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A Black Belt to Keep an Eye on: Ricken Patel








Have you heard of Ricken Patel? Chances are you haven't, but his on-line humanitarian organization, http://www.avaaz.org has logged more than 14,000,000 humanitarian "acts" since it's inception in 2007. Yeah, WOW.

Here's Ricken's bio:

Ricken Patel: Ricken is Canadian and has consulted for the International Crisis Group, the United Nations, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Harvard University, CARE International and the International Center for Transitional Justice, in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Afghanistan, Sudan and New York. He has a Master in Public Policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor’s degree from Balliol College, Oxford University. He graduated first in a class of 350 from Oxford, and led student governments and student activism at both universities.

Note: And what, you ask, do Ricken's activities have to do with the business of the martial arts? In a nutshell: We are learning to teach self-defense from a global perspective. We're seeking wisdom -and a kind of philosophy of personal, family, community, and global self-defense that transcends the kick, punch, and throw. The issues Ricken and his team tackle are as --or more --relevant to self-defense in today's world as any technique of the martial arts. 


The Role of THE DIGITAL DOJO in Your School (Read: BRILLIANT)
It won't be long until half of what you teach will be communicated on the mat --and, of course, that work will be predominantly physical. The other half will be stored and taught ON-LINE in your school's Digital Dojo.

What's a Digital Dojo?

It's a part of your school, build on a (virtually) free web-platform called "Ning." It's the same format that The New Way Network has used to completely change and replace the old paradigm of "get your information from the top -and in a box." The new way school owners and instructors get ideas, learn new management and promotion skills, and exchange information, tips, tactics, and procedures is completely digital. 

To see a working on-line Digital Dojo, try out The New Way Network's FREE One-Week Trial Program (but be warned, it's going to shift your thinking!).
Environmental Self-Defense, a Mission for All Martial Arts Schools
"I propose that at green belt level, all martial arts teachers ask their young students to perform 5 to 10 acts of environmental self-defense, along with their other belt testing requirements, to achieve their next rank." --Tom Callos

The idea that "self-defense" is more than blocking, punches, kicks, and throws, is the foundation of The Ultimate Black Belt Test's "Environmental Initiative." 

Mike and Karen Valentine of Marin Karate Kids and Practical Martial Arts, located in San Rafael, CA, added an environmental clean up test requirement to their black belt test --and as a result became the first martial arts school in America (and maybe in the world) to make environmental self-defense a requirement for achieving a 1st degree black belt. 


"We wholeheartedly agree that self-defense is much more that the block of the punch," says Karen Valentine, a former elementary school teacher turned martial arts instructor. 

"Self-defense is global, it's an awareness not only of obvious dangers, but of what you consume, discard, buy, sell, and it's most definitely linked to how we interact with the natural world."

For more information on the Valentine's work, visit www.practicalmartialarts.net. To learn how to weave environmental self-defense into your martial arts school's curriculum, visit www.ultimateblackbelttest.com. Tom Callos may be reached at 530.903.0286
A Martial Arts Story

Strictly Business: 4 Areas Every School Owner / Instructor Needs to Focus On for Profitabilty

You, Mr. or Ms. School owner, you WANT a healthy school. By "healthy" we mean a school that makes more money than it spends to operate. We don't want to struggle, financially (if we don't have to), we don't want to not have the money to pay our bills, and we definitely don't want to go out of business. 

We want to prosper. We want have a good paycheck (nothing extravagant thanks, just enough to live comfortably), we want to pay all of the expenses incurred in running a fine school, we want to pay our helpers a fair and just wage, and in a perfect world, we'd like to practice a bit of community philanthropy. 

To avoid financial struggle and to pursue a healthy business, you would do well to pay attention to the 4 following points:

1. Constant promotion, in a way that builds the status and value of the school. How much promotion? 10 acts of marketing a day, every working day of the month. 

By the way, what's the BEST kind of promotion in today's market? Community outreach. 

2. Staff development. You are not a 'manager' if you don't know how to get things (good things) done through the efforts of others. And if you hold the opinion that "if you want things done right, you have to do them yourself," just know that you are crippling your business. 

Two hours every day, 20 working days out of your month, should be completely focused on nurturing help, participation, and cooperative effort among the people who can (and will) help you in your business adventures.  

3. Money management. Where is it going to come from -and do you know how much you need to break even, and better yet, to come out ahead? You might be surprised at how many martial arts teachers operate without a financial game plan -and as result, have no real idea of when their efforts are losing money or helping them get ahead. 

4. Constant (as in DAILY) growth. Think of your business training as martial arts training: Don't go to class, don't practice, and you won't improve. However, if you have the discipline to step into class on a regular schedule, then sweat out the pain and toil of training, you will become an expert (eventually) of the skills you're practicing. The same formula applies to intelligent school management. Stick to it, do a little every day.

Of course, you can't hang out and train with 5-year olds, you're not going to improve your own skills on a level equal to your potential. No, you have to CHALLENGE yourself with worthy training partners.

You have to sharpen your business game, daily, at least 20 working days a month -and you have to do it with people equal to and/or better than you. Doing this is easier than even before, thanks to the Internet. See www.thenewwaynetwork.ning.com for a daily dose of instructor education, inspiration, networking, and business ideas. 
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You may have noticed that non of the links work in this Zine! Also, couldn`t load videos from youtube -some tech issue. I hope to have Humby or Kiki help me fix that issue --oh, and THANK You to yo both for making this possible! Tom