I’m a giant fan of Mike Swain —and Swain Mats / Dollamur Mats are the finest mats I’ve ever trained on. BJ Penn, Keenan Cornelius, and millions of others have taken their first falls on Dollamur / Swain mats. I love this video too. 

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 teach a seminar at San Jose State University for the judo team that practices there 6 night a week (including judoka Marti Malloy, who’s headed to the Olympic Games (see here Wikipedia bio here). 

By the way, while I’m name-dropping, I should mention that I owe my renewed interest in judo, which was the first martial art I ever engaged in (my first lesson was in 1969), to UFC veteran BJ Penn. When I was last in Hilo, BJ told me he was seriously studying —and enjoying —judo, and that he wished he had started earlier in his career. BJ’s enthusiasm for what he was learning in his judo classes inspired me to start studying “the gentle way” again. 

On a funny sidetone to that, when I first started teaching and working out with BJ Penn back in the 90’s, I tried to talk him out of fighting. I told him about my kick-boxing friends who’d tried to make it as professional fighters and how hard it was and how little money they had made. I suggested, instead, that he let me introduce him to Mike Swain and that he should consider trying out for the Olympic judo team. I remember saying, “There’s no money in judo either, but at least it’s prestigious.” Boy, was I wrong. Obviously, BJ didn’t let that detour him from his path.

———————————-

The Almeida / Swain (Gracie Barra / Dollamur mats) Connection

I’ve beenhanging out with Mike Swain lately, as, well…not only is he a longtime friend, but if you plan to start taking judo lessons, who would be better to go to but one of the best coaches / judoka in the world, right? It turns out that’s also why Flavio Almeida flew into San Jose, CA; not just to get some judo pointers, but to connect Gracie Barra to the best mat surfaces in the world.  Gracie Barra has adopted Dollamur Mats / Swain Mats as the official flooring of all Gracie Barra schools worldwide. 

I asked Almeida why:

“Safety,” he said. “We have to put the safety of our students above all other considerations. Gracie Barra believes Dollamur mats are not only the best constructed mat surfaces on the planet, but that Mike Swain and Dollamur are committed to athlete and student safety as much as we are.”

When he said that, it didn’t come off as a “line” from a company press release, I could see that he genuinely meant it. I got to chat with Falvio quite a bit, we even drove over to Master Ernie Reyes Sr.’s “Mastery Test,” where about 100 of his highest ranking students were getting ready for a 5 day testing ordeal. More on that and more of my thoughts on Almeida, Gracie Barra, and some video from the seminar at San Jose State coming in my next blog. 

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 transport, food, money, or “special help” with my lessons. 

I was the perfect target for a pedophile, as I had a troubled home life; my father was working to support 7 children, my mother lived out of town, and my step-mother was not a friendly or helpful person. I would go to school without lunch money and in the summer I was locked out of the house from early morning until the time when my step-mother would go into her bedroom for the night. Essentially, I was completely unsupervised. The martial arts school I went to had a key attached to a string in the front door’s mail slot, so I could go there when I couldn’t go home. 

I was often unwashed and dirty, hungry a lot, the only money I had I earned doing yard work, and my family, due to my step-mother’s personality, didn’t have any friends I could turn to for help. I loved the school and my martial arts lessons and the people there were more like family than my family.  I wanted to attend classes, the school’s events, the second location my instructor started, and I needed a place to be, when the only other place to hang out was the library. 

Carl started by paying attention to me. He was complimentary. He frequently gave me money for food and he offered me rides to events, tournaments, and places I might like to go. And one day, he stripped me down and molested me. 

I was ashamed and embarrassed. I felt I had caused it, brought it upon myself. But Carl was thorough in his approach and he kept help coming when and where I needed it —and 1 event turned into multiple events. 

Now, 40 years later, I’m completely clear about what happened and how it happens, but for years I carried some weighty shame. My most damaging memory of that time was not from this twisted adult, but the memory of walking with my father, now deceased, and how I felt that holding his hand made me wonder if people thought he might be something other than my father. That hurt —and I still tear up thinking of it. What shame and confusion for a child to bear. 

I’m talking about all of this as I want to remind others that molestation is a terrible crime —one that cannot be tolerated or ignored or kept a secret. This coming month I’ll be interviewing a friend who works for Child Protection Services —and I will outline, for the martial arts industry, the specifics of what must be done when a child is molested by a trusted adult. 

