and renewals, belt tests, much needed rests, taxes, computers, contracts, moms, dads, demos, keys, conventions, employees, advertising, first aid, training, (take a breath) –the list goes on and on. The school owner has many things to do, little things, details, and big, conceptual things, and all of it needs to be managed.

For the last decade in our industry, the “martial arts industry,” we have spent an enormous amount of energy focusing on the small details of school management. EFC, NAPMA, MAIA and other organizations have hammered home the basics, organizing and teaching all of the little management details that every owner needs to know.

In contrast, the big picture of school ownership has been second to business basics. But, in the ever-shifting consciousness of the school owner, in a field where the pursuit of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual “mastery” is often a part of the agenda, big picture thinking is simply too important to take a backseat (at this time in our career) any longer.

Business basics are vital for our businesses health, indeed, for its very survival –just the way that brushing our teeth, looking both ways when crossing a street, and washing our food before we eat it are all essential “basics” for good health. The point is, while we need to master the basics, we don’t LIVE to brush our teeth, to cross streets, or wash food. Something bigger drives us. The little things are not where we find our purpose, our passion, and our drive.

Coincidentally, I hold the opinion that after one becomes proficient at the details, the basics of business, that it’s the big picture thinking that is the “final stage booster rocket” of one’s career. The basics get you up in the atmosphere, but your vision, passion, and spiritual focus is what frees you from the gravitational pull of the mundane.

So, what is the big picture thinking I’m referring to? At this time in my career, I feel the four following concepts represent the opportunities we need to thrive and survive, to grow and evolve as professional teachers and “black belt” citizens of the world:

Peace Education
Anger management, non-violent conflict resolution, “peace thinking,” “peace speaking,” and peace activism are all components of what it is to know peace as well as we, martial arts professionals, know about things relating to the opposite of peace (violence, conflict, etc.). This planet needs peace in the worst way –and we stand in a position to teach peace skills and peace technology in a way that could make a huge difference in the world.

At the moment, the word “peace” is hardly a part of our collective vocabulary. The word is rarely uttered in your average martial arts school. Yet, peace education, in all of its forms, may be the ultimate form of self-defense training. It is the most important, yet missing, ingredient of our teaching “platform,” and it is high time we embrace the techniques of teaching peace to the same degree that we have excelled at teaching blocks, punches, kicks, and grappling.

I believe that teaching peace education in the martial arts industry will drive as many, if not more, students to our schools. It will also make the education we provide our communities more relevant to the needs of our world as it is today.

Environmental Self-Defense
If we don’t take care of this planet, we, as a species, are in big trouble. Taking care of what we use, consume, and throw away, is part of taking care of our fellow man –and for preserving what is essential for our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Embracing environmental consciousness, sustainability, renewable resources, and all of the many other ideas and concepts involving “environmental self-defense” are just about absent in our industry.

I believe these concepts are more relevant to self-defense than any block or attack. We are more likely to be hurt by things we do to our environment, by the things we carelessly and thoughtlessly consume, and by our disregard for our footprint on the planet, than we ever will be by the punches, kicks, and chokes of a human opponent. Nevertheless, in the next 30-days, the martial arts world will inspire people to do millions (if not billions) of different maneuvers, but barely a handful of “acts of environmental self-defense.” I think it’s time we embrace a new perspective of “self-defense.”

Community Activism
I believe that community activism, as in doing “things” in the community, is the new paradigm for martial arts school promotion (and curriculum, and intent, and passion, drive, purpose, ect.). In the near future, you will sell lessons in your school something like this:

“Mrs. Johnson, what I do for a living –is to teach people how to manifest the philosophies of the martial arts, like courtesy, respect, focus, perseverance, self-control, and integrity, in their lives, but OUTSIDE of my school, and outside of the realm of anything that has to do with a punch, kick, or throw. Let me give you some examples…”

Those examples will kept in your school’s “project portfolio” –which contains the stories, the documentation, of the actions you have inspired your students to take towards the betterment of your community. Your new focus will be taking the martial arts “out of the dojo and into the world.” Your new “trophies in the window of your school” will be the accomplishments of your students in the real world, motivated by the concepts you teach and practice so diligently on your school’s mat.

Compassion and Reducing the Suffering of Others
Teaching people about compassion, teaching them to embrace the idea of it, and teaching them to practice it, just like peace education, environmental self-defense, and community activism, has more to do with authentic self-defense, deep-rooted-real-this-is-what-in-the-end-will-REALLY-hurt-you self-defense, than almost anything we currently teach in the martial arts world. This is big picture self-defense.

Reducing the suffering of others –is a kind of thinking that comes from the pursuit of spiritual training. For many people, the idea doesn’t hardly penetrate the consciousness, much less manifest itself into any sort of notable action, but for some of us it can become one of the primary motivating factors for doing what we do.

I think that talking about and teaching compassion and ideas for reducing the suffering of others deserves at least one-tenth of the time we, as an industry, have spent on learning how to answer our phones and upgrade memberships.

There’s More, But…
I haven’t spelled out here exactly how to pursue the topics I’ve outlined above, but I have some specific ideas about how to proceed. If anything I’ve written has made you think, if you are already on this path –or in anyway hear a ring of truth in it, please feel free to contact me for further discussion. I’m actively looking for the next generation of thinkers and activists in the martial arts community. From a “big picture perspective,” I think we have some wonderful opportunities ahead of us, both to expand the value of what it means to be a martial arts educator and to shift our thinking to a place that brings us an all-new level of career satisfaction.

About the Author
Tom Callos is a 6th degree black belt under Master Teacher Ernie Reyes, Sr. He is the designer and team coach for the Ultimate Black Belt Test (http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com/) and The 100 (http://www.theonehundred.org/). Tom resides in Placerville, CA and can be reached by e-mail at tomcallos@gmail.com or by phone at 530-903-0286.

Your Attitude and Perspective Shapes Your Experiences

(A lesson in Martial Arts Mastery)


You Know This
As you were reading the title of this report, your brain probably had an automatic moment of acceptance of the idea of it, as we all, I believe, have a basic understanding that our own attitude and the way we choose to look at things shapes our experiences. Most likely you thought –or think –“I know that.”

It’s Not What You Know…
Yes, well, it is one thing to “know” something --and another to apply what you “know” repeatedly, consistently and in most all situations. To know is one thing, to make that knowledge work for you, automatically and without conscious thought, is another. To know something is to own a hammer; to have that knowledge working for you, automatically out of training, habit, and self-discipline, is like having a crew of ten carpenters working on your behalf.

