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 Making Three Wishes: A New Year’s Message to Martial Artists of the World
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Today, on the last day of the year (or the first day depending on where you live), I’m making three wishes for the international martial arts community.
I would like to ask everyone reading this message to embrace three ideas in 2009:
1) Forgives all enemies and all trespasses. From a pure “self-defense” perspective, hatred, grudges, and even dislike are far more destructive to the individual that holds on to them –than any punch or kick.
2) Connects the dots between self-defense and the environment, conspicuous consumption, and destructive consumerism. Unnecessary degradation of the environment, the overconsumption of crud we really don’t need, and the pastime of shopping for distraction causes suffering we really don’t need to live with.
3) MOBILIZE! I would love to see a million martial artists step up and bring REAL peace education, health education, and anger management to the world.
Oh, why stop with just three! I would also like to wish you a very prosperous and Happy New Year! I honestly believe that we (martial artists like us) can play a BIG role in making the world a better place. If we can’t do it, who can? With some love and lots of respect,
Tom Callos
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Martial arts bring focus
Friday, November 28, 2008
First, focus your eyes. Second, focus your mind. Third, focus your body.
These are the three laws of concentration and they’re part of taekwondo Master Reza Ghasry’s program to help children experiencing difficulty paying attention at school and in their social lives. He’s been using martial arts to help these children focus their minds and build the confidence they need to be successful in their everyday lives. Source: www.towncrieronline.ca
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A Note of Thanksgiving - for Tom Callos by Fariborz Azhakh
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tom thinks it's time for the martial arts industry to embrace a more worldly view of self-defense. When he talks about his vision of the martial arts industry of the future, he uses phrases like "martial arts education," "global consciousness," "environmental self-defense," and "authentic leadership training." Well, I know a LOT of martial arts instructors; few of them ever use these kinds of words in conjunction with the arts - and even fewer tackle the kind of work Tom seems to always be involved in. - [More»]
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Joe Hyams, Best-selling Author and Martial Arts Pioneer, Dies at Age 85
Monday, November 10, 2008
Joe Hyams (June 6, 1923 - Nov. 8, 2008)
Best selling author of Zen and the Martial Arts -and numerous other books, Hollywood insider, and veteran martial arts enthusiast, Joe Hyams passed away, of natural causes, on November 8, 2008.
During his long entertainment career, Joe Hyams was the Los Angeles Bureau Chief and Hollywood columnist for the New York Herald Tribune and also actor Humphrey Bogart's best friend.
Joe Hyams took up fencing lessons in the 1950's and through those classes he met film music composer Bronislau Kaper. In 1958, Kaper introduced him to Ed Parker, who was teaching Kenpo in the weight room in Beverly Hills Health Club. Mr. Hyams became one of Ed Parker's first private students and also one of Mr. Parker's first black belts.
Joe Hyams was the first person to introduce Bruce Lee into the Hollywood community. He helped Bruce Lee, with whom he trained privately get a foothold in Hollywood during Bruce's struggling years. Mr. Hyams trained with Bruce Lee for two years, and when Bruce left for Hong Kong to pursue his film career, he suggested that Joe learn from Jim Lau, who trained him in Wing Chun.
