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

From Tom Callos to the Teams!

Good evening teams,

There a lot happening, behind the scenes in the UBBT and, yes, even in The 100. Let me tell you what I’m doing, first:

I’m hard at work trying to get the 100 site up and functioning. It’s a lot of work with programmers and designers –but it’ll all be worth it in the long run. It’s sort of like NAPMA –which took a while to launch... Your financial support during this period is greatly appreciated. In this case the “founding members” of the group REALLY deserve credit…and you’re making the ship move.


The UBBT is moving along. You know, it’s all about collecting a team. When the right people are present, magic happens. The “right people” are those who commit themselves to the task at hand (whatever that is). Get capable people WITHOUT commitment, and the ship sinks. I’d wager that untalented people –who HAVE commitment, could outshine the opposite. (A lesson there for your own school teams)

In the UBBT the idea is to make a personal breakthrough –and then a Team breakthrough. In fact, the idea is to “breakthrough” in all areas of one’s life: personally; financially, emotionally, intellectually, etc.

What we’re doing, in the “big picture” is revitalizing the martial arts “industry.” We’re re-organizing and redesigning our methods. We’re redefining what it is to seek –and be –a “master teacher.” We’re laying a foundation for the next generation. We’re taking matters, quite literally, into out own hands.

Do you know what YOU have to do –as a part of these teams?

First, you have to train as hard and consistently as you ever have in your life. As you must be as good a representative of physical martial arts prowess as you possible can.

Second, you must undergo a mental transformation –kind of like you’re in a Master’s Program as a top university. You must spike the ol’ LEARNING CURVE. What to learn? Peace Education and Environmental self-defense (that’s where I’d have you start –but it’s really up to you). I’d also suggest that you turn off that stupid *#&#)$_) TV –and hit the books and lecture circuit.


You must undergo an emotional transformation. No more anger –no more frustration –no more apathy –no more bias and prejudice and opinionated misgivings. Get your “master” stuff together and start ACTING like one.

You are expected to pursue the spiritual side of your life. I don’t know what that means for you ---but we WILL NOT have a bunch of senior martial arts masters walking around with NO spiritual training. No, that won’t do.

You are expected tohave a breakthrough year –on all levels. You’re expected to bite off the big chunk ---face the demons –face the fears –do the unthinkable, the unbelievable.

If you’re not willing to go thru the fire –then, my friends, you absolutely are hanging out with the wrong crowd (especially me, as I don’t want to tolerate any more mediocrity among people I expect to be HEROES.

Behind the scenes, people on these teams are sitting idle or formulating (and living) excuses or they are making haphazard progress (but progress nevertheless) or steady progress or breakthroughs. BUT, when it’s all said and done, and these UBBT’s go down in martial arts history –you will remember your contribution –or lack thereof.

I hope you’re know for what you DID –not what you did not do. I hope you SHOW your students and all other teachers what it means to be a BLACK BELT –and a senior martial artist.

Come on all you novice black belts –make these old men and women, these sagely “veterans” of the martial arts –come on, SHAME them. Show them what it is to be young and hungry and willing to go the extra mile.

And you, all of you old timers –don’t let these KIDS show you up! Show em what we’re made of! What we lack in athletic enthusiasm, we’ll make up with absolute brilliance –with perseverance –and with BRAIN power.

Don’t let one little 12 to 24 month training coarse make you tap out. GET ON IT. Let’s show the world that martial arts “master teachers” really DO exist –and that they’re capapale of producing the extraordinary in everything they touch.

Some “Ultimate Black Belt Test” if the black belts in it fail to produce even the minimum. What a sad statement for the state of the martial arts leadership-world…and what an opportunity for the next generation to establish its path.

I, for one, am going to keep pushing. I’m going to keep thinking. I’m going to keep nurturing other pushers and thinkers. They are sorely needed in an industry gone astray –in a world gone astray. Maybe we can actually make the study and practice of the martial arts MEAN something –again.