It’s Just Like the Martial Arts
Learning, practicing, and “knowing” the martial arts is closely connected to learning, practicing, and “knowing” that attitude shapes experience. To really “know” the martial arts, one has to practice the various techniques and ideas to the point of complete absorption, to the point when a block, parry, punch, or throw is delivered without thought, but from instant reaction at the perfect time and place. This kind of knowing means that the brain goes on automatic while under pressure, while over-stimulated by stress, demand, and adrenaline. This skill, for most of us, comes from practice. It comes from forming, building, and strengthening the neural pathways and muscle memories that turn thoughts into automatic responses.

The Path is as Important as the Destination
What good is knowing the martial arts if you can’t apply the techniques when you need them? Likewise, what good is it in knowing that your attitude and perspective shapes your experiences --if you are unable to apply the idea, consistently and effectively, to your life when you need it? Yes, mastery is the goal. Putting the technique or idea on auto-pilot, that’s the highest level of skill. However, the path to mastery is as important as mastery itself.

With the martial arts, the point of practice is to master the movements --on all levels (physically, mentally, and spiritually). However, practicing the movements is just as great a benefit –if not a greater one –as mastering the movements. It is through the repetitive practice of all the movements that one gets fit, learns to focus, learns when to conserve and when to unleash, and learns to perform despite fears or instinctive responses (like: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!). It is during the practice that one interacts with his or her teachers and classmates and garners the experiences, friendships, and memories that are often equal too (or greater than) the physical benefits of the practice itself.

The Magic Resides in the Practice
As with physical practice and mastery, practicing the idea that our attitude shapes our experiences is where the greatest benefits may reside. While we want to “know” this concept automatically, we want the idea to kick in when we need it and control our experiences by controlling how we see and translate them, it is practicing this concept, situation after situation and day after day, that gives us the greatest return.

It’s the repetitive and conscious practice that gets and keeps us mentally fit –and is equal, I believe, to the benefit of knowing it completely. During the practice of shaping our attitude and outlook on life’s difficulties, we sharpen our mental and emotional coping skills –and quite often, we make friends and realize the benefits of forgiveness, compassion, kindness, and love.

Practice is just as important, if not more important, than mastery. Practice is life; mastery is achievement. Mastery might not even exist! The point might be that the practice and pursuit of mastery is the most beneficial aspect of the journey.

Thank You Sir, May I have Another?
So, I say welcome the emotional and mental difficulties and challenges of life --as you welcome the beginning of a martial arts class. You know it’s going to make you sweat, you know you’re going to have to work, but it’s GOOD! You commit yourself to a class, willingly and (hopefully) enthusiastically. You happily accept the challenges of training, because you know it is how you improve. Why not do the same with your attitude and perspective on life (and its challenges)?

Practice developing a good attitude and healthy, peaceful outlook about things that would normally drive you nuts –or bring you down. Tell yourself positive things about the what, where, when, why, and who of situations that might normally send you off the deep end. Practice smiling when you might have cried, practice being calm when you want to blow a fuse.

Tell yourself that THIS IS YOUR TRAINING, your classroom, your instruction, your lessons. This is what makes you a master. Don’t know and teach the idea that attitude is everything –PRACTICE IT! LIVE IT!

Tom Callos
http://www.tomcallos.com/
www.ultimateblackbelttest.com

UBBT Thoughts for the Masses (and stuff)

The idea that your black belt test...

• And this means YOUR test, whether it transpires this year or one, two, or three years from now [because you’re always "in-training," right?] –or whether it’s the test for one or more of your students)...

• Is one of your most potent and powerful tools for communicating to your community; for promoting your school; for promoting and propagating what makes your school and YOU a unique, brilliant, amazing, valuable and righteous commodity...

• Yes, this idea that your testing PROCESS is THE thing that drives your school –that makes your services extraordinary –that gives you recognition – this, you understand is NEW. In the old-school system, testing was a small, small part of "the process" of school promotion. Promotion had a different face...

And it (innovative, creative "out of the dojo and into the world" curriculum) need not be limited to black belts —ideas could be added to all belt levels. WHY? To make real the promises of the martial arts! That we do, indeed, develop more functional, balanced, self-disciplined people –thru MA training and mentoring.
AND ...

Your life! What about your life? How about YOU?!! (It’s always about you, isn’t it?)...
What are you doing –how do you LIVE –what are your habits –and how do you evolve and grow? What if you lived a lifestyle of "mastery practice"???? —physical mastery (always training and polishing and learning); educational mastery (reading, listening, seeking out heroes, hanging with people that inspire you); spiritual mastery (seeking what is not physical, but about your compassion and ability to love); emotional mastery (becoming the ruler of your emotions –so that they serve you)?

What if the UBBT was part of the model you used to LIVE? How? By reminding you to set lofty goals –to work on those goals methodically –to connect with people who inspire you –to put yourself OUT THERE as a tool for personal growth? Oh, and to DO for others...

SO...the next time, Mr. or Ms. Martial arts school owner, that you are sitting down to plan (or implement) your school’s advertising campaign ----think about the idea that buying an ad isn’t 1/1000th as powerful as getting up, first thing, in the morning and training –while inspiring others to do the same. That 15 minutes of meditation training under a master is more important to your school that 15 ads in the "Big Nickel" ----and that your school doing 1000 acts of kindness in 30 days is a thousand times better that spending $1000 on advertising in the next month.

And when it’s MOST powerful –is when you decide (and act upon) that you are going to MAKE
A DIFFERENCE in the WORLD by getting people to exercise –and thus begin to find their vitality and center —and that you’re going to help people learn about meditation –to connect with their inner-voice and calmness –and when you’re going to talk about self-defense from a GLOBAL perspective...

Most of all –when you live and breath these things —when you take action in the world...that’s when it’s most powerful -----and THAT is what separates you from all the others –that is the leap that few instructors/leaders take. What is your Tree? (Seen this video?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDrb03cqvrA

Yes, "What is your tree?" INDEED!

When you MASTER this approach –you will have mastered the USP of your school –your marketing strategy –and at the same time you will be happier, healthier, and on the road, I believe, to becoming a practicing "master." It’s it cool that all of these things are really the same thing?