A thorough treatment of Mr. Hyams life and times is being prepared by his protégé, martial arts writer and editor John Corcoran. - [More»]
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JAPAN'S LIVING LEGEND (Hidetaka Nishiyama) DIES AT 80
Monday, November 10, 2008
It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of one of the world's greatest Karate masters, Hidetaka Nishiyama. Sensei Nishiyama was 80 - and passed after a long battle with cancer. Mr. Nishiyama dedicated his life to the Budo principles on which his beloved Martial Art of Traditional Karate is based. As a Charter Member of the Japan Karate Association and founding President of the Japan Karate Association International of America and the International Traditional Karate Federation, his influence on the modern day practice of Traditional Karate is unparalleled. - [More»]
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This year your life will change, for the better.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
This year your life will change, for the better. This year your life will change, for the better. This year you will have more influence with your students –and in your community –than you have ever enjoyed before. This year you will save someone’s life. This year you will simplify –so that your life isn’t ruled by things, by name brands, by the desire to shop, own, acquire, and consume; this year you will, as if you died and then had a second chance to live again, begin to appreciate what is genuinely important about living. This year you will shed the pain you have been carrying. This year you will step-up in an extraordinary way to bring peace, compassion, empathy, and wisdom to the world. You may not change things for the better single-handedly, but you will do your part to the best of your ability. This year you will be part of a large group of people who are seeking to make being a “black belt” and/or a “master instructor” MEAN SOMETHING important, something vital, something heavy with integrity, purpose, and mission. This year you will transform yourself into the person you want to be –and you will do it one day at a time. This year you will be in the here and now –as often as you can be aware of, as often as you can pinch yourself to remember, as often as is humanly possible. This year you will stop eating abundant amounts of sugar and processed food; you will be more aware of the connection between what you consume and how you think and feel. This year you will forgive all trespasses. You will let go of all hate, misunderstandings, and grievances. This year, you will forgive and forget. This year you will change your school’s curriculum to reflect wisdom, vision, and your mission as a human being; this year you will begin to teach the most important mental, emotional, and spiritual ideas –transcending the standard fare of the martial arts. This year, whether you make more money –or less, you will live with a sense of joy, with a sense of “I am here for a reason –and it is to serve others,” and each morning you will awake, take a deep breath, say your prayers of thanks, and begin your day with a sense of purpose far and beyond simply “making a profit.” This year you will practice being a true “master.” Every year I invite a group of martial arts teachers, school owners, and students to join me in a project called The Ultimate Black Belt Test (UBBT). The UBBT is about living as a martial artist –but in a new way, a way that reflects something more than the kicks and punches of the martial arts; a way that transcends the “phone call,” the “intro,” the “black belt club,” and the profit and loss statement; a way that suggests the rank of “black belt” is meant to be something more than an incentive to pay for a course, something more than a piece of cloth and a certificate. In the UBBT we seek to come together as a team, regardless of age, rank, style or system, and do, together, what would be impossible for any one of us to do individually. We’re working on changing and improving the entire martial arts world. We’re bringing new methods, new meaning, and a sense of mission to the martial arts that expresses our potential as human beings. While people are capable of amazing things, they all too often do nothing, nothing at all about making a difference in the world. They sit back and watch, they sit idle and do as little as possible, self-absorbed - somehow justifying their inactivity. In the UBBT we seek to BE AND DO something that reflects the best of what we are capable of. It’s not easy, but we must begin somewhere. By BEING "that kind of black belt" --we hope to leave a trail for others to follow. We predict the martial arts of the future will be a richer, more interesting, more meaningful activity --and that someday "being a black belt" will carry with it a sense of responsibility that reflects those things that are best about the world --and about life. Real self-defense is recognizing our connectivity -and showing a deep respect and appreciation for self and others. Someday, black belts will not only be fine examples of the physical skills taught in their various styles, they will also be roles models of the best of the best of humanity. This year I invite you to be a black belt, to be a martial artist in an all new light. - [More»]
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Practicing Mastery and YOUR School
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Getting a Grasp on How to Practice Mastery is One of the Best Things you Can Do for Your Martial Arts School
Call me old fashioned, but I still believe the best thing a martial arts teacher can do for his or her business is to BE the best darned martial artist he or she can be.
And note: I'm not talking about "best in your school or town good," "tournament champion good," "ring good," or get nominated to the "Universal Black Belt Grand Canyon Hall of Fame good." I'm talking about "transcend the martial arts good." I'm talking about the kind of martial artist that Rosa Parks would give up her bus seat for; the kind of martial artist that garners grants from groups that give money to people doing amazing work in the world.
I'm talking about the kind of martial artist that doesn't let anger and hatred or other destructive kinds of thinking invade and/or infect his or her life; the kind of black belt who truly understands the -real -enemy.
