UBBT 6 ALABAMA PROJECT Press Release

Greensboro, AL, March 30, 2009 – In The Ultimate Black Belt Test
(UBBT), a martial arts teacher-training program designed by veteran
instructor Tom Callos of Hilo, Hawaii, participants are required to
take their martial arts “out of the dojo (school) and into the world.”
More than 100 martial arts teachers and students from across the North
American continent did just that between March 25th and the 29th as
they converged upon the small southern town of Greensboro, Alabama to
build a home, restore a historic schoolhouse, refurbish a thrift
store, and help out with the local animal shelter.

Dave McNeill of Carson City, Nevada, a 9th-degee black belt, worked on
building a set of tables and benches to help the local Hale County
Empowerment and Revitalization Organization (HERO). Jeff Brinker of
Stony Plain in Alberta, Canada, a 6th-degree black belt in Gung-fu,
worked on restoring a historic one-room Rosenwald schoolhouse. Black
belts Rori Goetze, Nathan Slater, Rob McLaughlin, and Rob’s wife Tara,
came to help from Reno, Nevada. The team helped construct a large
freestanding studio for an blind elderly man whose current living
arrangements put his health in jeopardy. Chan Lee, a second generation
master teacher from Milwaukee, Wisconsin brought more than 20 people,
many of whom cared for stray animals, cleaned out pens, and fixed
enclosures at the Hale County Animal Control Center. Hal Gustin of
Denver, Colorado, the senior member of the team, having taken his
first martial arts lesson in 1956, helped keep all the job sites safe
and supplied.

“The purpose of this yearly event,” says Gustin, “is to teach martial
arts instructors how to take action in their communities. It’s the
best way to teach students about leadership and character, and it’s
one fine way to tell a community what your school is really all
about.”

According to the event’s founder, Tom Callos, it’s about a number of
other things as well. “Martin Luther King walked these streets,” says
Callos. “James Agee and Walker Evans collaborated on their famous book
here; "Let us Now Praise Famous Men." Architect Samuel Mockbee founded
the Rural Studio near here, his legacy can still be seen all over
town.” Callos was inspired to host the event by Mockbee, who died in
2001. Mockbee was known for taking his architectural students out of
their classroom and put them to work helping others.

“The UBBT team raised more than $15,000 for materials,” says Callos,
“but more importantly, they raised the standards for the entire
martial arts world. In the future, because of this kind of community
activism, what martial arts teachers inspire their students to do off
of the mat may be as important as what they do on it.”