Shoka Magazine: Kindness Pays Off

Kindness Pays Off

I could live off compliments like this

Marty Callahan
8th Degree Black Belt

“Warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, for no one has
the right to take another life. The warrior, for us, is the one who sacrifices himself for the good of others.
His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and
above all, the children, the future of humanity.”

-Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota Indian Chief

I help people all the time in many different ways. I’ve done this my whole life. It’s who I am. I used to get
bullied because of it. The bullies I had to deal with thought helping people was a sign of weakness. I
suppose they thought that a leader had other people doing their beck and call. I didn’t believe this. I
believed that a good leader served others and that this was their true strength.

This is part of what attracted me to karate in the first place. It empowered me. It gave me the power I
needed to put bullies aside, so I could go on being who I was. This is often the case with bullies, they
want to punish you for helping others, for doing the right thing, for picking other people up when they are
down.

So, last summer I helped a grand-aunt find her grand-nephew. The child had trained with us and his
mom pulled him out of our school, and surreptitiously took him and his brother to Arizona. She was
hiding the children from the grand-aunt and uncle who had raised the boys for a while after their father,
her husband, had died. It was a classic child custody battle. When I help people, I expect nothing in
return. If I get a thank you or a compliment it feels all the better and I want nothing more than to do it
again. I encourage everyone to do the same – help others and give sincere compliments like this. It will
make the world a better place in some small way.

Hi Carol,
When you mentioned last evening that Connie’s husband is Marty and he’s a Shotokan Sensei, I
wondered if his studio is on Marlow Rd? If so, I met him this past summer and found him to be one of
the kindest people. He restored my faith in humanity by helping me to find my grand-nephews after
their mother moved away with them without telling anyone in our family where she (or the children)
were. My 8-year-old grand-nephew was in Marty’s Karate classes prior to being taken (as we found
out) to Arizona by their mother. If this is the same Marty, please let him know he made a huge
difference! Now that we have found the children, we have hired a lawyer and are pursuing our legal
rights for Grandparent / Grand-Aunt visitation. They are the children of my deceased nephew, who
lived with us after his divorce from their mother, and we miss them tremendously.
Thank you. Deborah WB

Hi Deborah,
Yes, that’s the right Marty, and he is, indeed, the kindest of men. I’ll forward this onto him with your
permission. ~ C