Call me unrealistic, but I think all of this damned torturous training is supposed to be for something that's more important than getting fit, earning belts, and winning medals. Oh, and it's not to learn how to upgrade my students to the Grand Vital World-Famous Master's Leadrship Club, either. I haven't studied this long and hard to see it boiled down to some sales pitch for a long term course, franchise, new Corvette payment, or Rolex. Please!
 I think that, if properly taught and/or directed, the serious practitioner of the martial arts ought to start making a connection between state of mind and outcome, between fear and action, between clarity and confusion, and between compassion and happiness.
It's like the Ring, Only BIGGER.
For those of you who were competitors, do you remember the clarity that a 3-minute performance provided you with?
Whether it was a fight or a form, you trained HARD for that 3 minutes (and maybe a few others). You focused on that little bit of time and space and you fired it up!
Man, if life were only that small, only that simple, only that easy.
The ring gives you this small place to focus on; the rules provide you with clear boundaries and objectives. But the POINT of the game was not just to win -it was to show you, in a very practical way, how focus, concentration, goal-setting, effort, and clarity could give you power and purpose. You were supposed to learn how to plan, engage, and execute.
The BIG LESSON should have been about taking that learning experience and making the "ring" bigger -like as big as your family, as big as your career, as big as your circle of influence, as big as your community, as big as the world, as big as your ability to make a difference.
In the ring you focus on the task at hand. The audience doesn't distract you. The advertisements hanging on the bleacher's railings don't call to you; the negative energy from your opponent and his or her helpers don't detour you.
So what's the connection between the ring and mastery?
It's in defining what you want. What do you want to accomplish? What is your personal definition of mastery? How does it translate to your "daily training?" And are you smart enough, resourceful enough, creative enough, focused enough, compassionate enough, and disciplined enough to expand the ring to represent the remainder of your finite period of time left here on the planet?
The pursuit of mastery, relevant to your potential, is -I believe -the root system of the tree that bears the fruit that sustains your school and -very likely --your life.
If you don't focus on mastery -then you ignore the roots and spend an inordinate about of time on that which is visible, yes? If a tree doesn't have deep roots, what happens to it in the first big storm?
Mastery is about controlling anger, practicing detachment from illusion, expanding one's empathy and compassion for others. It's about making contribution (adding to, not taking away from); it's about awareness; it's about self-control and respect and courage to be different when you must -and the same when it's time to be the same. I also believe mastery is connected to simplicity.
I really don't know everything -if much - about mastery -but I recognize the power that the study and practice of things that bring about clarity and awareness and global consciousness brings to me. I can HEAR the words of masters -and I believe they are talking about a kind of thinking and clarity that I have, on more than one occasion, experienced as a practitioner of the martial arts. And everything in my life keeps pointing to the idea of mastery -the way everything used to, when I was younger, point to the mat and the competitive arena.
Getting a grasp on what mastery is, to you -and to masters -and the idea of beginning to PRACTICE mastery, on a day-to-day basis, is I believe, one of the best things you can do for your school, for your students, and for yourself.
My work with The Ultimate Black Belt Test -and the association, The New Way Network-is dedicated to exploring the idea of mastery for the individual and as a collective force for good, for clarity, and more contribution and meaning.