Oh, and allow me to remind you —you’re not alone here! You have staff members...you have students...you ALL DO IT TOGETHER! Supporting each other –helping –focusing –it’s your collective energy that makes the team effort greater than anything any individual could accomplish alone.

Tips for School Management –ad and promotion campaign...etc!

1. Look over the UBBT site. As imperfect as it is –do you see how it SELLS the process? How’s your school’s black belt site? Any journaling? Any public involvement? Is it a "test" —or one-hell-of-a-life-experience? Is there another site or MA school that has anything comparable? ----oh yes, and what are you SELLING anyway?

2. Are you asking for –and directing –your staff members and senior students towards personal mastery? Are you mentoring them –or do they just "WORK FOR YOU?" If you’re NOT doing it yourself –working the work...then I’ll bet you aren’t —how could you? What kind of hypocrite are you! HOWEVER, if you’re living it, day-in and day-out –with the struggle and the defeats and all of it —you won’t barely have to say a word and you’ll inspire.

3. Your "PROJECTS" define you as a person. Your PROJECTS! What are yours? Then, next: What projects have you inspired others to tackle? Personal? Community? Global? Environmental? Art? Mentoring? Projects could run your school –and drive your publicity/enrollment campaign.

4. WHO are you talking to today? Yourself? Your staff? To make your school fly you need to talk to prospective members or to people who can HELP you talk to prospective members. THE MEDIA. When’s the last ime you had a good, solid, motivational chat with a member of your local media –a teacher –or a business owner who deals with lots of your potential students?


CLASS TEACHING TIPS

1. Make the first 5 minutes of your class AMAZING! Make those 5 minutes COUNT! Make people feel powerful, pumped up, focused, friendly, relaxed, connected, and welcome! MAKE YOUR FIRST 5 MINUTES go WOW (big time)....and then....

2. Make the second 5 minutes AMAZING...and do that every five minutes for 45 minutes. THAT is an awesome class.

3. Find a theme and/or message in your class (at least once a week, if not every day) that pierces the heart of your students –that drives a spike of recognition and compassion into their GUTS...

There’s no shortage of subjects...but what you must do is become a master story-teller —and tell stories that remind people how valuable your services are –how valuable the community you’ve created (and that they are a part of) is —and that reminds them to treat themselves and others with deep respect —to apply perseverance to life, to their daily challenges —to get them to FOCUS on the fact that giving your self over to the service of others is most of what gives you perspective, happiness, and life-satisfaction...

The better you are at THE MESSAGE —the more emotional connection/commitment you get from those around you. Want to keep students? Forget contracts –and go for connection/emotion/inspiration!

Strictly Business (For Martial Arts School Owners/Managers)

Promotion
My goal is 60 phone calls or walk-ins a month in my school, which should translate into 30 enrollments. To get 60 calls a month, I’m going to spend at least $50 per call, which means I’m investing $3000 in advertising at least 90-days before I expect the calls to come in.

Let’s review what I just wrote:

I want 60 inquiries; I expect 30 enrollments from my 60 inquiries; I’m going to spend –at least --$50 to get each inquiry; what I spend today will work for me 90 days from now.

Is this set in stone? No, of course not, however, from my experience it’s not a bad idea to use this as a general guideline. Anything is possible, so who am I to say what works for everyone –in every market! Nevertheless, if you use these general guidelines as a base, you can measure whether you are doing better –or worse –than me.

If you don’t have $3000 to spend on advertising, then you’re going to have to invest your labor (sweat-equity). Instead of paying someone to design, place, and distribute your advertising, you’re going to have to do it yourself. How? Yes, well…that’s the $3000 question, isn’t it. Honestly, it’s not always easy, but it’s do-able, so here are some ideas:


Distribute flyers; like hundreds a week; like thousands a week…and not just flyers (passes, door-hangers, etc…), but beautiful flyers featuring a great offer.

Reach the media –and I mean all of it; tv, newspapers, radio, the internet –and here we separate those who can from those who cannot. How? Learn how to turn everything into media-food –or DO things that are newsworthy. A good spot in your local newspaper is worth, depending on your town, from $500 to $5000 dollars worth of advertising. A radio spot might be worth from $250 to $500, a good TV spot could be valued from $250 to $2500 or more.

Inspire your students to spread the word –and bring in their friends. This, of course, has to be done tactfully and intelligently, but it’s one powerful form of marketing. The catch? You have to reach your students so deeply, so powerfully, that they WANT to bring in their friends. Do that and the idea works wonderfully.

Go on a speaking tour. You can speak at all sorts of places –but you have to have something important to speak about –something relevant to your work and important to your community. You have to have a powerful and touching presentation (the subjects are virtually unlimited), and you have to give your presentation in an intelligent and compelling fashion. If you can craft this, your community will open its doors to you: schools, businesses, service clubs, etc…

What should/could you talk about? Self-defense –and anything that relates to it (mental, physical, spiritual, social, financial, etc…).

Partner with a local business (or businesses) to join forces as ad partners –pool your money and design ad campaigns that work for both of you. Warning: You have to be pretty smart to do this.

What do I think, after these five suggestions?

I think you have to spend at least two-hours a day, five days a week working all aspects of your ad and promo campaign.

I think you have to network with other schools to see what’s working for them. How often? At least once a month.

I think you have to adjust your efforts based on the results you get at the end of each week. Not enough results, change/increase your efforts.

I think you have to realize that your efforts --now --may not pay off for 90-days --or longer.

I think you don’t have the privilege of getting tired or discouraged, as your survival depends on your ability to generate business. The smartest and/or strongest will survive.

I think you’re probably not doing half as much as you should (promotion).

I think the UBBT and The 100 are ALL ABOUT finding something to promote that makes people take notice (and guess what, it’s a strategy that’s good for you too! Bonus!).

I think you have to do your promotion, day-in and day-out, like you were training for the promotional Olympics. When everyone else fades out, you are just getting started.

I think you need to ask for “the sale” dozens of times –in dozen’s of creative and tactful ways –and that you make it your habit of never taking “no” for an answer.

NOTE: This material is COPYLEFTed
Tom Callos abides by a CopyLeft principle of distribution. All contentwritten here by Tom Callos is freely available to all for all time.

Some Future-Thinking for Martial Arts Teachers

“The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.” I don’t remember where or when I first heard the saying, but it stuck with me -and I know I’ve said it a thousand times to a thousand students since.