Tom

Tom-Cast No. 1 To UBBT Team

Sound and Vision

August 24, 2006

Good morning teams,

The following comments may take a few minutes to read. I wrote it all, this morning, in my normal “stream of consciousness” style –and I believe it offers both insights into what we are doing –and gives voice to why we are involved together at this time and place.

As you may be aware of, we are on the edge of a new educational “era” in the martial arts community. Our work in the UBBT –and the work that the 100 is beginning, has brought –and will usher in --an entirely new/old dimension to the what, how, and why of the martial arts –being a professional teacher –and our “path” as martial artists.

I write “new/old” as there might be no better way to describe this blending of universal concepts (peace education, sustainability, environmental self-defense, personal development, voluntary simplicity, cutting edge technology, global awareness-participation, web-based education/community, meditation, etc…) with the methods and intent of our collective work. Does that make sense? Do you recognize the shift in our thinking and actions? Can you see where, based on the last 20 years in “martial arts industry education”, we are making a radical “shift” in intent and method and purpose?

It’ very clear to me that we are changing; Now, what direction we will eventually head…I’m not exactly sure. I do know, however, that the glory days of “business method education” like we’ve seen from EFC, NAPMA, MAIA, and others --is over. They will continue to play a significant role in providing education and resources for the martial arts community, but there is a new “movement” among school owners/master teachers (and up-and-comings) towards ideas and intent with more “universal” meaning and purpose. It might best be described using college-metaphors: Business education is the Freshman and Sophomore years –the work we’re doing is what comes after that.

I believe I am, at the moment, the leader of this “movement” ---however, I will very soon (if not already) be just one of many people who embrace --and take action on --the kind of martial arts education and direction I’m eluding to. Already we are collecting a group of thinkers and doers who are taking action in their own schools and communities in all new and interesting ways. Already we are beginning to “think globally” about the purpose and methods and education in the martial arts community –while “acting locally” to see the ideas manifest themselves in new and more-relevant/important programs, curriculum, --and results.

All of this is that “small turn of the steering wheel” I’ve mentioned in our talks. It may, right now, not seem like a big turn in direction ---but down the road we are going to find ourselves in an all new (and I think, BETTER) place.

What I’m hoping for is to collect a team of highly motivated and intelligent people ---action-takers, thinkers, creators ---who can collectively contribute to this “movement” that’s based on education and expansion of what the martial arts are all about. I think that in the long-run (and maybe immediately) we will see a broadening of our market (for students) and certainly we will feel and experience the thrill and power of creating a kind of work that speaks to the soul….that we know and recognize as “the master’s work” –and that is both therapy and solution…work that follows The Way so clearly that it empowers and energizes us in all sorts of extraordinary ways.

I don’t yet have a clear vision of how it will all come about or where it will lead, but I know for certain that I must proceed in this direction. All that I knew and cared about in the martial arts, you know, WHY I trained, WHY I attended classes, WHY I sought to be a teacher…all of this has evolved to where I am now. I don’t know about you, but I can’t go back. The business methods and the methods for promotion and the curriculum and the dialogue and the leadership and the motivations and intent in the present-day martial arts community, well…it no longer speaks to me as it once did. Now something new calls –it gets me up at 4 am, like this morning, it’s tugging on my brain and my spirit. Something bigger, something more important, something that makes more impact in the world –that raises peoples awareness. In it’s simplest form, you might call it a “new definition of self-defense training.” It is certainly a new definition of the term “martial arts education.”

The UBBT and the 100 depends on its members. If you guys and gals step up in every way you can, we will make history. If you use these programs to find the motivation to get in the best shape of your lives, then we will stand as representatives for the fitness-power of studying the martial arts. (OH, and the other element of this idea –is that you find the power to inspire all people you come in contact with to do the same. It’s not enough for us to serve as role-models ---we must inspire and mobilize [management] others. If it’s only about “us” and our personal growth, I think we will lose a most important ingredient to our long-term success and global-impact).