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Your Students Become Limited By Your Limits
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
On the whole –and I speak for myself here too, we ask very little of ourselves. We do very little for our fellow man. We are absorbed in our business, in our things, in our personal drama, and in our desire (conscious or unconscious) to conform. As "martial arts masters" –and in general, there is absolutely NO CALL to rise, no call to perform, no call to unite or make change or DO ANYTHING. Our profession asks very, very little of us. We have no universal physical "standards" of performance. We have no reading or educational requirements. We have no expectations of activism, involvement, and/or anything that borders on "work for humanity." There is no martial arts master-teacher's journal or magazine speaking out against violence or war or consumerism –or for peace or social consciousness or advanced education or even higher standards of performance. As a result, we ask very little of our students. I think that our "industry" –that is, the business entities that survive on our commerce, the business entities that provide most of us with the tools we think we need to achieve "success," --promotes a superficial, politically inoffensive, dumbed-down set of standards for martial arts teachers. For the most part, the men and women who seem to be leading the "martial arts industry" are cemented into a 20th Century definition of success –the success of hoarding wealth, of driving it, of living in it, of wearing it on your wrist, of shopping for it, and of using it as a measure of achievement and quality of life. Personally, every hero I look up to in my life, both living and no longer living, have asked me in one way or another to refocus my thinking from accumulating overt wealth to accumulating the tools to make a difference for my fellow man. The more deeply I look at my practice the more simple
my needs become. So, let this note be a call to you. Are you a teacher? Are you on a path seeking some sort of "mastery?" Are you willing to step up, this year, now, and fix that which needs to be fixed? Will you explore with me, for the coming year, a new definition of "martial artist?" Of "master teacher?" I am calling you to be a part of a revolution in thinking and action.
I am looking for 50 teachers who are willing to ask more of themselves ---so much more of themselves that they risk inspiring the next generation of martial arts teachers. I'm looking for 50 teachers who would be willing to bring along 20 students each –so that we collect 1000 men and women for a one-year action-oriented exploration of a new kind of martial arts –for a new world. We will get fit; we will do more than one-million acts of kindness; we will do 1000 community-based projects; we will simplify; use less –and enjoy MORE. We will connect with people who don't live near us physically, but who we join with emotionally –and in recognition of our collective influence. For the Ultimate Black Belt Test 6 I'm looking for 50 teachers who will "Proceed and BE Bold" with nothing more than a connection to the
Internet –and the willingness to take LOTS of action, personally, with and for others, for the "martial arts industry," and for the world. I'm calling you out –to join one of the few, if not the only, martial arts movement of its kind in the world. With your help, we can establish a new set of standards for what it to be –and live as –a black belt and a master teacher in today's world. Your/our limits --affect the limits of our students. Let's blow the lid off of our limits. WE CAN DO BETTER. Tom Callos 530-903-0286 - [More»]
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writing about the martial arts in a way that nobody else does
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Come Monday –or any day you decide –you may wake up and realize that you have a new job, a duty, an obligation, and/or a mission. The subject is "self-defense," the definition of which is the key issue.
As a martial arts teacher –and a member (recognize it or not) of the international martial arts community, I present you with the opportunity to be something more than a fitness teacher, something more than a teacher of the arts of physical self-defense, more than an instructor in some classical or eclectic martial art, and something far more than a school owner with a particular gross income and student count and tax obligation.
Self-defense, in today's world, has little or nothing to do with kicks, punches, grappling, and bo-staff training. These aspects of the martial arts are the bowl that holds the mix –they are not "the cake." Self-defense in today's world is contained in what we do –or do not –consume.
It is in our beliefs about ownership, about conflict, about relationships, about people with fewer resources that you or I, it is about anger and diet and attitude and community and the environment.
A young instructor inexperienced in life, without the understanding and knowledge that comes with life-experience, may have some difficulty in grasping this idea. Age and experience brings the appreciation of what is to have failures and lost dreams, with the burden and gift of being a parent, with the inevitability of losing those you love, and with the crazy brutality and injustice of war, of prejudice, of hatred, and of greed.
Without the educational foundation of history, of philosophy, and of all the things you learn along the path –a young martial arts teacher can be unaware of the value of everything on the periphery of "martial arts" that is not contained in the movements and techniques –and that is not practiced "on the mat" (and this doesn't, of course, apply to all young instructors, as some people are born aware).
If this last statement rings true to you –then perhaps you are ready to become a martial arts teacher cut from a new –and different –cloth. Perhaps you are ready to be a martial arts teacher with a sense of mission and obligation to the world.
