Photo: The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan at 31st International Training Conference in July 2026.
by Sis. Charlene Muhammad, Special to Indian Voices
TINLEY PARK, Illinois — More than 1,000 martial artists, security trainers, and families filled the Tinley Park Convention Center outside Chicago from July 23-26 for the 31st Annual International Training Conference of the United School of Survival (USOS), an event that, this year, carried the double weight of mourning and mentorship.
The gathering, hosted by Grandmaster Dr. Abdul Azziz Muhammad, ran under the theme “We Must Make Our Communities a Decent and Safe Place to Live.” That call landed differently this year, coming weeks after the Nation of Islam lost two of its matriarchs—Mother Khadijah Farrakhan, First Lady of the Nation of Islam and wife of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, on June 27, and Azziza Muhammad, wife of Grandmaster Abdul Azziz Muhammad, on July 15.
Four days of martial arts training, sparring, and self-defense instruction were paired with workshops on home and community security, emergency response, food security and driving safety, along with a Friday Jumu’ah (Congregational) prayer service, men’s and women’s sessions, and family gatherings.
Forsake vanity and self-conceit in order to become a great student.
Minister Farrakhan spoke on July 25, after martial arts masters and senseis spent the afternoon demonstrating self-defense techniques for adults and children on the mat. He was visibly moved. Here is an excerpt from his remarks:
“Wow. With tears in my eyes in remembrance of The Queen of my life, I know she would be overjoyed to have witnessed what I witnessed today, this afternoon. I want to thank all of the senseis.
“And I pray that God, Allah, will give you long life, that you may continue to teach young people and old people to take care of their bodies which is the real house of God. Take care of your diet, which demonstrates your love for the house that God wants to live in with you.
God wants to live in us! You didn’t hear me, so I’ll say it again! Allah (God) wants to live in what He created, but you have to understand Who you are and Who you want to be like and belong to!
“I am so overwhelmed looking at my young baby brothers. Now, when an old man sees a baby doing the things that these babies did, I know our Nation is safe. To my right and my left, my son and my son—not my physical son, but a spiritual son.
“My physical and spiritual son[s], I thank Allah for the both of you, and for my other son, Grandmaster Abdul Azziz Muhammad. Come over here, sit with daddy. (Smile)
“When the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said to me, ‘Brother, you may sit in my seat as the father of the house in my absence,’ just think about that. ‘You are not the father’: I am not ‘the’ father, but I can sit as the father. What makes me sit as the father? Because I have become his begotten son.
“I rejoice in you today. I am inspired by you today ... Because what my grandmaster brother [Oso Tayari Casel] said. Oh man! Where mi brudduh from Jamaica [Captain Robert Hibbert], man? Come, man, come! I love you, man. All the grandmasters ... Listen!
“Where would we be without these great men and women who taught us, who are teaching us? Oh, my dear brother who gets beat up all the time [Shodan DeMonet Bernstein], sit right down here, brother! I am honored to have you as my son!
“What a young man! And he has been doing this since he was almost a little boy. He has been the one that they beat up every year! But he is a warrior, man! I was so impressed with him one year, I wrote a check to him, to say, ‘Brother, you are such a wonderful helper to the masters, as you are becoming a master.’”
Hands-on lessons for the next generation
Youth programming ran throughout the weekend. For instance, Indianapolis urban farmer Vivian Muhammad and Hadi Muhammad led young people through a gardening workshop, framing neighborhood beautification as a direct extension of the conference’s community-safety theme.
“My soul is full and my soul is fed,” said Vivian Muhammad, about being blessed to present to the youth. “They were engaged and I love that and I saw some future farmers in the audience, so that always excites me,” she said. “My motto is: ‘Let’s grow growers,’ so, I feel like we had some growers in the audience,” she concluded.
The conference closed July 26 with the Scimitar Open Martial Arts Tournament, giving competitors of all ages the chance to test what they had trained for over the weekend in kata, weapons, and sparring divisions—a fitting final note for a conference built, from its youngest attendees to its senior leadership, around preparing the next generation to carry the work forward.
