If you don't want to fire validation you can use the immediate = true attribute on the CommandButton/CommandLink to bypass any validation. - This isn't optimal in my opinion
If you only want to submit part of a page and still fire validation have a look at the ActionRegion. This should allow you to wrap a particular Region for the action call. This is probably best for your purpose.
Sorry I don't have time to post full examples but that should point you in the right direction :)