Curriculum for the UBBT 2012

With each UBBT Project I try new things —meant to more fully and adequately express the essence of personal/martial arts development. In the Ultimate Black Belt Test 2012, I’m adding requirements to the test designed to fill (what I consider to be) educational gaps in the martial arts community.

That being said, the UBBT’s curriculum is flexible; the goal is to challenge each participant to be something —and do things that are —extraordinary. 

Base Physical Requirements

50,000 push-ups, 50,000 ab exercises, 1000 mile walk/run/bike/or swim, 1000 reps of single kata, 1000 rounds of sparring/grappling.

Base Mental/Emotional/Spiritual Requirements

No quitting - under any circumstances; profiling of 10 living heroes; 52 journal entries/vlogs; 12 books read and reviewed; 365 days of daily meditation; 1000 written prayers/meditations; 1000 recorded personal acts of kindness; catalyst for 50,000 acts of kindness done by students/community; 3 days of empathy training (1 day blind, 1 day mute, 1 day in a wheelchair).

Community Requirements

Each participant must plan, design, execute, and maintain a BULLY PREVENTION Resource website serving his or her community. Each participant must plan, design, execute, and maintain a DIETARY SELF-DEFENSE program in his/her community. Each participant must be responsible for a student/community Project Portfolio of at least 16 ENVIRONMENTAL SELF-DEFENSE Projects, executed by students and/or community. 

Source: ultimateblackbelttest.com

Words About The Ultimate Black Belt Test

The UBBT is a redesign of the process of training to be a black belt —and taking a “black belt test.” It’s 365 better ideas about what a test should look and feel like, what it should mean to the participant, his or her family, and a community.

It’s a shout out to martial arts instructors awarding black belts to people with just 18 to 24 months of practice, to awarding the rank to 9-year-olds, to people who wear the belt, but don’t represent a fraction of what we (the “martial arts industry”) say being a black belt is about.
 
The UBBT is a movement, a protest, an example, and a new kind of thinking about the martial arts and its purpose in today’s world. It is an alternative path from the one far too many schools have found themselves on. It’s “option B.” It’s a rejection of the influence of the almighty dollar, of the dance studio sales mentality, of the school that’s been coached to see the “black belt club” as a power-tool for increasing revenue, of getting more “cash payments,” and of monetizing a students desire to “be a black belt.”
 
The UBBT rejects the dominant paradigm. It embraces flexibility, creativity, sustained effort, authenticity, and whatever it is that is most difficult, that is most challenging, and that is nearly impossible.



The Ultimate Black Belt Test is not about the members of the Ultimate Black Belt Test; the UBBT is about the family members of the participants. It’s about the people in the sphere of influence of the people in the UBBT. It’s about how the test affects the community, the international martial arts community, and the world. Any other description of what the Ultimate Black Belt Test is about wouldn’t, couldn’t, represent “the ultimate” idea of what a test could and should be about.

In the Ultimate Black Belt Test every failure IS the test. Whatever is most difficult for the tester IS the test. The impossible, the improbable, the difficult to understand, the painful, the arduous, the problem —IS the test. Whatever makes you afraid IS the test. Whatever would make you quit, throw up your hands in defeat, THAT is the test. Anything else would not be the ultimate, would it?

The UBBT is frustrating, nearly impossible to complete, lonely, difficult to follow and define, and in the end you will hardly be acknowledged for completing it; this is, I am absolutely certain, what makes the test a rewarding, memorable, and potentially life-changing experience.

Tom Callos

Source: ultimateblackbelttest.com

Pricing and Particulars for the UBBT 2012

This is how enrollment works:

40 people, give or take, will be accepted to the UBBT 2012. The graduation / final test takes place in April of 2013, in Greensboro, AL. 

When you (1 of the 40) say, “I am going to join the UBBT 2012,” and fully commit yourself, your test begins. We will not take enrollments to the program after Dec. 31, 2011, and at 40 members, we close enrollment. 

So your UBBT 2012 starts when you enroll and ends in April, 2013, making the project at least 15 months long —or longer.

Tuition, for the 1st 10 members to enroll (3 enrollments so far) will be $1200. Add to that a $500 deposit made to an escrow account with Member’s Solutions. The $500 is returned to any member who graduates in April of 2013 —and is forfeited by any member who fails to fulfill his/her UBBT 2012 program (you quit participating, you lose). 

After the first 10 enrollments, program tuition goes to $1500. After the first 20 members it goes to $1700 (plus money in escrow, of course). 

To talk about enrollment, contact Coach Tom Callos at 530-903-0286, by SKYPE at tomcallos, or by Google Video Chat.

Source: ultimateblackbelttest.com

The UBBT 2012 Ends in Alabama

The UBBT 12, a test for people ready for —and seeking —rank advancement under the UBBT banner, will end in Greensboro, Alabama in April of 2013, where we will conduct a final exam and graduation, then work as a team to renovate and construct homes for local residents in need.  See the last Alabama Project’s website, here: www.HeroHousing.org/ubbt

Source: tomcallos.com

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