May 2012
10 posts
9 tags
Confronting Bullies and Bullying — iKeepSafe
Celebrities like Sandra Bullock, Megan Fox, Christian Bale, and Lady Gaga have more in common than just being famous—they were also all bullied growing up. “I was called really horrible, profane names very loudly in front … See on ikeepsafe.org
5 tags
Martial Arts Safety, Gracie Barra, Mike Swain, and...
The fellow on the left is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Flavio Almeida (read about his career, so far, here). On the right is Judo legend Mike Swain (bio on Wikipedia, here). I’m taking the photo out in front of Mike’s offices located in Campbell, California. Flavio came down
to chat about what he’s up to with Dollamur mats and his organization Gracie Barra —and to...
3rd-grader takes a stand on bullying
A 9-year-old Highland Park boy is going after bullies, one cotton T-shirt at a time. See on chicagotribune.com
Bullying: The harsh reality - Omaha World-Herald
Bullying: The harsh realityOmaha World-HeraldLater in the documentary “Bully,” students choke Alex, slam his head into bus seats and slug him in the back. See on omaha.com
We The People | Nothing to 'like' about Facebook...
But last year was different. Instead of letting loose a little at the balloon toss, Alexandria found herself the target of cruel taunts. Two of her classmates had created a fake Facebook page for Alexandria that was anything but … See on evesunblog.com
We The People | Nothing to 'like' about Facebook...
But last year was different. Instead of letting loose a little at the balloon toss, Alexandria found herself the target of cruel taunts. Two of her classmates had created a fake Facebook page for Alexandria that was anything but … See on evesunblog.com
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Martial Arts Business: It's Monday! The TO DO List
School owners, martial arts teachers, and staff members, it’s Monday! My favorite Monday line? Tony Robbins: “My Monday’s are better than most peoples Christmases.”
Monday’s the WEEKLY CARD REVIEW, one of 50 times a year that you and your team go through and evaluate each of your students, as though they were standing right in front of you and your team....
2 tags
Martial Arts Business - How to Sabotage Your...
How to Sabotage Your Success Reminder 1
What Happens When You Forget the Obvious
Get out of shape; and If you really want to discredit yourself, get grossly out of shape. It’s the giant pink elephant in the room of your credibility. It’s the thing that keeps your words from carrying enough weight to sink into the hearts of the people you should —and could —be guiding, teaching,...
4 tags
The Envirofit Stove, Black Belt Thinking
I stumbled across the Envirofit Stove in a magazine I was perusing this morning. Now here’s a company solving problems, which is, essentially, what I think martial arts school owners could and should be doing with their “product.”
Perhaps when you look at Envrofit’s website, at their videos, and at the products, you see a company selling stoves? What I see is something...
April 2012
2 posts
4 tags
Martial Arts Business: Judo, BJ Penn, a 99-year...
Something Old, Something New: Tom Callos Talks About The New (Old) Business of Teaching the Martial Arts —in 2012 Something Old In 1969 a judo teacher invited me on his mat for my first taste of the martial arts. This month, 43 years after that first lesson, I’ve come back to judo. I’ve come back to Jigoro Kano’s art due to the influence of three people: BJ Penn, who told me recently that...
4 tags
Martial Arts Business: The Work is Mastery
In the end —and/or now —you could be a monumental force for good, for sanity, for connectivity, for education, for non-violence, for peace education, for clear thinking, for many, many good things in your community.
In the end —and/or now —you could be a Master Teacher of all the most important topics: Peace; kindness; service to mankind; compassion; tolerance; love;...
March 2012
2 posts
The Martial Arts Lesson: On The Power and Value of...
On The Power and Value of Practice Surprise! You’re not here to learn karate or kung fu or Brazilian jiu jitsu or capoeira or aikido or judo or taekwondo or Filipino stick-fighting or whatever it is that you think you are learning. All of those things, those styles and systems, are like the pencils, paper, chalkboards, rulers, and report cards from the school of martial arts and life. What...
5 tags
Martial Arts Business: Chase Jarvis, My Sensei
I follow, almost daily, the blog and work of creative genius / photographer Chase Jarvis. Yes, I know, I teach teachers how to teach the martial arts —and Chase doesn’t. That hardly matters. He may not know how to do a rear-naked choke, but all the same I consider Chase my Sensei (he just doesn’t know it —or [spasm of realization] maybe he does?). Chase’s post from today is a fine...