It is not OK. It is not OK to keep pedophilia a secret, not when other children are then put at risk when people aren’t warned. 

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. 

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 hygiene, I exercise my body with physical work and with the practice of the martial arts, I exercise my mind through reading, listening, discussing, and contemplating that which inspires me to think/learn, I exercise my spirit by turning what I consider to be spiritual practice into tangible action (compassionate thinking, words, and acts), I seek to do good for others; SIMPLE.
 
Complex
What am I here to do? Who can I help? What is the greatest thing (or things) I can tackle and/or engage in? How can I contribute to the work of others in a way that is the perfect use of whatever it is that I have inside of me —and/or within my reach —that could connect with the Divine?

What do I need to learn, do, and put into action that will cause me to transcend the limitations I carry in my own mind? How do I become a Master in the true sense of the word —and what is that supposed to mean for the people in my sphere of influence —and for the world? Am I living in the moment? Complex.

What I Think this Means for the Martial Arts Teacher (as I Exercise / Practice my self-appointed role as Teacher)

Understand that your school’s success (how that is measured is contingent upon your maturity / ambitions / experience / consciousness) is built upon very simple practices —and at exactly the same time, matching perfectly each simple issue —is a vastly (and perhaps “painfully”) complex counter-issue. This isn’t, in my opinion, a “problem,” but a wonderful crayon-box of potential for mental / spiritual / emotional growth and play-time.

And depending on where you choose (and ideally, we “choose” instead of being hooked into) to put your focus, “things” can look and be as simple as Steps 1, 2, and 3, and/or so beautifully complex, rich, and deep that you have to stop and stand still, while the tears roll down your face, in awe, in wonder, and connected to something that you just can’t find the words to express.

Martial arts school management is what it is. It is what you want to make it. It’s a “business” separate from “the martial arts,” or it isn’t. It is a place you make money or magic or both or none-of-the-above. It is your school (as in where YOU learn) —or it isn’t.

In my work, my only real job is to stay awake and aware of the simplicity and complexity of what I am doing and the potential of what I might/can do —AND, my intent is to cultivate the same kind of awareness / action in my students (my teachers).

If we are to “never forget,” I say let’s not look back in anger, but with some understanding that hate does not heal hate. My personal opinion is that we are not “one nation under God,” but one planet, one people, “under God.” I look sadly upon talk about us not forgetting the wrong, the pain, and such —as a nation or people wronged by another nation or people; there’s nothing that’s good or smart or right about that. 

I say lets not forget that hatred, revenge, anger, fear, separate-ness, national “pride,” and all that makes it us and them, are all the things that help generate distorted thinking —-these are the things to remember on Sept. 11. When I think, “We were hurt or wronged or attacked,” I think of all of us, regardless of nationality, country, ethnicity, color, and flag that happens to be flying at the present moment. The wrong wasn’t against the US, it was against mankind. 

The two mothers in this video are what I would like not to forget. For me this is relevant to the martial arts, as how we think about things, even (and maybe especially) about the bad things, is, perhaps, our best form of “self-defense.”

Thanks to www.Ted.com for airing the video, thanks to My Peace TV for sending it out, again, this morning. 

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 and army boots; and their t-shirts sport skulls, tigers, and often violent iconography. 

These are “our” warriors —in our profession.

But not a one of them is a warrior for anything that comes close to anything that matters, anything that actually makes positive change in the world, anything worth ANYTHING in today’s complex, violent, unjust world. Not one of them —or one of us —holds a candle to the likes of Mother Jones. 

Mother Jones was a warrior, fearless, determined, and she stood up for the rights of others —-and against a world that held women in very low regard —against a world dominated by opportunists —and against a political system that fought her just about every step of the way. 

Worker’s rights? Labor laws? The minimum working age? Mother Jones.

I urge you to read about her —and people like her —and start to rethink what a warrior is, what role a warrior in today’s world might/should play. Laugh at the posing, the militarism, and the hyper-masculinity of today’s martial arts warriors ——-and don’t catch yourself playing that game or role. Stand up for the stuff that really matters. Define the ultimate warrior by his or her compassion, her mission, his purpose. 