To begin, you must first appreciate and understand that to be a MASTER teacher, you are not going to find your skills easily, nor will they come to you in a best-selling book, a box, a video, or in a weekend certification seminar. You're going to have to wake up and work and experience and network and be a part of something bigger than your "business" –something bigger than "the ring" or the arena.
Start with teaching anger management –and start that by really studying the subject ww.angercoachonline.com). Move from there to embrace diabetes education (www.defeatdiabetes.org). Why diabetes? Well, besides the fact that it will touch the lives of 1 in 3 children in the next decade, it could be ANY health subject; your job is to become a master of integrating various topics, intelligently, into your school's curriculum and educational materials. From there you should develop the most active and visible acts-of-kindness program in your community.
You must OWN this topic.
Next, tackle an aggressive environmental self-defense program. Read "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv –and integrate environmental education with unstructured outdoor play with your students. From there, custom design your own Ultimate Black Belt Test Program –and start living a real master teacher.
I have lost of idea, tactics, and strategies for making all of the above the very things that bring students to your schools.
Should you, Monday morning or any morning wake up and recognize that you are being called to action (and that it's going to make what you may do for a living a LOT more fun and rewarding), please don't hesitate to contact me.
Tom Callos 530-903-0286
The New Way Network
The UBBT 6 (taking members now)
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Bruce Lee 35th Anniversary Celebration
Monday, July 21, 2008
Few might know that one of the world's fastest martial artists -- the sinewy, U.S.-born Bruce Lee -- once used the basement as his first training studio.
Now, on the 35th anniversary of his death, his family wants to honor his physical prowess, love of philosophy and noted acting career with a multimillion-dollar museum in the Seattle area.
Drawings for the free-standing building and remembering his legacy were part of a three-day celebration during the weekend at the Seattle Art Museum.
For more information please view:
http://www.martialinfo.com/articles/bruce_lee_35th_anniversary.asp
or
http://www.bruceleefoundation.com
- [More»]
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Your Black Belt Test
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Your black belt test, in any style of martial arts, is your Olympics. From the first day you stepped on the mat, you began preparing for your test,
whether you were aware of it or not.
On the day you test for your black belt, you want to be at your absolute best, your peak; and going through the test should be like crawling through a long tunnel between one world and the next, like a birth; a rebirth. When you come to the other side, you should be changed; from that day on you are a new person.
When you practice your martial arts, whether you're in your first week of lessons or a veteran of a thousand classes, knowing your test is coming up, that you are preparing yourself, that that day's training session is connected to your test, gives you direction. You train with intention, with purpose and a sense of mission.
Every part of your life, every relationship, everything you consume, every thought, every action, every movement contains in it something
that has to do with your test.
You are in training.
You are preparing yourself.
Getting ready for your black belt test requires that you become a representative of the martial arts. You represent the truth of it –or its frivolity. You represent every master teacher of every style of every school since the beginning. To everyone around you, you should represent the seriousness of theundertaking. It is more than your formal education, it is more than a contest, it is more than getting your degree, passing the Bar or getting married or any other event in your life.
This is your black belt test, this is the event that requires you to practice ten-thousand repetitions, to dig deep, to be consistent, to train and train and
train until the connections in your brain are so strong, so time-tested, and so automatic that the space between thinking and doing is eliminated.
Every toe knows its exact place.
The foot is aligned, perfectly, as is the knee, the hip, the torso, the shoulders, the head, and the eyes. Like a master carpenter yielding a hammer, your hands, feet, elbows, and knees follow an exact path; they hit their targets with exact precision, with surprising force, with confidence that can only be born from practice. Your movement isn't just movement, it is integration, it comes from your center, and your balance is perfect.
You could do it all backwards, blindfolded, against one or more people, in the dark, on the grass, in the water, or anywhere, anytime, with or without a proper warm up.
When you test for your black belt, you are what you have shaped yourself to be. You have adjusted for any limitations and injuries. You move with a confidence that comes from repetition, from practice, from awareness, from intent, and from your breath.