If you folks pursue the meditation and the much-needed expansion of the “spiritual” side of the martial arts/life ---then we will be taking back some of what the yoga world has embraced (and flourished with), something we had once in the martial arts community, but which had become displaced –and we will be leader in a revival of the esoteric aspects, the grounding aspects, the “feed your soul” aspects, the “wake up and live in the here and now –the in-the-moment” aspects of the serious study of The Way of the martial artist (The way of the Peaceful Warrior?).

If you men and women embrace Project Based Leadership and other forms of “martial arts activism” (defined as seeing the philosophy of the martial arts [read: life] manifest itself in the lives of our students –but OUTSIDE of our schools and outside of anything that has to do with kicking and punching), you will usher in a new unique selling proposition for the martial arts industry –which will shift the way we promote our schools –and CERTAINLY, the results we get from our work. PBLT and related ideas could give the martial arts an all new face –and all-new role in the world. We all know the real bullies in the world aren’t people ---they are empowering and selfish attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. We all recognize that in today’s world we don’t necessarily need “self-defense” from kicks and punches –as much as we need defense from apathy, ignorance, prejudice, violence-thinking, environmental degradation, conspicuous consumption, unwholesome dietary habits, junk food, junk thinking, and so on. The difference in our thinking, right now, is that WE can actually DO SOMETHING about all of this. That we might actually MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the world, based on how and what and why we TEACH. This, I believe, is part of the major shift in our thinking and action that I’m writing/talking/teaching about.

If all of you embrace PEACE EDUCATION and actually become the leaders in your communities for teaching non-violence education and anger management and other forms of clear and sustainable thinking ---well let me tell you, we will automatically take an all new –and vitally important role in our communities and the world. Need I say to you “a more valuable role” too? There is a mile-wide gap in each of our communities --that gap is an educational one, that we might fill. We can become the teachers for some of the things that are missing in the world ---that cause so many so much pain. We can become a integral part of THE VILLAGE that raises healthy, productive, centered, compassionate men and women. We are not “the answer” ---but we can become a vital part of the educational system that helps the world be a better place. What more could we ask for?

At the moment we are, I think, something LESS than what represents our potential. At the moment we are UFC fighters, mixed martial artists, fitness instructors, self-defense teachers, school owners, traditional karateka, black belts, seminar leaders, association heads, chief instructors, and all the other titles that don’t reflect the size and scope and power we might embrace if we all evolved and pursued the idea of “mastery” more intently. We’re going to have to define and redefine what a “master of the martial arts” is ---and then pursue it the way Martin Luther King pursued the ideas of civil rights –the way Thich Nhat Hahn and The Dalai Lama pursue the ideas of peace and compassion –the way the Cousteau family pursues ocean-awareness –the way Stephen Hawking pursues science –the way Armstrong attacked his beloved sport: with PASSION.

Why? FUN! PASSION! PURPOSE! MEANING! All the things that fuel our fires –that keep us young and alive and alert and interesting! How about relevant! And inspired and growing and learning! Yeah…those are the reasons WHY.

Ok, Team 3, you men and women must rise to an all-new place: physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually ----AND, you’re going to have to do it both alone and together. You need to get yourself training HARD and consistently –and then you need to fulfill your potential in the context of this program. DO THE WORK, now. BOND as a team and HELP each other. This is your chance to do what you said you would do. ARE YOU a martial artist? A leader? A visionary? A “role-model?” OR NOT? Get on it.

Team 3 –consider yourself members of Team 4 (and Team 1 and 2 while you’re at it). There is no separation with us; only the mission to make a difference and apply ourselves like the “Masters” we want and hope to be.

Team 4, you guys and gals are going to start on the effort and sweat equity of all the other teams. You’re going to take what’s been done already –and craft an even more amazing journey. You’re part of a family of people who believe we should do and be more.

YOU-TUBE: www.youtube.com is the UBBT of the communication world. You-Tube is an amazing cultural phenomenon. Get on the site and STUDY it. Eric Kastner (Alicia’s brother) will be a Team 4 member –and will be serving as a technical advisor to an all-new approach to our film-making adventure. Watch for more input from Eric in the coming weeks.