Do this and you will be a founding member of a new, enlightened, progressive, relevant kind of martial arts instruction. With one small “turn of your wheel” you could be a part of a new kind of leadership delivered thru the things/education martial arts teachers study —and impart to their students (and live). 

This is the kind of warrior-education that I want the 100. identified with. This is what I’m about. How about you?

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 to produce extraordinary fitness, cultivate a career breakthrough in education and curriculum design, and initiate an aggressive community involvement program in each of their own communities. Martial arts business and curriculum consultant Tom Callos will acts as the team’s coordinator and coach. 

“The new black belt test isn’t one of individual physical or technical skill only,” says Callos, “it’s a test of how much one can positively affect the people in his or her sphere of influence. Can a high ranking black belt, through the process she goes through during black belt test training, dramatically affect the quality of life of her family, coworkers, and classmates? Can a tester affect his community through his personal journey? The UBBT 2012 is an experiment in how —and how much —a tester can take his or her martial arts out of the dojo and put it to work in the world.” 

UBBT 2012 members will, as a part of their training, complete 50,000 push-ups, 50,000 crunches, 1000 repetitions of a single martial arts kata, 1000 rounds of sparring, and walk, run, swim, and/or bike 1000 miles during the duration of the test. Participants will carry a personal video camera for the year and will record every meal they eat as a part of the UBBT’s Mindful Eating Self-Defense Project. 

Returning UBBT member Gary Engels of Woodruff, WI, who will be using the UBBT 2012 to test for his fourth degree black belt, says the testing process has, literally, changed his life. “The UBBT has, experientially, taught me how to practice my martial arts in a way that has strengthened my relationship, made me a better father, teacher, leader, and citizen. It takes a lot of self-discipline to do the program right, but like most things, you get back what you put in.”

For more information on the UBBT 2012, visit www.UltimateBlackBeltTest.com. The UBBT 2012 is a project of www.The100.us.

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 where the sidewalks are dirt and wildflowers, where the water runs cold over the rocks, and where even a cup of instant coffee tastes like the best brew Starbucks has to offer.
 
This year we are heading to Lake Tahoe and the Pacific Crest Trail. We’ll strike out from Echo Lake and make our way to Carson Pass and back, which is just a stone’s throw from the area known as Desolation Wilderness. We go to spend time together, to turn off our electronics and disconnect from some of what keeps us so very disconnected.
 


My motive for the trip is to reacquaint my friends to the simple pleasures of time spent outdoors; you see, I believe that each of my guests have an opportunity to do the same for their own students —and it’s my long term goal to help start a “movement” in the international martial arts community that ends up taking thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of “karate kids” out into nature. I’m a big fan of the book, Last Child in the Woods, and so this trip is meant to be the catalyst for a lot of other trips to make sure that young people who study the martial arts connect time in nature to mental, emotional, and spiritual self-defense (as that’s exactly what it is).
 
There are, currently, only a handful of martial arts schools in the world that have any kind of curriculum component that requires (or encourages) students to spend time outdoors. These eco-adventures are my way of saying time in nature, unstructured playtime especially, is as important to self-defense as anything else we do.
 
When you spend time with your feet on the ground, when you sleep under the stars, and when you move only as fast through your surroundings as your legs can manage, you have some time to slow down, to contemplate, and to experience life without the latest celebrity updates, your Twitter feed, and the never-ending shock-and-awe assault of advertising. You get some time to talk and listen, to look and see, to hear and appreciate.
 


We need self-defense from wall-to-wall carpet, from ads for adult diapers and Viagra, from the latest news about self-indulgent celebrities, from the horrors of far too many wars and “conflict zones,” and from the want, want, want of a thousand things that we don’t genuinely want or need. While 4-days on the trail hardly stands as a counter-balance to the hundreds of days each year we all spend living and working in so many artificially illuminated boxes, it’s a start; it’s a statement; it’s a request; and it’s a part of the on-going training that every master teacher of the martial arts should not only go through, but introduce to students as a way to find some clarity and simplicity in a world that is both so far —and so close —to nature.

I’d like to suggest that readers visit www.treehugger.com

Here’s a link to Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods.

Here’s a link to my martial arts association for school owners, The 100.

