UBBT Philosophy

The Ultimate Black Belt Test is a 12 month (sometimes longer) martial arts training, business development, and black belt testing program for school owners, instructors, their staff members, and - sometimes - for very serious students. 

The UBBT is a black belt test broken down into 365 days of focused effort and training (that’s 365 “black belt tests”). This gives us the time needed to construct and LIVE a “test” that changes habits, develops new behaviors, shapes how we eat, work, think, serve, and - basically (because we can’t say it enough), how we “live.” 

The expression we use in The 100. is “My life is my dojo” - and in the Ultimate Black Belt Test we say, “Our black belt test is our life.” This means that the real test is to live a daily existence that reflects who we are as martial artists - and far more importantly, who we are as human beings. The "ultimate" black belt test isn’t something that happens in a year, over the course of a week, weekend, or a single day. It’s a lifestyle - a deep and daily practice of self-discipline, gratitude, on-going education, and perpetual reflection on how we live in the here and now.

People who join the UBBT process come from every style of martial arts, as the test and training process isn't restricted by "type or sytle." The focuses in the UBBT are the individual daily efforts, intentions, and goals set by the participant. What's meaningful is their ability to stay the course, and most importantly - the UBBT tester’s attempt to live the perfect - the “ultimate” black belt test.

One of the reasons the UBBT is arguably the most important and influential martial arts testing program in the world, comes from the fact that each member of the current test is required to live his or her test in the public eye. Testing members must document their training in weekly journal entries (text and/or video). 

Through this process we get to see if the UBBT is what it’s seeking to be. Do participants follow through? Is transformation taking place? Are they living a black belt test that sets the mark for a what a test could and should be? For some, the UBBT is truly a catalyst for remarkable personal and business transformation. For others, the UBBT becomes a seemingly insurmountable obstacle - and in light of personal limitations, a "mistake" they made. But for almost everyone who comes in contact with the UBBT (as a member or just a spectator), the project opens the mind to new ideas and methods for making the process of earning a black belt more important, relevant, and meaningful for oneself and one's community.

The Ultimate Black Belt Test is a complete immersion, dedication, and transformation; it’s a test of balance between lifestyle, training, and contribution - a blend of personal life and business life. It’s a test of one’s ability to create something beyond what we already know about black belt testing; it’s a test of one’s ability to create something unique, something of value, something that not only affects the participant, but everyone in the participant's sphere of influence.

The UBBT looks for people who are willing to step up and serve as an example of what martial arts should be about. In the martial arts world there'a a lot of lip-service about what self-discipline, respect, perseverance, and focus in training is supposed to instill. In the Ultimate Black Belt Test, I ask the team’s members to show us what it means to be “in-training" for their black belt test. Is it a purely physical thing? Is their a spiritual component? If so, how does it affect one’s behavior? What does a black belt GO THROUGH to earn the rank? Is the training simply an endurance event? Or is their real learning involved? Are there engaging practices that open the eyes of the student? Is there a process that happens which, once completed, leaves the participant more competent, aware, and enlightened? What does it MEAN to be a black belt? 

What should a black belt test made up of? Reading? Practical application? Real life experiences? Study? Mental training? What is "The Ultimate Black Belt Test?" In the UBBT, we explore that idea together - in 365 or more daily practices.

I award black belt ranks to members who are eligible time wise, and who show an extraordinary effort during the year of this process. Some people who enter the UBBT fail to complete it, not because it’s too challenging, but because the process of living what we teach, day in and day out, is incredibly difficult. Don't be one of those people. However, almost everyone who engages in the UBBT as a member walks away with a new mindset about the potential of the black belt testing process as something much grander than the way it was done (in general) before and outside of the UBBT.

The Ultimate Black Belt Test has introduced dozens of new ideas and methods for the testing process, including Project-Based Leadership Training, the Acts of Kindness Program, Anger Management Teacher Training for Martial Arts Teachers, Diabetes Teacher Training, The Environmental Self-Defense Program, and the Dietary Self-Defense Project.

The UBBT 2012 officially begins Jan. 1, 2012. However, it unofficially begins for you, the reader, as soon as you decide that you’re going to use 2012 and the ideas behind the UBBT to personally transform your own life, the lives of your family members, your students, and your community. When you read about this program - and despite not knowing all the details, feel it SPEAK to you... that’s the first step to participation.

The UBBT’s first focus is to help you transform yourself, to the best of your abilities, in ways that are meaningful to YOU. Second, the UBBT is about transforming your business. We do that by transforming your product - and YOU are the product of your school. The better you are, the better your school will be. Third and most importantly, the UBBT is NOT just about YOU, it’s about everyone in your sphere of influence. In the “ultimate” test, your own journey is so real, so genuine, and so powerful, that it helps inspire everyone around you to improve themselves too.

Ultimately, the UBBT is about a bunch of us coming together to shape the future of the martial arts industry. We CAN do better - and we will. We come together from all continents to create and document as many ways as we can for using the martial arts to build a better and more peaceful world. We don't’ always succeed in our efforts, but in the UBBT we step up to the plate and SWING. If you don’t play, you can’t hit a home run. 

The UBBT 2012 begins officially in January of 2012. The cut-off for enrollment in the 2012 UBBT is April of 2012. 2012 members will be graduating in April, 2013, in Greensburo, Alabama during the Alabama Housebuild Project. Get more info at www.ubbt2012.tumblr.com. Applications are taken year round, and members begin receiving coaching upon enrollment. For more information, contact Tom Callos by e-mail at tomcallos@gmail.com.