Why You-Tube? It’s immediate. It’s powerful. It’s an amazing connection tool for us –for our students –for our communities –and for the martial arts. It’s here and now and insanely affordable and easy. You will be creating an on-line video journal of your testing process. THIS WORK may become our “film” –and we’re looking for a kind of journaling and presence that gets hundreds-of-thousands, if not millions, of spectators to your journey. It takes the price of our film equipment from $4000 to between $40 and $400 (depending on your camera). Wow. It also means that we won’t be waiting a year or more for a film to “come out” ---our individual and collective journey airs almost immediately. We’ll know how many people are watching. We’ll hear from our audience, immediately. And if we are authentic in our quest, we will have the opportunity to teach and impact and inspire uncountable numbers of people.

On top of all that, if and when a film-deal falls upon us, by using You-Tube, now, we will all have become ultra-comfortable in front of a camera –communicating our ideas. This will serve us in many ways –let production people see what we’re capable of –and give us a huge leg-up when the opportunity arises. Preparedness is what makes for good luck. Best of all, your students and community can “tune-in” NOW and see what you’re doing / going thru / working for.

Ladies and gentlemen: Let the games begin.

Teams 1, 2, 3, and 4 -----now’s the time to ask yourself about HOW you can be or stay involved. Now is NOT the time to rest –now is the time to join and pitch in. Now is the time for 100 like-minded people to step up and, together, change the world as we know it.

If you think the martial arts are something “special” ---if you think being a “martial artist” is something important ---then let this be a wake-up call to MOVE ---NOW. Now is your time! You’re at that age ---you’re in the peak of your careers –WE ARE THE MASTERS of tomorrow –and the work we do today –will leave a legacy for those that follow us. We are the Joe Lewis’, the Jhoon Rhee’s, the Ernie Reyes’, the Bruce Lee’s , the Bill Wallace’s of the future. This is our arena! Education! Advancement of curriculum and methods and INTENT.

I think it’s our time. I can upon you to contribute to and support the work.

Rules:
NO Negativity –only contribution.
Respect for self and others –TEAM.
Perfect training –perfect diet –perfect thinking.
Participation no matter the obstacles.

Tom

Instructions for the UBBT 3 and 4 (and more)

About The Ultimate Black Belt Test

How
The UBBT is about accomplishing the gigantic, by breaking it down into little, bite-sized pieces. This is how one of your students becomes a black belt, becomes a doctor, becomes an engineer, becomes a great mother, father, friend, inventor –or what-have-you.

This is how YOU become a “master of the martial arts” ---which, in this day and age, seems like an impossible feat (Where are our role models? What are the standards?). By engaging in the DAILY training/learning requirements of the UBBT, you demonstrate to your students, and to yourself, exactly how one works on himself ---how one creates transformation, in any form, in one’s life.

All you have to do is get up and TRAIN; keep track of what you do; THINK “out of the dojo” ---and ACT like the teammate and student you want your students to be –your children to be –your mate to be --your friends to be –your employees to be. All you have to do is LIVE with passion and purpose and vision and SELF-DISCIPLINE.

And, most of all, two things:

1. Work on your attitude –by studying THE MASTERS and the work of masters.
2. No matter how hard it is, no matter how many times you drop the ball ---you get back on track and never, ever, ever quit. You don’t fail when you try –you fail when you fail to try.


Why You Do the UBBT

We’re doing the UBBT because there is something wrong with the martial arts “world.” We, collectively, are not reaching our potential. We are not fulfilling the promise of all the training –and the philosophy of the martial arts. We are living, for lack of a better term, a lie.

We are doing the UBBT because there is something wrong in the world. We, collectively, are not reaching our potential as human beings. We are not fulfilling the promise of all the abundance and philosophy in the world –we have become mired in life, so much so that we have nearly forgotten how to live.