Here’s a link to a book by Andreas Cohrs about a friend of mine, Colin Fletcher, who inspired me to explore life with everything you really need to own…on my back. Colin walked the very trail we’ll be on this weekend. 

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 value.

What is recognizable value?

What is great value?

What is long lasting value?

Philosophy has all of the above. Simplicity has all of the above. Love has all of the above. Right action, community involvement, care for the elderly, reading, meditation, the cultivation of clear and compassionate thinking, and conscious consumption, art and literature and music, are all of the above. 

Staff Training has less to do with what you cover in meetings —and far more to do with what is read, what is listened to, who is listened to, what is done, and a clear definition of mission and intent.

Some Suggestions for Action

• Throw your TV away. If it must be on, let it be on for no more than 1 hour a day (1 hour too long). I encourage you to eliminate TV from your life —for at least a year.

• Cut your use of disposable plastics by 50 to 90 percent.

• Limit your cell phone use to 1/2 the day —then put it away. 

• Double your book and magazine reading time.

• Write 1 blog entry very day —and always make it a chapter in the book of how aware you are.

Why This is Important for Sales and Business

• You don’t “sell” lessons, you serve others by striving to be an evolved and high functioning human being.

• If you wake up every day seeking clarity of thinking and purity of intent/spirit/purpose, you increase your value as a teacher by 99.9%.

• What you’re doing when you’re not teaching —teaches more than what you impart in your classes. 

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 with Pam Dorr and HERO Housing (we’re in Alabama every year renovating / building houses and buildings for the community in Greensboro, the home of one of my heroes, Samuel Mockbee).

This morning Kai sent out a very fine essay on “The 4 Corners,” which he wrote as a tribute to a sister who passed on recently. I pass it on to you here (Thank you Kai):

Saturday, December 4th, FOUR CORNERS

The Present of Space

As a boy leaning Judo and Jujitsu one of my favorite memories involved the four corners of the Dojo.

Professor Henry S. Okazaki taught that each corner of the Dojo held a certain significance and was there as a reminder to teach us something special. He had combined Japanese Judo & Jujitsu, Hawaiian Lua, and Chinese martial arts to create arguably the first truly culturally “Mixed Martial Art.”

He also broke ground by teaching people of good character regardless of their ethnic, cultural, religious, or social differences. Amongst his students were pioneers like Sig Kufferath, Bing Fai Lau, Raymond Law, Wally Jay, Charles Kenn, my maternal grandfather and his two brothers, and my father’s teachers Sam Luke Sr and David Nuuhiwa Sr.

He carried on techniques and cultural traditions from various influences and integrated them in his own unique fashion. One of these unique contributions was the assignment of an important Hawaiian principle to each corner of the Dojo.

1. LOVE & HARMONY: Only the first corner carries more then one word. This is because in Hawaiian culture the two concepts are so closely inter-twined as to be inseparable. Taken together in Hawaiian they are expressed as Pono A Me Ke Aloha. By freely sharing Aloha (love) with others and our environment we will almost magically find ourselves in Pono (harmony) with humanity and nature. When we feel this relaxed state of harmony, we find ourselves better able to love and be loved.

2. RESPECT: The second corner represents Hō‘ihi (respect). As children we are taught to respect the rights and opinions of others and follow the guidance of our parents and teachers. As adults we tend to feel respect has to be earned. With maturity I have found that the child like view is healthier. By definition respect entails both the holding of others in “high regard” as well as “to refrain from interfering with.” Inherent to true respect is a depth of humility; so to be true to our best selves we should uphold both definitions.

3. GENTLENESS: The third corner of the Dojo represents Mālie (gentleness). Gentleness is not just a compassionate virtue; it is a sound tactical strategy. If we are kind and gentle to all we meet then our chances of getting into an unwanted confrontation or physical altercation go way down. To “take the high road” as my grandfather liked to say is just plain common sense! In the gym it makes perfect sense to exhibit gentleness and self-control. Otherwise you will soon find yourself with no one to assist you in learning the martial arts! This is also true in life off the mat. If we are abusive to others, who will assist us in learning the art of living?