In your preparation, no stone has been left unturned.
You ran the extra mile, you eliminated the unhealthy from your diet, you studied the best of the best, and you shaped and forged and worked on your movement. For you, it is all about the technique -and nothing about the technique. Something drives you that is not your muscles.
When you test for your black belt, even your mistakes are polished.
When you fall you flow, when you get hit, you embrace, when you tap, you win with a smile. You're not hard on yourself, you don't get angry; you
cope, you adjust, and you accept.
You have worked through the mistakes.
You have worked through the frustration and the anger and the injuries.
The earlier you recognize the value of training for your black belt test, the better.
The earlier you begin, the better. Preparing for your test shapes your experience; it makes you a better person. When other people are easily distracted, you are focused. When others eat without purpose, you choose a diet that prepares you for your training.
When others give into anger, you see it as a chance to practice your control.
You're in training to be a black belt.
A professionally trained dancer carries with her a sense of center, of style, of confidence that lasts her entire life.
A West Point graduate has a certain posture, an attentiveness and sense of confidence that shines –regardless of the time that has passed since
graduation. A black belt who approaches his or her training with mission and seriousness –carries the experience to the grave.
You prepare for your black belt test with everything you have. When you do that, the experience serves you, it is rich, it is life-shaping, and it brings
to you skills that you might never have acquired any other way.
Approach your black belt test, starting today, with these ideas in mind. When you step on the mat, remember where you are headed. Make your practice go deep –and then deeper, and then deeper yet. Put as much focus and energy into your hour of practice as you put into anything you do in your life.
-- Tom Callos
530-903-0286
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A letter to parents - from an old martial art teacher
Thursday, July 17, 2008
To Mom and Dad
A letter to parents - from an old martial art teacher - about martial arts lessons and children. By Tom Callos
I'm going on 50 years old, which really isn't that old, but to talk to you about what a child, your child, stands to learn from taking martial arts lessons, it's old enough. I took my first lesson at the age of 9, received by first degree black belt at 19, and this year I will celebrate my 30th year of teaching and assistant teaching the martial arts.
I'm going to condense my experience into a few hundred words for you; the goal is to give you the 30-year perspective on what I have learned as a
result of my training - and what I know your child will learn, should you decide to make the martial arts a part of his or her life. In some ways, martial arts schools are all the same. Each school is going to be contained in some kind of space, like a shopping mall, a free-standing building, a room in a gym, in an office building, a garage, or maybe on a stretch of lawn in a park or in someone's backyard. What makes
a martial school great is not the space it is in, although as parents we want the school to be clean and safe; what makes or breaks a martial
arts school is the people that fill that space. Here lies the primary reason to enroll - and then keep - your child in martial arts lessons, from the moment they first meet the age requirements of a school, until they leave your nest: The people. The teachers (and students) in a martial arts school become leaders, heroes, role models, and friends to your child; and while martial arts
teachers, like every kind of teacher, have their various strengths and weaknesses, their influence and friendship is worth every penny you will
ever spend on tuition, times 10.
I remember my teachers, I remember the senior students in my classes, I remember my classmates and the students who joined after me. I remember when I was 12-years-old and a red belt student, a man in his mid 20's, told me, nonchalantly, that "practice was the key to being a great martial artist –or a great anything." I can hear his voice as if he told me that yesterday - and the advice has shaped my life. My father probably told me the same thing a 1000 times, but who listens to their parents –until much later in life?
A martial arts teacher is a real man or woman; they're not heroes fabricated by the entertainment industry. These are real people that will be there,
in their classes, day after day, patient, persistent, and persuasive. Their message is about consistent effort, about perseverance, about focus and goals and defense and self-control. Even teachers who can't speak English can, with an uncanny ability delivered through their coaching, translate values and powerful and life-changing ideas to their students.
The kind of education a good martial arts teacher provides a young person is different from anything they will learn in grade school, from parents, or
from football, soccer, or gymnastics coaches.