The training is our car. The martial arts is our vehicle. The journey is for meaning, method, purpose, passion, and most of all –for clarity and enlightenment. Can we transcend the mundane? Can we wade through the advertising, the sex appeal, the trivial, the gossip, the ignorance, the misunderstandings, the mis-information, the anger, the FEAR, the aggression, the apathy, and see the simple? Can we find our center? Can we be Buddha? Christ? The Dalai Lama? Mother Theresa? Albert Einstein? Rosa Parks? Or anyone that holds the image and the ideals that move us? Can we make a difference in the world? Are we connected –or disconnected? Are we one? Is it our job to live as an example for others? What is The Way?

In the UBBT, in a perfect world, each participant would, literally, be “on a quest to be her best” ---a slogan we’ve all uttered, which is utterly meaningless unless embraced on a “cellular” level. But forget the UBBT –it’s not this program’s objectives you/we strive for, it’s LIFE’S objectives –it’s striving to be a fully conscious, aware, evolved, compassionate human being; that’s all we’re trying to be. To connect, through study and self-discipline, and ritual, and effort, and focus –to those things that keep us learning, asking, contributing, and growing.

In the UBBT, as in life, as in your school, as in your business, as in your thinking, whatever is difficult is your teacher. All the reasons you can’t –are why you must. All of your obstacles are your opportunities. All of your excuses are your enemies –is your thinking –is your downfall –is your education.

The UBBT has given you a very public forum with which to live out the drama of YOU trying to find purpose and clarity ---and most of all, to prove yourself as both student and teacher and man or woman –but that’s no difference than “life” –is it?

To succeed at the UBBT you train. You study. You learn. You get up off your ass, no matter how many times you get knocked on it. You learn from the masters. You don’t give in to excuses, you make solutions. You contribute. And TEACHER…You teach (thru your actions).

For the next year: There is a curriculum, which is very flexible. Get on it. Break it down into bite-sized pieces. Make everything a lesson (for yourself, your students, your community). Be one of the FEW who actually get up and DO something. DO the curriculum. Do the activities. DO the projects. Do the acts of kindness. DO the diet. Do the training.

BE the teammate that you want your students to emulate. BE the student you want your students, children, friends, to be. BE the man or woman you want to be. BE the “master teacher” in training? Be the ULTIMATE STUDENT. Be the ULTIMATE BLACK BELT.

That’s all you have to do.

Tom Callos

We Have Only Just Begun

Good morning UBBT and 100 Teams:

Know that whatever it is we are doing --whatever stance and/or actions we have taken --that we have only just begun.

Our understanding of mastery of peace of activism of making a difference in the world of compassion of love of the martial arts themselves ----all of this is in development. It's to become clearer as we age --as we experience --as we aim and push and pull and move towards The Way (whatever that is for you).

Note too that all of the above --these are the things that make your business FLY. It's not the promotions --it's not the systems --it's not your employee handbook, your sign, your location, your understanding of rotating curriculum ----it's your ability to live as if you were on a heroic journey --it's your striving for compassion and to be authentic --to be clear and participative.

MOST OF ALL it is your understanding that you are a TEACHER --and a student.

Maybe that's: STUDENT/TEACHER?

Steps to take (for those of you searching for business tips/direction):

1. Establish your MISSION. After the mission is clear --I mean as clear as your own face in the mirror, then how you communicate this MISSION TV mechanical (ads, tv, radio, demos, fliers, posters, etc.)

2. Make a product that EVERYONE NEEDS. And when you make it, create something that people can see and hear and feel immediate results with. Communicate that message in such a way as it drives it to the soul --to the guts --beyond the rational mind.

The rational mind understands "two-for-one" --and "summer special" and "50% off" and all of that. The guts feel genuine caring, compassion, love, empathy, and deep concern for the human condition.

3. The best thing you will ever do (in my opinion) is to sow the seeds of ACTIVISM (as in "taking action on those things you care about --those things you see that need doing") in your students. Imagine if you could inspire people to take action to improve the quality of their own lives --and then to their fellow man --and the world). That's something that should keep you VERY busy, very relevant, and in a mode where your work is your life's work (not just a job or the work you do to buy the things/experiences you really want to do).