February 2012
4 posts
7 tags
The Wakamatsu Tea Colony, Gold Hill, CA
I just finished a meeting with Isaak Egge from The American River Conservancy; we did a walk-about on the historic California property that was/is The Wakamatsu Tea Colony, which is “the cultural Preserve…site of the first agricultural settlement of pioneer Japanese immigrants in North America who established the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony on June 8th, 1869.”
Not only...
3 tags
Interview with Martial Arts Business Expert, Tom...
Interview with Martial Arts Business Expert, Tom Callos, for Martialinfo.com Feb. 12, 2012 Interview conducted by Kathleen Harris for www.Martialinfo.com Tom Callos is both an outspoken critic of the martial arts business industry and a leading contributor to its direction. In this interview I ask Mr. Callos questions about what’s not right about the martial arts industry and what is, and what’s...
6 tags
Martial Arts Business: Some Thoughts on Your Web...
Some Thoughts on Your Web Presence (Sites) I do not believe a website specifically designed to make sales is the kind of website I want representing my life’s work. I don’t believe canned images, poorly written copy designed to “increase my conversion rate,” and formulaic “act now” buttons is the key to having a website that tells the story of who I am, what the work is about, or that touches...
6 tags
Martial Arts Business: The Evolution of a Master...
Evolution of a Teacher to a Master Teacher
This is, my friends, how I see it —today.
Phase 1 The teacher is a fine martial arts athlete. “Look how good I am! I must be a good teacher.” Phase 2 The teacher develops great martial arts students. “Look, my students are winning. I must be a good teacher.” Phase 3 The teacher accrues wealth. “Look at my school, it’s beautiful; look at how...
January 2012
5 posts
4 tags
Martial Arts Business: Why What You're Doing Isn't...
If what you are “doing” IS “working,” then this report isn’t for you. If you think there’s some “room for improvement” in your efforts, then feel free to read my ideas on the subject —and take from it what you will.
What’s Wrong?
You don’t use a Franklin Covey Day-Planner, which means your staff doesn’t either. If...
10 tags
Molestation, Martial Arts, Community Activism....
Martial Arts Teachers, Molestation, and Community Activism: Real “Self-Defense.”
I’ve received 100 or-so e-mails / messages from martial arts teachers and practitioners over the last few days —after telling my personal story of childhood molestation at the hands of a man who happened to be a black belt instructor at a dojo I attended as a 12 year old. Many of the kind people who’ve...
4 tags
40 Years Ago, I Was Molested by a Martial Arts...
When I was 11 or 12 years old there was a black belt instructor at the school I went to in Reno, Nevada, his name was Carl Fernand (might not be the right spelling) and he molested me. It happened over one school year and summer; there were 5 to 10 or so events (I honestly cannot remember, a gift of emotional trauma), which ended when I started taking special care to avoid him and his offers of...
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Martial Arts Business. An Industry with It's Head...
Is “Head in Your Arse” too harsh a thing to say about the martial arts industry —or us?
I think not.
Try this (as a test): Visit 10, 20, 30, or 100 martial arts school websites (as I have, 10 times over) —and look for something unique.
RARE.
“We are a black belt school!” “House of Pain.” “House of Discipline” (says the 28 year...
7 tags
Martial Arts Business: The Consequences of Excess
Too much chocolate, as good as it can taste, will make you sick.
Too much training, as much as people say “more is better,” can cause you some serious joint damage, like it did me. The picture above is one of my two artificial hip joints, now more than a decade old.
Many of my peers are enjoying their new hips too, although let me tell you, there’s NO PLEASURE in what leads...
December 2011
4 posts
8 tags
Martial Arts Business: Honesty is Our Business
Imagine a martial arts association that your students could go to, see what was being said —and watch the videos…AND YOU WOULDN’T BE EMBARRASSED!
No talk about “upgrades” —no talk about “holding back curriculum —no talk about standing in front of elementary schools, in uniform, and waving big signs —no talk about students only lasting 18...
5 tags
Fire Safety Materials for Martial Arts School...