The martial arts community, or the “martial arts industry,” certainly has room for improvement in its methods and practices. I spend most of my work-time thinking of ways we can improve the results we get as teachers, as leaders, as business-people, and as honest-to-goodness contributors to a better and more peaceful world. The following list of ideas are some that I think have value for martial arts teachers; some of them are already in-process, while others are things I believe will happen in the near future.

Thirty to 40% of Testing Curriculum will Take Place Outside of the School
In the future, a percentage of a student’s curriculum, as much as 40% of it, will not take place on the mat, but involve “things” the student has done outside of the school.

Those “things” will be manifestations of the ideas and philosophy the school promotes. Essentially, they will be the ideas that are practiced on the mat, but practically applied to things that have nothing to do with punching, kicking, or grappling. The phrase I’ve coined to express this idea is, “Outside of the dojo and into the world.”

A School’s Testing Curriculum will be all of the Advertising a School Needs
Most schools have a testing curriculum that has little or nothing to do with community service, activism, OR promotion of the school itself. There are, of course, exceptions to this, but for the most part, what the students do as a part of their test has little to do with the schools image, public relations, or promotion and advertising campaigns.

In the future, many of the things that students do to achieve their belt ranks will also perfectly demonstrate what the school is “about” –and those requirements will bring the school all the publicity, promotion opportunities, and new students it can use.

Students Will “Build” Their Own Belt Tests
In the future, testing curriculum will follow a linear path from one belt to the next, as it does now, but the difference will be that students will have a large variety of “elective” test requirements that they can add to their test as suits their needs, goals and ambitions. The electives will include tasks or challenges, and include any number of interesting concepts that help students bring their personal ambitions into their martial arts training. Music, family time, art, community activism, diet, meditation, outdoor recreation, and even recycling will become elective requirements.

Music Training will become a Part of Every Children’s Marital Arts Program
As Ernie Reyes, Sr. has been doing for years, as Capoeira practitioners have always done, teachers will bring live music into their classrooms and integrate it into their curriculum.

Belt testing Will no Longer Last a Day or a Weekend, but Will Go On for Months
The Ultimate Black Belt Test (www.ultimateblackbelttesting.com) is proof of the effectiveness of long-term belt testing. Why not? There’s everything to gain –and nothing to lose.

Two and Three Year Black Belts Will Become a Thing of the Past
High-speed advancement in the martial arts creates a kind of student that does not have the experience, the weathering, the knowledge, and the poise to represent what it is to be a black belt. Many schools are already lengthening their time between tests and their overall requirements –gross profits be damned. If we don’t make a black belt mean something again, if we don’t require our students to be patient enough about their training to reach authentic “black belt” levels of performance, then we dilute the meaning of the rank and the value of studying the martial arts in general.

My opinion: If a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu or an amateur boxer with 6-months of experience can easily defeat a black belt of similar size –of any style under nearly any reasonable circumstances, then that black belt received his or her belt without adequate training.

Peace Education, Including Anger Management and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution Will be a Standard Part of Every Martial Arts Teachers Education
You are, I am guessing, aware that there are NO industry-wide standard or requirements for martial arts teachers? If the public knew how little was required (if anything) for a person to be a martial arts “teacher,” our entire community would be embarrassed.

In the future there will be, at the very least, an on-line educational program for martial arts teachers that provides the A, B, C’s of peace education and other self-defense related topics. Courses for instructor certification will last months, if not years.

In the martial arts community, there is little or no balance between education pertaining to violence –and education pertaining to peace. Most teachers could easily drum up 50 ways to disarm an aggressor using force, but could not name half as many ways to deal with conflict with non-force or peace.

Project Based Leadership Training (PBLT) Will Become a Dojo-hold Phrase
PBLT, in a nutshell, is the idea that students do community-based projects, of their own choosing, as requirements for their advancement in the martial arts. Every school will maintain a “project portfolio” that documents the work that students and teachers do in their community –work that perfectly reflects the philosophy the teacher espouses.

If a school owner or teacher wants to tell a prospective member or the media about his or her school, all they have to is point them to the school’s project portfolio. What the school DOES will speak louder than anything the school says about itself.

“Sustainable Business Practices” will Replace the Greed and Student Harvesting of the 80’s and 90’s.
“Get them in and get as much money as you can, up front –because they won’t be sticking around for long.” I actually heard a martial arts business consultant say that about signing up students! Many business practices in the martial arts community reflect this idea, but it is wrong, it is unsound and unsustainable. In the future, our business practices will sustain a healthy and long-term relationship with students. Even students who, for whatever reasons, cannot continue taking lessons, will leave the school without having been convinced to paying for hundreds of lessons they will never take advantage of.

About the Author
Tom Callos is the designer for the Ultimate Black Belt Test (www.ultmateblackbelttest.com). Applications for Team 5 are now being accepted. Tom is also the founder of The 100 (www.theonehundred.org). He resides in Placerville, California. His e-mail is tomcallos@gmail.com, phone: 530-903-0286.

Motivational Letter From Gregory Peck

Letter from actor Gregory Peck --from my collection.

Journal entries from the 100 --

Date: June 8, 2006Title: [Ubbt]

The POINT of all of our investigation and dialogue (A callos lecture)

What's the point? The POINT is that much of the martial arts industry has spent the last decade dumbing-down and "systemizing" the education imparted through the martial arts.

The "philosophy" imparted in your average martial arts school --is, I think, mediocre at best...and the emphasis is on the physical --and the gross display of "respect" and "discipline" and "courage" manifested in rigid behavior, stamina, and endurance.

And, I might add, the philosophy all of those young men and women (our teachers) were imparting in the 50's, 60's, and 70's wasn't that sophisticated in the first place (with exceptions, of course). It's gotten to a place (in the MA industry), in my opinion, that goes exactly against (or with) the comments in the quote "Mastery":

"It's remarkable how much mediocrity we live with, surrounding ourselves with daily reminders that the average is acceptable.

"There is mediocrity in diet --in attitude --in teamwork --in ambition --in investigation --in consumption --in education...and many of these issues are more relevant to self-defense than any of these ridiculous postures and forms and competitive concepts we teach in our little kingdoms.

Now the point is that we are in an investigation of a kind of mastery achieved by the most evolved and aware human beings...what can we improve in? What COULD the education we impart include? WHAT IS HAPPINESS? What is our potential? What is truly, truly important --and are we following in the footsteps of giants --or fools?