4. AWARENESS: The fourth, and final corner represents ‘Ike (awareness). My senior student Pat Campbell has always been fond of saying “awareness is survival.” To the real dangers of serious threats in the streets and war zones of the world this is certainly true. It is also true in subtle ways such as listening to your body to maintain your health, keeping your mind sharp and active, knowing your heart so as not to allow anger or fear to destroy you from within, or molding your spirit to build your awareness of your relationship to your creator and all life around you. There is a saying in Hawaiian Lua: “Maka’ala No Ka ‘Ike Papa Lua”, which translates roughly into “Be aware of the second sight.” We can have a 360 degree awareness of all the hidden knowledge of life if we are open to it.

Having awareness can also take you full circle through the four corners to ensure you are living in the moment with Love, Harmony, Respect, Gentleness, …and Awareness. =)

What is perhaps most fascinating about the “Four Corners” is that few seem to remember them. There is nothing that pops up on a Google search and I have never seen them in any book. They are one of those special gems that is passed on quietly from teacher to student.

Professor Okazaki’s concept dates back to the early twentieth century Hawaii. There were no computers or televisions and most teaching were passed personally. This was not only the Hawaiian way, it was also an integral part of how secret truths were communicated in Asian culture. What few teachings were written down were done in Kanji on scrolls. Without the legacy of people who went forth and continued to teach them, these words of wisdom might have been lost forever.

Uncle David Nuuhiwa certainly taught them to both my father and later to me. Professor Wally Jay passed them on to Sensei David Fairfield and Sensei Ron Beatty, who taught them to their students at Alameda High School. Olohe Charles Kenn and Professor Solomon Eli taught this to my Hawaiian Lua teacher Dr Dennis Eli.

My maternal grandfather knew them in a way that is somewhat humorous. If one of his grandchildren was bad, he wouldn’t just send you to a corner for a time out… He would send you to a SPECIFIC corner to learn the appropriate lesson!!!

Thanks to my grandfather, the lesson of the Four Corners of a room transformed my life. I was never able to look at ANY room the same way ever again. Every room became suddenly more interesting and I made it a habit to take notice of what occupied the space not just in martial arts schools, but in every room I visited. I came to realize that to have a space to make your own is a valued gift in the human experience.

As an alter boy, I remember noticing how well they applied to the church I grew up in. The first corner of Love & Harmony was occupied by the choir. The second corner of Respect was occupied by the meditation chapel and the confessional. The third corner of Gentleness was reserved for the elderly and handicapped. The final fourth corner of Awareness was where we, the alter servers, had our station. We had to be consistently aware so as not to err in performing our duties for the mass. This may have all been a mere coincidence…but it didn’t feel like it when I was ten. It felt meant to be.

On Friday I went to visit Senior Grandmaster Rick Alemany’s home. He has a Dojo in his garage that inspired me to build my own home Dojo two years ago. His gym is a testament to the journey of his life. Photos of trusted friends and students, faded certificates from his teachers, gifts he has received over the years, and the list goes on and on…there isn’t a blank space to be found anywhere.

My Jeet Kune Do teacher Sifu Richard Bustillo said something similar when he came to visit my gym. “Good job Li, you have a living museum here!” Though the place is only two years old, it looks like it has been there since World War One. I have the Army helmets of my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father up above bookshelves laden with a library of material on every art I’ve studied all over the world and symbolic childrens toys my nieces and nephews have felt were somehow relevant to have a presence in Uncle Kai’s “Dragon’s Lair”.

By stark contrast I taught most of my life in parks or sparse military gyms with zero decorations. In the park we didn’t have actual corners…and yet the space was somehow still defined in an emotional and spiritual way by the arrangement of trees and the way the sun would set over the mountains.

Not far from SGM Alemany’s is the largest population of homeless on the island. As part of my service this year I have spent a fair amount of time there this year. One of my childhood friends lives in a tent and I often visit to share a meal and help him out in small ways. Though a tent may seem a temporary environment, he has taken care to define the space as uniquely his own. He even has a framed photograph of his late father in the first corner.

On the streets of large cities, any corner can be someone’s home. To live in harmony with nature and share space in this world with each other is truly a gift, and one that always deserves our deepest appreciation.

There is a Native American saying that we as human beings can never own land; we can only take care of it for the next generation. We should treat every space, indoors or out, as if we are preparing it to care for many generations to come. 

It is my humble prayer for this day that we can all grow in our capability to show Love, Harmony, Respect, Gentleness, and Awareness everywhere we go.

Malama pono,

Bruddah Kai