This link will take you to a report I’d written a number of years ago —and then re-written (this version) on The Fire Escape Route Safety Card Game. Here too is a yellow version of the arrow card used in the program.
You may also find downloadable versions of this at www.TomCallos.com
More to come.
8 tags
Fire Safety is Self-Defense
This morning I heard about the horrible tragedy in Stamford, Connecticut. Three children and their grandparents lost their lives in a fire in their home on Christmas Day. The story is outlined here.
In the next few blogs I’ll offer free resources to teach fire safety to young people and their families —and I’ll also offer free help to any martial arts teacher and/or school...
9 tags
Martial Arts Business: Why NOT to Join the 100.
“There are Any Number of Reasons NOT to Join The One Hundred —-and for some unknown reason, some character flaw in me, I feel compelled to list some of them here.”
—Tom Callos
DO NOT JOIN THE 100 if:
You consider yourself too busy to read the posts here, regardless of their number (If you don’t come here to practice, what’s the use of joining the...
November 2011
2 posts
8 tags
Martial Arts Business: Confusion About Marketing...
Confusion About Marketing and Community Service
A number of times over the last few months martial arts school owners have said or written something to me about the fact that I’m known, through my work in The 100. and The Ultimate Black Belt Test, to promote martial arts school community service. They tell me this because they want me to know they admire the work, but what they are really...
6 tags
Martial Arts Business: Getting Out of High School
I briefly scanned a martial arts business social on-line network this morning, having seen a friend’s name there. The banter was business-related —and I read through the 20 or 30 most current posts. It was a bit like small talk at a martial arts seminar or convention, “Darn, my retail sales are down and…” and “Who enrolls the most students?” And “What’s a good martial arts class?” ...
September 2011
4 posts
13 tags
Martial Arts Business: Teaching, Living. School...
Running a martial arts school business is both simple and painfully complex. Raising children is both simple and painfully complex. Maintaining healthy relationships is both simple and painfully complex. Living is both simple and painfully complex. Simple I rise every morning (so far), I show love and respect to everyone around me, I eat sparsely, simply, and for health, I practice good...
7 tags
Martial Arts Business: Fear.Less Magazine, a...
I confess: I’m a reader. But I’m a very picky reader —and one of my favorite reading choices comes to me digitally — FEAR.LESS. See the latest edition here: http://fearlessstories.com/.
In the e-mail I received this morning, reminding me a new edition of Fear.Less has arrived, writer Matt Atkinson talks about the little mundane things, DAILY things —and their value...
8 tags
Martial Arts Business: Thank you for NOT Writing...
About every two weeks or so, someone sends me a note, “Tom, when are you going to write a book?”
Well, I confess, I will not, most likely, ever publish a “book” —although I consider myself a writer. That is, unless I have something so important to say or point out, that it warrants the money, paper, time, etc. to publish it in hard copy.
I have —anyway...
8 tags
August 2011
7 posts
7 tags
7 tags
Sensei Keiko Fukuda: Kickstarter Campaign (HELP)
She is 98 years old —and still teaches at her dojo in San Francisco. She just received her 10th degree black belt in judo, the first woman ever to be awarded the rank. She is the last living student of the founder of judo, Jigoro Kano.
Her name is Keiko Fukuda and her story will touch you, regardless of the style of martial arts you practice, your nationality, or your age. Sensei...
13 tags
Why I Love to Teach Martial Arts, Today. (Martial...
Let me tell you what’s fun about my work (as a martial arts teacher).
It’s really fine to coach young men and women to become exemplary athletes; athletes with focus, determination, self-discipline, courage, a great attitude, and the will to succeed. I’ve taught some fantastic athletes too, black belts who could wheel-kick you’re head off, from any position, any time of the day or night....
9 tags
Martial Arts Business - Reminders, Teaching,...
My mind is marvelously full of the work to be done, the work that could be done, and the work that would be fun to do. It seems I’m forever trying to ring the bell of awareness for the little things that need to be done to insure you/we enjoy the process, while keeping our eyes on the “big things” that “up” our value to the world —and make the journey something deeply worthwhile.
It is,...
11 tags
We Are Not Warriors. Not Even Close. Not Yet.