Beyond it all --what is your personal definition of MASTERY --and of being a Martial Arts Master? Are you content with being HALF as good (or evolved) as you could be? And who, my friends, are your ROLE MODELS? Aristotle? Plato? Confucius? Christ? Buddha? Da Vinci ("I wish to work miracles..."), Jefferson, King, Rand, Nietzsche, Rush...Charles Shultz....or who?

We MUST hold ourselves to a higher standard --and it will be these standards that give you your unique selling proposition. You will SELL to your students and community --the quality of education and skills you are able to impart. You will determine the depth and scope of your investigation --and thus the education you impart. Those ideas are what will, in great part, keep people focused on participating and continuing to seek "mastery" ---or saying, "yeah, I got my black belt in 93, now I'm doing spinning."

Being in the UBBT is, to me, a rejection of the trivial ---it is the rejection of the hypocrisy and small thinking and complaining (without positive action) in the martial arts community. I am not going to let EFC, NAPMA, MAIA, or any other business within the martial arts community stuff their "system" or ideas into my head and accept them as the standards within my world. They are on tap --not on top.

I am NOT going to look to ANY (make that "many") of my peers in this little industry as superior role models to the men and women in history (and present day) who have the guts and insight to say "NO, this is not ok." And the courage to stand up for what is right. I am tired of selling a mirage --I am tired of looking at my industry and being embarrassed --I'm tired of the people in the martial arts who have set such low standards for themselves. In fact, that goes for the world.

My heroes, who are my teachers, like Sam Mockbee ---ask more of themselves --and set their goals higher. I am compelled to push myself in life and thinking as I once did in the ring and the competitive arena. So, the point is ---I ask YOU to step up to the plate Mr. and Mrs. Martial Arts "leader" ---and decide the standard you're going to hold yourself to. Who will you learn from..who are your teachers? What is the education you provide? Does it come from a box or video or a businessman? How DEEP have you gone? What is your mission in life?

Teams --- you can step up --or step out. My mission? To get YOU to think like Buddha or Christ or some kind of man or women who had a 10,000 watt light bulb shining in their head and thru their eyes. Make THAT happen and your "business" will shine. Go the other way or stand still or creep forward and you'll be looking for the next after school pizza pick-em-up-in-a-van party what-works-for-you gimmick to keep your rent paid and braces on your kid's faces. Have your staff standing in front of Wal-Mart passing out VIP passes...

We can do better. We can improve the education we provide. We can be better role models. We could, probably, even "Be the change we want to see in the world." We can train harder and smarter for health and clarity. We can reduce the ignorance the media propagates...we can develop the kind of compassion we'd like others to feel for us...we could make the idea of "a martial arts education" mean something like what
Sam Mockbee was trying to teach about architecture.(From Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio): "Linking ethical, social, and poetic realities would be Mockbee's fate. At the core of his being, and the center of his thinking as an architect, was the drive for justice and a mutual respect for all human beings.

"Mockbee made architecture not just about building and design --but about responsibility. I challenge you to make the martial arts not just about kicking, punching, and increasing your student body by 30 students next month ---I challenge you to make it about something much more important. And I challenge you to be a living example of the potential of the martial arts ---not just physically, but in your actions and thinking and compassion. VERY hard to do. It requires some sacrifice. Some painful investigation. Some detachment. Some self-discipline. Some awakening.

This is the school of the UBBT and the 100. ----it isn't easy. It won't come in a box. You won't learn it in a weekend "martial arts university." You won't order the manual and videos.

So, team, DO NOT slide into the trivial. Use your YEAR to seek enlightened thinking. Come back, in the end, with a SHOCKING level of clarity and purpose and mission. WOW your community the way Mockbee WOW'ed the education system. Inspire! Inspire! Inspire! BE A MASTER by acting and thinking like someone who is pursuing personal mastery for the betterment of the world.

This is the point of these programs. This is the POINT of all of our investigation, dialogue, and team activities...

Tom Callos
Date: June 8, 2006
Title: More ON THE POINT lecture (shorter, thanks)...

The Point is...Who knows if global warming is happening as a result of humans --or if it's part of a natural cycle? And so goes it with many of the other issues we address here --or see as our own personal concerns...The point is to ACT AS IF what you consume makes a difference in the world.

Take, for example, the food thrown away in my household. Almost every night our compost bucket is, at least, partially filled with food that is good --but wasn't eaten. Every week or two we throw out vegetables or fruit that has gone bad because I overbought. I don't think about it much --and I don't think my children think about it at all. But how would our attitude about this waste change if we had 3 or 4 starving children living with us?

Would it change our actions? Or would we laugh and continue to throw it away --right in front of them? (We're not going to change OUR lifestyle for things we have little or no control over!).You see, because suffering is often isolated --and we go to great lengths to insulate ourselves from pain and discomfort, we use and act --often --without regard for others because we forget --or we just don't realize.

It's like the emotion one taps into when a loved one, like my father, suffers from cancer...when you lose someone, when you love and watch them deteriorate and suffer --and then pass on....well, let me tell you, you have a LOT MORE EMPATHY for other people with cancer (and their loved ones) after that. It's also like the feeling when you have your own child --and you suddenly become connected to all parents everywhere. You feel that love and that fear and that hope --and the hope that nothing bad ever befalls them.

The thought of your own child wilting away from disease or being abducted or molested or shot or starved to death --well, it's hard even to write the words.I think if you were, right now, a world traveler and you came face-to-face with poverty and hunger and pain ---you would have a lot more consciousness about your own gifts.

You might also curtail your own consumption out of respect for those who live without.This is what my personal concern is about the environment and global warming and fossil fuels and pollution and animal rights and all of this STUFF...it's about acting as if what I think and consume makes a difference in the world. It's treating the people who mean the very, very least to me --as if they were as important as my own children.

It's about mindfulness with regards to my footprint on the planet. If global warming turns out to be a farce --good...but to act, now, as if what I do and consume makes a difference for the health and well being of the planet and it's people ----this is, I believe, the WAY of the master.If we teach young people that what they do and say and think and consume has an effect on others --it's a good thing. In the end, we are not Americans. We are not white or brown or black. We are not Christians or Buddhists. We are all connected and we are all, each of us, as important as the next.