More tips:

A. Return to the organic. Take as much of the plastic, the in-organic, the fake ---OUT of your school. Return to nature --and if you have to live some of your life in a box under florescent lights, then bring as much of nature in it as you can.

Choose organic colors, GO GREEN with your entire scene (green as in eco-friendly), bring the wood (salvaged and/or sustainable) into your school --bring plants, bring light and air.

Go ahead, try it! See what happens to the "feel" of your school.

Become a "Peaceful Warrior." Explore peace in all of it's forms. Remember when (for those of you who have been in the "industry" for some time) we were urging you to keep your statistics and adopt a 3-lesson introductory? Well, this is 100 times more important to your business future than any of that --you just can't see it yet.

Oh there's a LOT more --but let's start with these things, first.

Why? The future of our industry --and the quality of your awareness --and the genuine pursuit of some kind of personal mastery beyond the "business" of the martial arts ---beyond style and technique.

We have only just begun. How exciting!
Tom Callos

The Peace Book

http://web.mac.com/toddworld/iWeb/Site%203/Toddcast/238F77DD-9B5E-4DBA-8DD6-E31CA0859B30.html

Teams,

The link you see above is to Artist/Author Todd Parr's site --and a "Todd-Cast" where he reads his book, "The PEACE BOOK."

Not only do I like Todd's website, but I think this book addresses peace in a way that is easy and relevant. One of our (I mean, my) projects is to define what an "act of peace" is --as we can't really have an acts-of-peace program if we can't explain how to perform one (well, a LOT more than one).

Todd covers plenty of ground in his handsome little book --and he writes for a young audience that we also entertain in our schools.

Part of our (did I mean, My?) peace project is to define what a "Peace Education Center" is ---as you know, I'm asking each one of The 100 schools (ok, honestly? I'm asking everyone who is a fan of my work --or at all embraces the UBBT /100 / Acts of Kindness concepts) to embrace peace education in a powerful, proactive, and productive way ---and make his or her school a center for Peace Education....

Of course, I have to define what a "Peace Education Center" is ----and I've yet to do that...except to say that we talk about peace from a broad perspective --kind of like Todd. Having a large library of Peace books and films is a good start...and I'd like to suggest that you add Todd's book to your reading list (listen-list too)...

Today I'm reading Pema Chodron's book, Practicing Peace in Times of War --kindly sent to me by Shambala Press.

Anyway, visit Todd's site and see how we can start, very slowly, to make a difference in people's lives by embracing peace --no matter what kind of clothes it wears.

Tom

Out of the Dojo and into the World

I am not the first martial artist to engage in activism. I am, however, taking credit for the term "martial arts activist." It is my new "title" --and one I will gladly wear.

Becoming a martial arts activist and embracing activism, in one way or another --and as my primary focus, has deepened my ability to feel compassion, broadened my perspective of the world, and created a more profound purpose to my life.

I no longer separate the study and practice of the martial arts with the study and practice of living as a conscious and compassionate human being. When I say “martial arts,” I think "life." When I say “martial artist,” I think "human being."

The greatest teachers, regardless of the discipline, teach that we are all connected. Beyond race, religion, gender, geography, sexual preference, wealth or lack thereof --we are all one. The martial arts, as with life, is about opening and expanding one’s awareness. It is about recognizing the interdependence between all things, the micro and the macro, the left and the right.

I believe that it is our job, each of us, to live as an example to others. I feel a sense of responsibility to actively participate in the transformation of consciousness and behavior in the martial arts community --and subsequently, in the world.

I am asking other martial arts teachers to become activists too. We must engage with our communities, educate ourselves, and help alleviate the fear, ignorance, and prejudice which are often associated with our global emergencies --such as incurable diseases, abuse, poverty, sexual exploitation, and environmental destruction, to name only a few. Without our compassion, interest, time, money, voice, intelligence, or whatever we have to offer, change cannot happen --and tragically, fear, pain, discrimination, violence, and even death is perpetuated.

The 100 (http://www.onehundred.org/) is part of my contribution to these ideas.