On the cover of Black Belt Magazine —and on so many MMA mags, at the seminars and conventions, and in print and image and video, we see the modern “warriors” of the international martial arts community. They grimace; they hold knives; they take stances; they pose for the cameras, cutting the throat, kicking the groin, punching the face, and choking the bad guy; they wear camo...
7 tags
The Ultimate Black Belt Test: The UBBT 2012
The ninth version of The Ultimate Black Belt Test, called the UBBT 2012, will be officially beginning January 1, 2012. The project will be limited to 40 participants, each training and testing for new black belt rank from second-degree to seventh-degree black belt over a minimum time period of 16 months. Each member of the UBBT 2012 will plan and execute a custom designed training program meant...
11 tags
Martial Arts Business: A Letter to a School Owner
A Letter to a Martial Arts School Owner: An Introduction to the work of The 100. You own a martial arts school, a club, teach a class, or plan on doing something along this line in the future. I’m here to introduce you to my work, as it relates to your work. My name is Tom Callos; I took my first martial arts lesson in 1969, when a judo teacher invited me on the mat. I started studying...
July 2011
8 posts
11 tags
Martial Arts Business: Time in Nature, Time on The...
Every year I invite a group of martial arts school owners and teachers on a 4-day “eco-adventure” where we put our belongings in backpacks and head out to explore life outside of our normal daily routines. It’s a 4-day business meeting really, but instead of flying into some smoky, noisy hotel in Las Vegas or some other carpeted, blacktopped circus of consumer un-consciousness, we head to a place...
8 tags
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Martial Arts Business: On Cultivating Value
You make your work important —or trivial —by where your mind is focused.
This is important to “business” —as things that are trivial generally have much less value than things that are important. Ideally, we want to cultivate a product that has recognizable, great, and long-lasting value.
Your staff / your team must also be students of recognizable, great, and long-lasting...
11 tags
Martial Arts Business: On Being Poor
Martial Arts Business: On Being Poor and Not Having Many Resources In the practice of the martial arts we often embrace opposites. For example, when the punch is coming at the face, our mind says “flinch and cringe,” but our training says, “block.” When we face a sparring partner some part of our brain might whisper (or yell), “run,” but our training has us stepping back, raising our hands,...
12 tags
The 4 Corners of The Dojo, Martial Arts Philosophy...
In the picture above the fellow standing to my right is S. Kai Li of Hawaii. Kai is a lifelong martial artist, a military man, and a member of the Ultimate Black Belt Test who’s helping to keep the whole program going while I labor with the project that is The 100. (www.the100.us, a new martial arts association / college).
Here’s a link to a video of Kai and I in Alabama doing work...
12 tags
Martial Arts Business and Teaching. Thoughts from...
Teaching People The Martial Arts: Two Pieces of Advice I’ve been studying and practicing the martial arts for 40 years and helping to teach and/or leading my own classes for more than 30 of those. At 51 years of age, I believe I still have much to learn, about life, about teaching, and about how to make the time I have invested in the martial arts something more than just a narcissistic...
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Martial Arts Business: Benefits of Membership in...
Fast Overview of Our Benefits: 1. Veteran martial arts teacher Tom Callos runs this association —and what that means is 100. members get an overwhelmingly honest, creative, and intelligent approach to business and marketing. Tom doesn’t distribute, endorse, or encourage stupid marketing or management tricks. He’s known and well respected for producing material and curriculum that makes...
11 tags
Martial Arts Business: In 1 Years Time
This post and the following ideas are completely and totally brought to you on behalf of The 100. I am actively looking for martial arts school owners and instructors who are ready to shed the nonsense and trivial pursuits of the status quo in the “martial arts industry” (birthday parties, VIP passes, sleep-overs, self-defense courses that don’t teach self-defense, and the...
June 2011
7 posts
9 tags
Three Martial Arts Business Concepts that Could...
I’m Tom Callos and I run The 100. , which might best be described as the “alternative radio station” of the martial arts business and management world. I don’t play the oldies, those tired classics (Free Bird!), or those songs that the other stations keep playing over and over, despite the fact they weren’t that great when they first came out (like Ebony and Ivory).
The 100. thinks wrong...
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Tom Callos Seminars in July & Aug. in LA,...
See dates and details here: www.TomCallosSeminar.Ning.Com