Thinking this way is part of the solution to much of the suffering on the planet. The man or woman with the gun, the bomb, the POWER to choose whether you live or die --whether you have or have not --whether you are free or not free.....this man or woman --wouldn't you like it if they saw you as their brother and sister --instead of the enemy? Are we ever that man or woman?

When we, each of us, understands that our weapons, for both good and evil, reside in our daily choices and our attitudes about people, things, places, and consumption...then we will start to deal with some of our most important social issues.

This is, at least, how I feel about my "business" in the world --and it's some of the ideas that shape the direction of my work. At the moment, nothing else speaks to me with as loud a voice. Where I used to hear "SALE at MACY'S" --and "NEW MODEL OF BMW" --and "VINTAGE HAMILTON WATCH" --- I now hear something akin to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech (which you can hear here http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm).

I won't and don't condemn you if you don't hear what I'm hearing --but it won't keep me from moving forward. Know what I mean?

Where some martial arts teachers in our industry repetitively pour over the scripts and systems to business success ---I always return to the lessons above. THIS is the work that needs to be polished, memorized, internalized, and activated. This is the work that will, after financial success, feed your soul. These ideas and topics are not a part of the ubbt and the 100.'s world by accident.

Tom Callos
Date: June 1st, 2006
Title: Information About The 100.

It’s Change and Movement --The 100. is about change. We are seeking to change ourselves, our businesses, our image within our own communities, and our image as a profession in the world.

Note: We’re not seeking to change just for the sake of change –no, we’re seeking to make a move upward --an improvement. The 100. is more of a MOVEMENT than it is a product or “association.”

It is a reason to improve, to grow, to get a new education, and to take action. In changing ourselves, in changing and improving our thinking and our actions, we establish a unique selling proposition for our schools. At the same time we work on that part of our martial arts training and study that is outside of the realm of physical technique. We are seeking clarity, enlightenment, vision, purpose, and a sense of heroic mission –through our work.

We have “The Ultimate Career.” In the long term, through our commitment to clarity, we seek to have a positive impact on the world. Forget What You Know; We Begin AgainForget what you know about what a “martial arts association” is. This is an association unlike anything we’ve been involved in before.

This is a family. This is a team. This is the classroom. This is the laboratory. This is the chalkboard. This is a place where you may be both teacher and student. This movement is the quest.

It is only in these parameters that I can be involved. It’s only with these ideas in mind that I can even dig up the inspiration to proceed. If we’re not out to do something amazing –and to leave our mark on our industry --and the world --in a way that is meaningful and an example of our potential ---then get me out of here.

BEGIN with the end in mind --that is what we have been taught. Your Role , Your first objective is to commit yourself to change, learning, growth, and contribution. It is, I believe, important to feel a sense of expectation; to have the feeling that you are in the process of changing and growing.

This will not be an association that “dumbs-down” its materials so the person with the least amount of experience can use them. This movement requires you to explore new ideas –to experiment –to read –and to experience new things; to see what happens. Different action creates different results.

What You Need to Do Now:
Send me your, photo BIO, your TEACHING PHILOSOPHY, and your PROJECT PORTFOLIO. To see a model of how those are to be done, go to our website and click on my photo. If you need help with any of this, call or write me.

Read the 2 books and one website I’ve assigned (see the notes on “From the Desk of Tom Callos” on the 100. website).

What’s ComingThe first suite of materials available to the 100. members will be posters, postcards, fliers, web banners, press releases, and other “identifying” materials that you can use to identify yourself as a part of this team and a part of a new movement within the MA community (which is –or will become --part of you’re new USP).

The next suite of materials will be based on Peace Education.

Peace Education
The 100. is going to launch and establish a powerful and potent Peace Education program –that will make you look very smart, give you all sorts of reasons to go to the media and the educational system in your community, and actually make a difference in the world.

The Environment
Our third “campaign” of sorts –will be about the environment and will include multi-layered campaigns to make a difference in the lives of your students and your community.

Ethics
A code of ethics will be written for the 100. that rocks the industry. What I Would Like of You, Some of what I am going to ask you to try with me is going to be way out of your comfort zone.
Isn’t that great!
Isn’t it fun to stretch and try new things –and aren’t we often in a rut or groove of behavior that can limit our growth?

Yes. So humor me; come try some new things –as a master teacher –and see what happens to your body, your attitude, and your thinking. In the WORSE-case scenario, you can always go back to what you know. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Green your routine. If you don’t know what that means, send an e-mail to the director of our national environmental self-defense program, Ms. Karen Valentine: http://www.theonehundred.org/members/”practicalmartialarts@mac.com”

Green your school. I would like to announce that all of The 100. schools are “green.” See Karen for all things green (more info to come).

Go organic –your diet that is. Eat a certain way –and know why you’re eating that way. No longer consume foods recklessly, but eat with intent and consciousness. I’d like to suggest you turn to Dave Kovar (http://www.theonehundred.org/members/”mailto:dave.kovar@kovars.com”) –and model his diet for a decent period of time. If you are confident with your diet knowledge, then proceed, however, in a “perfect world,” each member of The 100. would be an example of a perfectly healthy diet.

Become an expert on Peace Education. Let’s not leave one resource unexplored –no text or book or article unread. Let’s learn about Peace to the extent that we have studied violence.

Project Based Leadership Training (PBLT) Each of you in the 100. must organize and initiate 10 community projects and outline them in your PROJECT PORTFOLIO on your BIO PAGE. This might take a year? The bottom line is that before we launch a comprehensive program within our communities, we must first LIVE the idea. When we have, as a team, completed 1000 projects, THEN we will be ready for step 2. If you aren’t familiar with PBLT, contact me ASAP.

I Would Like To…I would like to tell the world about your extraordinary commitment; your commitment to environmental protection and education; to peace education; to living as an example for others. I would like to tell the world about your projects and what your years of study have done to your thinking, your consciousness, and your behavior.

I would like to use the 100. as an example of what the martial arts does for people; how it makes them eat, think, act, consume, and live like fully conscious, sane, responsible members of the world-community. I would like to talk about your exploits THIS YEAR. What you’re doing –what you’re giving up, what you’re embracing, and how it’s NEVER TOO LATE to grow as a human being. Do you think you can live up to this? Can you step up and do something extraordinary this year?

Where the FIGHT is
The acquisition of wealth and its accoutrements is a part of life –but we all know it is not “life.” To live a life fulfilled we must contribute –and I don’t mean tithing or doing a kick-a-thon once a year.

