Fighting Belongs in the Ring
By MAPro Readers • Jun 27th, 2008 • Category: Letters to EditorI am a charter member of NAPMA; it is because of some of the ideas presented by Tom Callos that I was able to grow my school. I must take exception to some of the points made in Mr. Callos’ column in the April 2008 issue of Martial Arts Professional.
1. Is NAPMA another mouthpiece for the left wing political establishment or is this organization supposed to help martial arts instructors do their jobs better?
2. What would be the logical conclusion to Mr. Callos’ worldview? I would humbly suggest that neither he nor I would be writing anything in English - German would be the official language.
3. Isn’t freedom worth fighting for? The ONLY reason that you can write your article is because somebody had to step up and pay the price, so that you and I can so deeply disagree on this particular subject. I guess it isn’t important that Afghan girls can go to school. It probably doesn’t matter to you that Iraqi people risked their lives to vote. Do you remember all those purple thumbs?
4. If freedom and self-determination are not worth fighting for, then how is it OK for two people to stand in a ring and beat the hell out of one another just so we can be entertained? Mr. Callos your worldview is at best inconsistent.
Leave the politics out of NAPMA. If I want to be told that my son is “fighting useless battles for nothing (but in the name of freedom),” then I will subscribe to the liberalwieniesareus.org newsletter. I am a member of NAPMA for one reason: to be a better instructor for my students. Mr. Callos, if you are bored with teaching us how to be teachers, then maybe you need to work for someone else.
Tommy Stallard
Arlington School of Self Defense
Arlington Texas
Tom Callos’ Response
Hi Tommy,
First, let me tell you I take no offense, none at all, to your comments. With that being said, let me respond:
Item #1: My comments about war are about all that is wrong with war - as in every situation, there are something good and something bad. In discussing whether MMA is brutal and violent and inappropriate, I contrasted it against war - to put it into perspective. In a war where your daughter is unjustly killed, where your 6-year-old son is disfigured, where your wife is abused and killed - well, these aspects of war are unfair no matter the politics. They are, as politicians and the military like to say, “causalities of war.” This is the kind of things I object to - civilian casualties in a “war” that may not have needed to be fought in the first place.
That aside, all my heroes speak out for what they believe to be true (who would Jesus bomb?) and I am shocked that we (the industry) don’t have more voices against the war. What, has NAPMA become a right wing political mouthpiece by ignoring the war?
It is, in my opinion, the right thing for us, the “martial” world, to discuss. As is religion…and my martial arts, probably a bit like yours isn’t confined to the dojo. My life is my dojo.
Item #2: Or Greek, Italian or Slavic - and while WWI and WW2 may (or may not) have been “just” wars, war is not “good” just because the U.S. government says it is. Just like Hitler’s reign, sometimes the people ought to step in and say, “wait a minute, this stinks.” In a perfect world, we don’t oppose the government, nor do we take it all hook, line, and sinker. Just because Bush and his people say it’s so, doesn’t make it so.
Item #3: I’m in agreement with you. Freedom is worth fighting for…but let’s make some distinctions about what is right - and what isn’t. Does the end justify the means? Let us NOT leave politics out of being a master of the martial arts and/or our businesses. I’m not ready to stand back, in any situation, in any industry, and be apathetic about what is unjust - and/or what ought to be questioned.
I am not bored with teaching teachers or being a teacher and/or student…I am appalled that so many people, martial arts teachers included, are standing back and doing nothing, saying nothing and accepting what I find to be unacceptable.
When you find it isn’t unacceptable, try erasing the line between you and them. Make it your loved ones getting their faces blown off. Make it your life that is destroyed. Make it your world that has been shattered, while corrupt companies and many inadequate leaders play politics. We are so isolated from the real costs of war that we forget what a horrific terror it is. Would Jesus or Buddha (or name your religious figure) approve cluster bomb attacks on innocent non-combatants? I have to wonder.
At my age, with my experience, albeit unlimited, I must speak out - and this is exactly what we should be talking about.
I’m glad you responded Tommy - and I’ll bet that if we sat down together and chatted more, we’d find some similar beliefs - and a few we’d probably just have to disagree about.
But how can I sit quiet? Every place is the appropriate place to talk about the freedom from being brutalized by whoever happens to be in power. I don’t believe our soldiers are in Iraq for the right reasons - I think $700,000,000 a day is too high a price - and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone, somewhere weren’t thinking we might just spend our nation into submission.
Tom Callos
Mr. Stallard’s Response
Mr. Callos,
First of all, I want to thank you for the call and the e-mail. You did not have to go to that kind of trouble, but I will probably never agree with you on the war. I think that we would agree on almost everything, concerning martial arts instruction.
I am a very political person like you; I know what I believe and my beliefs are passionate. While I still DO NOT believe that NAPMA is the place to discuss politics. (If I want to hear your side, then I can tune to CNN, any network, any flavor-of-the-minute Hollywood star or NPR. If I want to hear my side, then I can listen to talk radio).
Here’s an idea - We can also vote; and I am proud to say that I have not missed one single election in more than 10 years. I don’t agree with everything the executive branch does.
Like all political discussions, this is personal. I have a son who is serving our country proudly in the United States Navy. He believes in what he is doing, I believe in what he is doing and, most importantly, I believe in my son. I still have not forgotten those images of September 11th.
To respond to your response, I have a very personal stake in the war, Jonathan Stallard is my only son, and he is the only son I will ever have for the rest of my life. There was no soldier stationed in those towers seven years ago. My son is not some poor kid who didn’t have any other alternatives; he has come from a solid middle-class home (Thanks, in part, to NAPMA) and his college was fully funded.
As far as those dreaded evil bombs, American bombs exist for one reason and one reason only. Every time an American bomb is dropped on an enemy combatant, one less soldier is put in harm’s way. I believe our military does everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. The people we are fighting have absolutely no trouble targeting civilian populations.
You said that you feel like NAPMA has become a right-wing political mouthpiece by ignoring the war. NAPMA is a specialized business, engaged in the activity of making martial arts schools better. If NAPMA is to engage in politics, then ultimately it will fail in the martial arts arena. As a business owner and martial arts teacher, I know what I believe. I don’t need NAPMA to tell me that I should be for or against ANY political or religious issue.
I recently walked into my boot camp class. As I drove into the parking lot, I saw a car with anti-war, anti-Bush stickers all over it. It was difficult, but I was able to walk past her car without slashing her tires - AND helped to teach her in class. I was happy to help her and I was honored that she chose to train at my school. Despite the picture of my son in his Navy uniform, displayed prominently in my school, we didn’t talk about the war because she was there to learn and I was there to teach.
If you and NAPMA want to deal with the fallout and if you are really willing to publish both sides of the argument, then, by all means, you can count on me to zip off e-mails every time I think that you are wrong.
Sincerely
Tommy Stallard
Arlington School of Self Defense
Arlington Texas
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