The magic that forms in the long term relationship between a martial arts teacher and his or her students makes them an incredibly valuable, but
all too often unacknowledged, part of "the village" that can help raise your child to be confident, self-disciplined, resilient, and resourceful.
Literally thousands of adults have told me, long after they stopped practicing the martial arts, what a powerful and positive influence their
martial arts teacher was, and still is, in their life.
I concur. Even the teachers that I came to think were inadequate, when I look back, I realize were a gift.
I owe them all a huge debt of gratitude for helping me develop respect for my self and others, for helping me build by body, develop
my coping skills, and for the confidence their constant attention and direction gave me.
It took me a long time to understand the value of their friendship, but oh, now, I so completely get it. What a blessing! I would hope that every child would have the chance to interact with teachers like I had, men and women who coached and fixed and taught and laughed and yelled and, as I now understand, loved. The second most valuable reason to have your child studying the martial arts, any style, any method, is the philosophy that goes with the
training. Every style, every teacher of any skill, has something positive to teach your child.
Some, of course, do it much better than others, but whether they know it or not, they are imparting wisdom of the most extraordinary kind –and at a
time in a child's life that they really need it. I can still hear my teacher's words: "Eyes straight ahead! Focus!"
"It's ok to be afraid, just don't let it stop you from moving and trying!"
"What are the two qualities of a champion?"
We would answer, shouting, "Attention to detail and follow through, sir!"
"Real bravery isn't found in fighting! It's found in not fighting!"
"Attention! Pay your respect!"
Pay your respect, indeed.
Mom, Dad, every lesson is important and it's worth every penny, every minute you spend convincing your son or daughter that going to
class that day is better than watching TV; it's worth every bump, bruise, stubbed toe, and every tear. The good times, the victories, the understanding of the value of finally breaking through a barrier, the friendships, the little kids, the teenagers, the
parents, and the old folks - it's so good, so very worthwhile, and so needed in today's world, that I had to write you about it. I had to encourage you –and try to give you the big-picture perspective on the martial arts. If you can swing it, get your child into a martial arts school and keep them
there, even when they don't recognize the value of what they're doing.
They will, someday.
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A Message for Martial Arts Teachers of Every Style
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Can you name someone who, in the last 100 years, changed the course of history for the better? Perhaps you think of Gandhi or Rosa Parks or Nelson Mandela? Isn't it odd (and amazing) how a person can be at the right place, at just the right time, and take some kind of definitive action –and it ends up making a difference for thousands, or millions, of people?In 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give her bus seat up to a white passenger, she was a 42-year-old African-American seamstress. Her action of civil disobedience started the Montgomery (Alabama) Bus Boycott, which was the beginning of the end for forced segregation in the South. NOW, I ask you this: If one 42-year-old seamstress could be at the right place at the right time and CHANGE HISTORY, what could 1000 martial arts Master Teachers do? Couldn't 1000 Master Teachers, with all of their focus, perseverance, courage, and self-discipline, MAKE the right place? Couldn't we MAKE the right time? Couldn't we find some issue, some "wrong" –and make it right?Don't you think that 1000 Masters of the Martial Arts could equal the power of one diminutive middle-aged African-American seamstress? I would think so. So why, my friends, are we not stepping up to make a difference, together, in the world? Is it that our leaders aren't focused on social change --as a form of self-defense for the world? Is it simply a matter of organization? Or is that we hadn't thought of such a thing, until now?I would like to propose we, collectively and all over the planet, work on three simple issues in the coming year: 1. We must make PEACE EDUCATION a part of every martial arts school. If we teach 10 ways to disarm someone by force, then let's also offer 10 ways to disarm by non-force.2. If you teach children, then embrace the idea that caring for the environment is a form of self-defense. Task your young students to do from 5 to 10 acts of "environmental self-defense" to earn their next belt test.3. Teach children how to avoid Type 2 Diabetes. Implement a diabetes education component in your school so that somewhere along the belt ranking system, every child in your