(Special thanks to yoga teacher Seane Corn for helping me find the right words to express my ideas and feelings)

Sunday Morning Ideas About the Martial Arts and the Business of the Martial Arts

I don’t believe in the “power” of the martial arts.
I believe in the power to make change, the power of passion, the power of purpose, the power of courage and contribution and compassion ---and of course, I believe in the power of love for self, family, fellow man, for nature, and of wonder.

That is, of course, easy to say –but difficult to make manifest in my (your) day-to-day existence. This is, I think, “the practice.”

I don’t believe in the martial arts
The martial arts is architecture is art is science is invention is engineering is math is everything the world is. The martial arts represent another tool which people use to make love, war, science, beauty, pain, and what have you. Look at Frank Lloyd Wright and see Bruce Lee, see Jigaro Kano, see Buckminster Fuller, see Frieda Kahlo, see Albert Einstein, see Jhoon Rhee, see any man or woman who created, taught, inspired, and sought excellence and invention in the subject that called their name. The subject is irrelevant –the attitude and purpose behind it is the core. It’s the intent –it’s the following of the passion-- and it’s the desire to make, to create, to change, and at its highest levels --to inspire and make a difference in the world..

I don’t believe in styles
Let down the barriers you can perceive –forget about your “style,” forget about the country it originated in, forget about the martial arts, and see the world from as big a place as you can. Forget about the color of one’s skin, of their nationality, of what flag waves over their capital buildings; forget about their religion, their gender, their sexual preferences.

Whenever you hear “martial artist” –you hear or say “human being.” Whenever you hear “martial arts” –you hear or say “life.” There is no “martial arts” –there is only life and living. Spending your energy to be a master-level martial artist is a ridiculous pursuit –being an evolved, compassionate, empathetic, contributing human being –now there is something worth pursuing.

This is my “Business Advice” to you
Take all of the above, blend it (with crushed ice), add your own special ingredients, then slowly pour it over your business (your martial arts school, its curriculum, your promotional campaign, your black belt training, your own training) –or whatever else you care about –and I think THIS is the way to profit –to achieve “success,” to “get your gross up,” and to feel a kind of drive and purpose and passion that make you grateful to be alive.

We are (our “industry”) thinking TOO SMALL and we’re OFF COURSE
Let’s hear this (and more) out of the mouths of our “leaders” in the martial arts community. Let’s hear someone say, “We are being disrespectful to our planet, let’s do something about it.” Let’s hear them say, “We are massacring children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and all in the name of fear and hate and borders and religion and misunderstanding and greed…let’s DO something about it.” Let’s have the courage to talk about responsibility to nature, about the stupidity and evil of war and violence, of the absurdity of the distractions we pursue to avoid the things which really ought to have our attention. Let’s bring the integrity back to the martial arts (to life) by being the heroes we so admire.

If all of you are, indeed, pursuing “the martial arts” at its highest levels, then seek to define “mastery.” I, for one, am in the pursuit of mastery –and by looking for something… I think one is more likely to find it. I am not a “master” –I am actively involved in the discussion, the study of, the pursuit of, the idea that represents “the master’s work.” I’m not seeking to “become” a master –I’m seeking to create change and clarity in a way that indicates some degree of mastery (of clarity).

When I can bottle this (all of the above), and use it on the floor when I’m teaching my classes –I don’t need the ads…I don’t need the “renewal strategy”…I don’t need to phone script, the employee’s manual, the statistics, --all of those things become the clothing, not the person.

Let’s start tomorrow…with a deep awareness of what we consume –and the cause and effect of that consumption. Let’s teach what needs to be taught –not just what sells lessons, upgrades, and that builds “student retention.” Let’s start small and build momentum by engaging in a quality of thinking –and action –that represents the “power” we so often relate to the martial arts.

Our opportunity is to alter the intent and purpose of learning the martial arts –of its value as a form of “education.” If we do this, we can charge a rate for our lessons that supports our endeavors. We will also find some of the passion that fuels the fire of a business that transcends the meaning –and be teachers like the great, but simple, men and women (MASTERS) we all admire.