Christmas 2025 Update from Tom Callos

While I make a mind-numbing number of posts on my Instagram and Facebook accounts, I’ve been ignoring my blog for some time. My opinion is that blogging has become rather superfluous, nevertheless I’m writing here again to update any quiet soul who might be interested in what I am —or am not —doing.

Cancer. My wife was diagnosed, went thru chemo hell, radiation too, and I’ve been the happy caregiver for her. Nothing like a little cancer to derail the best laid plans. She is in remission and recovering, thank you.

The Passing of Friends. Since my last post a small, but nevertheless important, collection of longtime friends have gone on to that big, spacious, super-clean dojo in the sky. Chief among them is GGM Tony B. Thompson, a longtime friend and instructor. You're missed Grandmaster Tony! Then there was the sudden passing of Richard Norton of Australia. A couple of weeks before his departure I’d spent some roomate time with Richard and his wife Judy, as we all camped out at our mutual friend’s house in LA, school owner and master teacher Fariborz Azhakh. He passed suddenly at his home in Australia —and had you asked me, I would have suggested that among all our friends, Richard would have been the one who outlived us all. You’re missed Richard!

Richard and Judy Norton

The benefit to the loss of your loved ones and friends, is that each is a grand lesson in the importance of living in the here and now. One never knows when your time here is up.

Art Like there is No Tomorrow. I am deeply committed to making art, as in the way I used to be committed to practicing the martial arts. I try to show up in my studio every day of the week —and I approach each new effort as an opportunity to practice the craft, to put myself in the certain state of mind (art meditation), and to make the work ever more complex —or simple —in the quest to make the pieces as transcendent as I am able.

That’s artist Alexander Calder

Contribution to Others. When I am able I try to make things and/or otherwise contribute to worthwhile causes. Over the last XX amount of time since I last blogged, I handmade 50 prints with a butterfly theme for my friend environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill. All the proceeds have gone to charities picked by Julia. My prntmaking-legend friend, Amos Kennedy joined the project and gifted Julia 100 of his own custom made prints. Thank you Amos! Oh, and thanks to printmaker Kelli MacConnell for her collaboration!

I made prints to benefit victims of the Maui fire —and my former student and friend BJ Penn and I used them to raise several thousand for the effort. And another famous printmaker friend of mine also sent along 100 of his own print design to contribute. Thank you to Neil Shigley!

Sadly, I made prints for distribution at the funeral of a very fine person and good friend, artist and martial artist Patti Oji —who was hit by a car as she was crossing a street in her hometown, Patti! Damn, you’re missed.

Presently, as of Dec 18, 2025, I am making prints of Bruce Lee for The Bruce Lee Foundation’s non-profit efforts. One piece is in auction now —and I've made a number of new prints for their next art auction. They’re drying on my rack as I write this.

And I think that’s enough UPDATE for now. If you made it all the way to the bottom of this piece, THANK YOU! Happy Holidays and an even Happier New Year!

On Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee - A Print of a Man Who Taught me to be a Better Teacher

My linocut print of Samuel Mockbee, 24” x 18”, edition of less than 10 prints.

I never met Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee (1944 - 2001), not in-person, but his work deeply impacted mine; so much so that I spent 15 years going to his neck-of-the-woods once a year, all the way to Greensboro, Alabama and the surrounding areas, to help the people and communities he held special.

In this print of Mockbee, I added the words “Proceed and be Bold” —a quote very often attributed to him.

I was traveling a lot in the 90’s and 2000’s teaching martial arts seminars. More than once I came across magazine pieces on Mockbee’s work with architectural students, via his program called “The Rural Studio” (Click on that link to have your mind blown).

In a nutshell, Mockbee had transcended the field of architecture —his work was about people and social justice, equality, community, and compassion. He simply used the design and building of various structures to TEACH young people, young architects, how to make their work about something more than designing and building structures. He sought to cultivate “Citizen-Architects.” Like Mockbee, I wanted to do the same as a martial arts teacher. I wanted to model Mockbee’s efforts and cultivate “Citizen-Teachers.” People who took what we worked so hard on —on our mats —and put it into work done, for self and others, in the world.

I reached out to Samuel Mockbee, by phone, a couple of months after he had passed from cancer (I didn’t know it when I called, leaving numerous messages to try and speak to him in person). Instead, I got a call back from an equally remarkable soul, Ms. Pam Dorr (here’s a link to a CBS new story on Pam). Out of our discussions, we started The Alabama Martial Arts Business Build-Vention. It was a convention not hosted in some Vegas hotel, but in a small town in rural Alabama that, you know, needed some help. For 15 years I compelled my martial arts teacher-friends to help me raise money to build homes and refurbish structures for low-income people who needed help —and then they would travel to meet me in Greensboro, sometimes as many as 100 teachers would attend, and we’d clean, build, refurbish, do demonstrations, and well…whatever Pam needed done. We ultimately raised almost $250,000 —and we facilitated, according to Pam, more than 40,000 volunteer man-hours, to Greensboro’s benefit. I’m very proud of that work, as it was varied, rich, educational, and eye-opening to everyone who helped. Here’s a video attendee Mike Oliver took from one of the years.