care gets at least one "mat chat" about diabetes and how to avoid it. There are 1000 things that a 1000 Master Teachers could do, but what do you say that this year, 2008, we unite for these three concepts? Not one of them would cost you a single penny or a kopek or a yen or a drachma.And if we exercised our ability to unite for the right cause, perhaps we could tackle something even bigger in the future? At the VERY LEAST, we could give the world a lesson in authentic "martial arts."If you hear this as a call to action, please don't hesitate to contact me. I have free resources to help you. Note: I have no hidden agenda –other than to do something in my lifetime, in OUR lifetime, that honors both those masters and teachers who came before us and those who will follow us.Tom Callos tomcallos@gmail.comwww.tomcallos.blogspot.com530-903-0286
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Nevada Martial Arts Veteran Gary Friederich Passes Away
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Nevada Martial Arts Veteran Gary Friederich Passes Away Master Instructor Gary Gerard Friederich, 66 of Reno, NV passed away on July 11, 2008 at home surrounded by friends after a brief terminal illness. Born in Reno on October 6, 1941, Gary moved to Sparks, Nevada in 1955 and graduated from Sparks High School. Gary led an adventures life and was known for his sense of humor. He was respected for his beliefs by all those that he knew and trained. Gary devoted his lifetime to studying, training and teaching Karate and the Martial Arts. For over 45 years he instructed men, women and children from all walks of life, including elite military and anti terrorist’s team members, operatives of the world’s top intelligence agencies, and many law enforcement agencies in art of karate. Gary was appointed honorary good will Ambassador to Japan for the State of Nevada by Governor Grant Sawyer when he went to Japan in 1963. He earned his Black Belt and became a graduate of both the instructors course of the world renowned Japan Karate Association, Shotokan headquarters and the Kodokan Judo Institute, World Mecca for Judo, which are both headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. He spent over four years studying and training the world’s top martial arts in Japan. At that time Gary was one of only seven persons in the U.S. to have earned a third-degree black belt. While in Japan, Gary attended several universities, taught English at many of Japan’s largest and most prestigious corporations and earned a degree in Japanese. He was also the United States sole representative in the 1966 All Japan Karate Championship matches. After returning to the United States, Gary won the Western States Karate Championship matches in Phoenix, Arizona and taught Karate at Arizona State University and Phoenix College. Upon returning to Reno, Gary founded the Nevada Karate Association which is still active today and well respected as one of the top recognized Traditional Karate schools. In May, 1967, Gary was drafted and spent 14 months in Vietnam as a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Separate. While in Vietnam, Gary worked with long range reconnaissance patrols and instructed martial arts to elite members of the Army’s Special Forces and the 75th Infantry Rangers. Gary was Honorably Discharged in May of 1973. Gary came back from Vietnam in early 1969 and again took over his duties as the Chief Instructor for the Nevada Karate Association. He was granted jurisdiction to organize Karate throughout the State of Nevada under the strict guidelines of the Japan Karate Association of the United States where he was active until his death. In 1970, Gary attended the First World Karate Championship matches in Tokyo, Japan. He continued his training while spending more than six months at the Japanese Police University, Japan’s most distinguished police training academy, studying arresting techniques and riot control tactics which included all major martial arts. He is the only occidental ever allowed this honor. Gary, a diminutive third degree black belt Karate expert, and one of the first Americans to be awarded the degree outside of Japan, was also Nevada’s pick for 1971 “Athlete of the Year” award. He received the coveted award for Nevada by the Sierra Nevada Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association. In his constant pursuit of excellence, Gary has brought many of the world’s top military and martial art experts to teach, coach, demonstrate and share their skills, knowledge and experience with students in our state. Gary was a world traveler and took a one year twenty-seven nation tour learning more about various Asian fighting arts and guerilla tactics. Throughout his life Gary maintained a strong bond of commitment and loyalty to all of his many friends and acquaintances that is seldom seen in today’s world. Gary was considered a true friend by many and will be greatly missed by all.
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