There is a level of awareness, a level of consciousness, a level of understanding, a level of compassion…that we are seeking –and that will bring us closer to those various spiritual beings so many millions of people seek to emulate.

The fight is against a world gone mad with consumption.

The fight is against violence –against any man, woman, or child.

The fight is against war.

The fight is against people who would pollute your living environment and negatively affect your health and the health of your fellow man –all for the sake of a healthy profit.

The fight is against advertising and its impact on how you feel about yourself, what you must HAVE to be fulfilled as a man or woman, and what it makes you think.

The fight is about our fear.

The fight is against men who would produce enough nuclear weapons to kill every man and woman on the planet 23 times over.

The fight is for sanity and love and clear thinking and compassion.

Now how do we get this message across to those 1000’s of people who listen when we speak? We must live it first.

Rosa Parks and The 100.
Remember that we, collectively, are out to be “Rosa Parks.” She was one person, one little lady, who stood up for her rights and what she knew was right. Our plan is to combine our forces, our thinking, our power ---to equal the power of Ms. Parks. One hundred “martial arts masters” = Rosa Parks. Is it possible that we could, together, equal the power of one person? Are there not a 1000 “buses” RIGHT NOW that we could sit on –and refuse to give up our seat on?

You bet there are –now let’s prepare ourselves. Let’s impact the world by demonstrating what we’re capable of.

On Being a Master
Don’t pretend. Don’t cheapen or discount. Don’t allow the title to be used with your name unless you are truly, deeply committed to mastery. Let’s practice “being a master” –and let us, together, create a definition for “martial arts mastery” that has an impact on the millions of people who will, long after we’re gone, turn to the martial arts –for something. Let us, together, redefine what it is to be a “master of the martial arts.”

Tom Callos
Date: May 26th, 2006
Title: To The 100.

Ok teams, our new martial arts association is underway…under construction. Let me recap what we’re all about:

We have come together as “martial arts activists” — or, if you prefer, just as “activists.” We are committed to growing our schools and advancing our “careers” in a new, holistic, sustainable, meaning-filled, purposeful way. This involves a new approach to teaching — which in turn gives rise to a new kind of promotion and advertising. Let’s say we’re changing the OUTCOME we’re looking for as a result of our efforts (teaching). That outcome has more relevance in today’s world — it involves educational principles that either have not before been associated with the martial arts — or ideas we’re re-embracing.

We are graduating to a new level of education. Level one was business fundamentals –we needed to learn how to be business-people so we could pursue our passion for the martial arts in a way that offered a decent lifestyle. Now we’re moving to Level 2, which is developing ourselves as Master Teachers (no, as master human beings) — and re-crafting our “product” to fit the needs of our society — as it is today. We have all the business resources we need — we have entire associations committed to the ideas — and business products galore. What we don’t have is the emphasis on enlightened thinking and enlightened action. This is our job.

The 100. is, for lack of a better term, the “Green Party” of the martial arts.
We embrace environmentalism, as we consider ourselves stewards of the planet and all peoples — as there is, in our minds anyway, no separation between us and them, ours and theirs. THE world is our world –and we would no sooner stand by and watch it damaged that we would watch a child be abducted (reference to recent video). We embrace peace education. We know violence very well…now we will learn and embrace the perfect opposite of it. It is our duty to know both — for a perfect balance to our wisdom — as we recognize that, currently, this balance doesn’t exist in the martial arts educational world. When we know peace as well as we know violence, then we will have succeeded in our mission.

We will explore the ideas of Sustainable business practices. We will establish a code of ethics for all martial arts professionals. We will become the most proactive leaders in our communities — as we will be in the “business of making a difference” — in people’s lives, in our communities, and in our world. We will embrace voluntary simplicity (living a simpler life, by choice). We will shape our school’s promotional campaign away from crass commercialism and towards results-oriented activism. People will come to our schools because of the results we get — not just for promises we make.

We will LIFT ourselves into a new realm of intent and purpose — and for that we will earn the right to associate with an all new level of thinker and achiever. Our “masters” will be those people in the world who give, who think, who stand against injustice, who pursue equality and civil/human rights, who promote peace without taking lives unnecessarily, who choose the unselfish way — rather than the idea of profits first.

Our “masters” will be Nobel Peace Prize winners, environmental activists, peace workers, and people who have the guts and the vision to stand up for what is wrong in the world — but more importantly we will be guided and inspired by those who have the fortitude to take action against what is wrong in the world. We will become known for this very thing. It is the new engine that drives us — and it will be our intent to fill our schools with people who appreciate “self-defense” from this perspective.

The 100. isn’t an association that GIVES you everything (although it’s our intention to give you plenty of ideas and resources)..this is an organization that expects YOU to step up to the plate and contribute. We will require your energy, your resources, your intellect, and your willingness to explore “mastery” in an all new light. Each member of the team is important — and each is a member of a new, extended family.

Our policies: No negativity.
complaining without positive problem-solving action. Peaceful, intelligent, spiritual-based conflict resolution to all problems/challenges between members (as conflicts will arise — it’s how we deal with those that will set us apart).

Full participation in group events. Consistent communication — in a way that perfectly reflects what we ask of our students. An “open door” policy to all other members (your school is their school — your knowledge is their knowledge). And of course, we‘ll be uniting in effort for four to six major “projects” a year — that will shake the tree in your communities — make you men and women on a mission — and work as fuel for your unique selling proposition — and the knowledge that you are, indeed, making a difference in the world.

More to come — always more to come. We’ve only just begun.

Tom Callos
Date: May 26th, 2006
Title: News to the 100.My plan --one of many for the 100.
Each of you, team members, will be responsible to document 10 current projects (not old-old ones) in your PROJECTS PORTFOLIO.

With 100 schools (eventually)...we will eventually reach 1000 projects. When we've done a 1000 projects — we will then launch the STUDENT version...for your members.At 1000 community projects we will have some significant bragging rights...with our students involved...we will make history.

To see PROJECT PORTFOLIO pages, click on the pictures of members who have submitted them (hal, tom, jason).

