Change Makers is series of interviews with people famous and obscure who are creating a more sustainable world through their work. Meet more Change Makers here.
Image courtesy Zdenek Mlika
Within less than a year, Tom Callos did his first Judo roll and read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. The two subjects-personal self—defense and environmental self-defense—quickly became intertwined in his mind and his life. That was 1970. Today, the sixth-degree black belt, who resides in Hilo, Hawaii, heads a one-of-a-kind master-teacher training program he calls the Ultimate Black Belt Test that requires of its disciples 50,000 push-ups and crunches and 1,000 rounds of sparring, alongside 1,000 acts of kindness, including instructing martial arts teachers in how to implement environmental community-service projects. To date, more than 100 martial arts schools globally have also embraced Callos's Environmental Self-Defense Intuitive, which asks teachers to require their young students to perform 10 acts of environmental self-defense along with the physical requirements in order to earn the rank of "green belt." Here, he ponders consumerism and how Chuck Norris could save the planet.
How did you get into this line of work?
It all started at 7:30 p.m. on Friday the September 9, 1966. I was almost seven years old, and I saw Bruce Lee in The Green Hornet on TV.
What was your "a-ha" moment?
I heard a teacher of mine—a friend and training partner to Bruce Lee, coincidently—Master Jhoon Rhee say, "If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an action is worth a thousand pictures." That was the day I became an action-taker.
Who is your green hero?
Nobel Prize winner Wangari Matthai. But I also greatly admire Julia Butterfly Hill. Julia's "What's Your Tree?" campaign and her book One Makes the Difference inspire me.
What is your ultimate green goal?
To make "environmental self-defense" education a part of the curriculum in every martial arts school in the world.
What is your motivation?
I believe that being aware of environment issues—as well as caring for the natural and animal world—is as relevant to self-defense as any punch, kick, or throw.
What is most important to you, ecologically speaking?
Awareness of conspicuous consumption, unnecessary consumption, and the negative consequences of destructive consumerism.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Getting martial arts teachers—and perhaps most significantly, the powers-that-be in the martial arts industry—to connect the dots between what they do and environmental and sustainability education and activism.
What is the most rewarding?
Seeing kids take action in and for the world based on the encouragement of their martial arts teachers. Last year, a martial arts school, Practical Martial Arts in Corte Madera, Calif, became the first dojo in the world to add an environmental clean-up requirement as a part of their black-belt testing curriculum. That was incredibly rewarding.
Of the people you have worked with, who impresses you most?
I was inspired by the architect Samuel Mockbee of the Rural Studio and as a result I bring a team of black belts to Alabama every year to do a project with Mockbee-inspired activist Pamela Dorr. While Mockbee and Dorr aren't what many people might recognize as "environmental activists," they are champions of a kind of community-based sustainability and activism that every environmentalist could learn from. I'm also working with graphic design guru and educational activist John Bielenberg of Project M. If every teacher could teach like Mockbee, Dorr, and Bielenberg, the world would be a far better place.
What green thing do you do everyday?
I am acutely conscious of what I consume. Every day I make a number of decisions about what I use and/or throw away and I try to use as little as possible. I am a fan of the Compact movement and, with a few exceptions, I haven't bought anything new for more than a year now.
What do you wish you could do?
I'd like to convince Chuck Norris to speak up for environmentalism! He has millions of fans and his influence might get martial arts teachers and students around the world to become more involved in sustainability education and environmental self-defense. In other words: Chuck Norris doesn't need to save the planet, the planet needs to save Chuck Norris.
What is your biggest eco-sin?
It's got to be in the consumption and disposal of non-biodegradable products-and products that aren't recycled. After that it's in using petroleum-based or petroleum-involved products.
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
I would stop the ridiculous spending we do on the military, war, and its accoutrements.
What is your best green advice?
Live simply and don't let consumerism bully you into buying things you don't need. Learn to enjoy the outdoors and fight like the devil to preserve the integrity of the natural world.