Tom CallosDate:
May 24th, 2006
Title: To The 100. (secret message for ubbt enclosed too).
Team 100., (Message for UBBT members at the end of this e-mail) First off, thank you for your patience as this association gets it's wheels turning — my goals are complex ones, requiring a good deal of design work and thought....your financial support in this time of development is a gift...and I couldn't do this without you.It is as if we are pooling our resources to create something new — something that hasn't previously existed....and that "something" is a martial arts association and "movement" that is about sanity — and sustainable martial arts school management, and creating a career that offers us a sense of heroic mission.I want you to know I am absolutely confident that your membership in

The 100. is going to be one of the best martial arts experiences of your life (no kidding!). I know this because I have a vision of what we're going to accomplish that is crystal clear in my mind. I can see what we're moving away from — and what we're moving towards.In the next few months you will be witness to a new kind of martial arts school mission — and you'll see all new tools with which you can promote your school...these tools will speak of the dignity and power of the martial arts — and begin a process of redefining what a "martial arts education" is.

In the mean time, I have asked you to read two books and visit and read one website. Have you? Please do, as I need you to be up to speed on the ideas and concepts of peace education.This isn't going to be one of those associations that feeds YOU...this is something where each one of us is a vital link in the chain — and it is in each of us that the power of our ideas becomes something extraordinary. In the "perfect" association, YOU are as important as any other member.

We are out to create something that has NEVER existed in our industry...a movement of 100 "master teachers" combining their power, action, and intellects to become one hell of a powerful force...I am available, by phone, for you...almost 24-7...and I'd like to have an on-going dialogue with you about how you can get involved --and grow your school and career in the light of a new vision for the martial arts world. Call me.Much more to come...Tom

To UBBT Team Members: Teams, have I let you down in any way? It's a possibility, for sure --BUT, if I haven't...if you have seen the power and potential of this work, then I ask you to step up to the plate and join the 100 now.I need your financial backing to do my work. Consider your membership fee an investment in a new company where your return will give you a new set of tools and motivation and purpose like you've never seen...and I guarantee you that I am creating something that will blow your minds.If you have faith in my work and vision — I ask you to fork up $120 a month (I'll see to it that that investment is returned to you times 10) and join The 100.If you've been moved by the UBBT — if you recognize that there's been a plethora of new ideas and vision in the MA world because of it — then hold on to your horse...the best is yet to come.Yes, yes....it's all expensive (it almost always is) — but look to the return of being a part of something that helps you MAKE A DIFFERENCE in a history-making way.

Look at the family you've joined — look at the power of our movement.I ask you, now, for your emotional, financial, and spiritual support.I'm a man on a mission....Join me. Help. Participate. Support me and this association with your $4 a day.

Tom Callos
Date: May 13th, 2006
Title: It occurred to me....
There's a song by the Counting Crows called "Round Here" — and there's a line that says, "Round here we talk just like lions, but we sacrifice like lambs..." It occurred to me that this is what we do (as an industry). We often talk like lions of our value and of so many benefits to studying the martial arts — but all too often, we sacrifice the potential of what we do — giving it up for misguided ambition, outdated or insufficient principals ("never make an unjust kill" — for example), or the unbalanced pursuit of "success" — using a model that — almost — worked for our parents, but is now painfully obsolete.

Ueshiba writes in The Art of Peace: "The real art of peace is not to sacrifice a single one of your warriors to defeat an enemy. Vanquish your foes by always keeping yourself in a safe and unassailable position; then no one will suffer losses. The Way of the Warrior, the art of politics, is to stop trouble before it starts. It consists in defeating your adversaries spiritually by making them realize the folly of their actions.

The Way of the Warrior is to establish harmony." and "The Art of Peace is to fulfill what is lacking." — When we begin to tackle the issues most important to today's world — we will not only become the "educators" we would like to be, but we will talk — and walk — like lions...perhaps fulfilling our potential for positive changes in people — and in the world. I don't know exactly how to proceed — but I do recognize that more than 80% of the "material" and ideas being distributed by the leaders in the "business industry" of the martial arts is about the business of business...and what we're looking for is the business of making such a difference in the world that people can't stop themselves from being a part of what we do.

It won't come from the "systems" we implement, it will originate with our philosophy, intent, ambition, and sense of mission and responsibility. We will live it, talk it, teach it — and see what happens. We will dwell in the loftiest of ideas — and turn our powers and influence into something remarkable.

All of the instructors and business people who've come before us have laid down a foundation for us to operate from. The systems are in place — and now the product must be refined — but not to feed the system, but to empower and educate the individual — and instill the belief that one person can make a difference — and must. This is "talking like a lion" — and to keep from "sacrificing" like a lamb, I need to inspire you to think bigger — outside of the dojo — outside of your wealth — outside of your current understanding — outside of the status quo.

You didn't become a professional martial artist by bending to public or parental opinion (they probably thought you were whacked)...you're a rebel of sorts — so don't start sucking up to the system now. Stay a rebel — and "think wrong" if you must — but THINK. And after you've thought awhile, DO SOMETHING that reflects your true self — and your unlimited potential.

Tom Callos
Date: May 5th, 2006
Title: 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.

Tom Callos
Date: April. 2006
Title: This, by the way, Teams, is what's known as a WOW.

The thought....the message....the mission....the method.This kind of thing — the sense of "heroic mission" is what — in a perfect world — I would like my students to feel. That they are doing what they're doing not just for themselves, but for others — and that "it" is something that must be done.If we could tap into this — even just at 10%...5% even!

What would we do — and what would it do to us?I think we (as an "industry") have spent FAR too much time coming up with intro strategies, lead generation, and upgrade strategies — and not nearly enough time on driving the engine with a sense of mission.I know, from experience, the difference between "success" without vision — and success as a result of a purpose-driven mission. It's like the difference between being in love and faking it...like the difference between the way one feels when they see another parent's child fall off the monkey bars from across the park — and the feeling one has when it's his or her own child.

They both create reaction — but one is painful and the other is....eviscerating.I don't know exactly HOW to inspire you to find your mission — but, for me, this is a pursuit I feel is worthy of my (our) time and effort.

To see these three young filmmakers launch this campaign is paramount to what it was to see Bruce Lee perform at the Internationals in 1964. It's like living in the Honbu Dojo and experiencing Ueshiba's teaching.Do you see it? Do you recognize the extraordinary when it materializes? My friends, this is the energy and power I'd like to see you apply to your own school — your own test — your own sense of mission. This is the "Master's Olympics."To the 100 and the UBBT teams:http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php http://www.leadernotes.com/2006/04/how_to_raise_500000_from_middl.html

Tom Callos
Date: April. 2006
Title: 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.

The 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