Dedicated to my sons, whom I love with all my heart, and am forever proud of:
Shihan Harley Del Castillo, Shihan Diego Del Castillo and Sensei Winston Del Castillo.
Great brothers, sons, Blackbelt Leaders and men who epitomize what I mean when I speak of Blackbelt Superpowers.
INTRODUCTION
Developing Your Superpowers
One of the lessons we teach at my dojo (martial arts training academy), Krav Maga Martial Arts, is “If It’s To Be, It’s up to me”. It’s an attitude of personal responsibility, or as we teach in our Blackbelt Leadership Training Course (LTC), “extreme ownership”. It means that no matter what happens, has happened or will happen, I and only I am responsible for the result. It’s a counter-intuitive notion; most people most naturally embrace the opposite outlook: “why is this happening to me”? But, while we can not control the things that happen to us, we can control our personal actions and reactions to the world and, as I intend to show you in this book, you can be incredibly powerful when you learn to take conscious control of yourself and your life. In fact, you can develop superpowers!
Superpowers are powers that allow us to create supernatural results. You may think that I am exaggerating but hundreds of KMMA Blackbelts know that they are real.
The first step is to believe that they exist.
The next is to believe that you can have them.
The third step is to develop the powers consistently over time.
The final step is to apply the superpowers to live a Super life!
In this book I will share the foundations to developing your superpowers. They are the same we teach in our Foundations Program at Krav Maga Martial Arts.
They are:
- Focus
- Respect
- Discipline
- Confidence
- Gratitude
- Vision
Incidentally, as I am writing this book, I am looking forward to giving it to new students with their enrollment package as they begin their journey with us. Perhaps you are reading this now because you are one of them; perhaps you’re just reading the book, but will decide to join us to develop your own superpowers one day!
You can visit www.TampaKravMaga.com for more info and to be my guest for free! I’ve also created a page of resources for those of you who support the book. You can get these by visiting www.TampaKravMaga.com/Superpowers (will go active when book is published).
Each chapter begins with an introduction of the superpower to be taught, and then some of my Meditations On Mastery- leadership blogs that further teach some aspect of the power and are great bedtime stories for kids and adults. 
By the way, some of these meditations may speak to the specific time that they were written; for example some during the Coronavirus pandemic and shutdowns of 2020. I left that in because while the events may be time stamped, the lessons are timeless. In fact, it is during each generation’s own great challenges that the lessons of character are most revealed and most relevant. Read to take the lessons and then to apply them to your own challenges and opportunities in life; and to help raise up your kids to do the same.
The first six chapters discuss the “Foundational Superpowers”. These are the powers that need to be developed first, in order that emerging leaders are ready to take the next steps to Blackbelt Leadership Excellence and Power. The seventh chapter discusses one of the most important quests of every life- to determine the specific Superpower you were gifted and the Quest you were called to. It is in applying our power to better our world that we answer that cliche and seldom answered question: “what is the meaning of life”.
Finally, before we dive into the foundation superpowers, know that there is a sequel to this book too- it’s the companion book to the Blackbelt Leadership Training Course (LTC). In it, I share the 7 Blackbelt Leadership Principles for Mastering Your Life. Just as students at my school receive this training after completing the Foundations program and qualifying for the course, it’s best to complete this book before you read that one. The foundations I share with you here will prepare you to learn and apply the leadership lessons of that book for Mastery of Leadership and Life! There you will learn to lead others, but before we lead others, we must first learn to lead ourselves and that’s what developing the Foundational Superpowers is all about!
One more comment before we start on Superpower One: if you have a family, read this book together with them. Just as my dojo (martial arts school) is a family program, I wrote the lessons of this book for the family to share together and, while you will appreciate them at any age, the sooner we start the kids the better. We can start instilling and developing superpowers in our kids young so that they will be even more powerful as they grow into adulthood and go into the world. Adults equipped with these superpowers in youth are ready to be superheroes in school, at work, in their relationships and as they become leaders and make their unique marks upon the world!
Prepare To Live. Empower To Lead.
Grand Master Stephen Del Castillo
Click on the image of KMMA Blackbelt Superhero Diego Del Castillo flying
for more info and to pre-order and/or support the book!
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TampaKravMaga.com and Krav Maga Martial Arts have been empowering lives through the martial arts in the Tampa Bay area for 20 years!
Founded in 2000 by Grandmaster Stephen J. Del Castillo, a 7th degree Black Belt and Sr. Master Instructor, Krav Maga Martial Arts and Karate lessons for pre-school children ages 3-6 and elementary age kids ages 7 and up are designed to develop the critical building blocks kids need – specialized for their age group – for school excellence and later success in life.
Krav Maga Martial Arts Adult Krav Maga training is a complete adult self defense, fitness, and conditioning program for adults who want to learn real world self defense, lose weight, and/or get (and stay in shape).
If you have any questions about our program, or would like to go ahead redeem your 2 weeks FREE, you can call us anytime at 813-547-6368 or visit our Krav Maga Martial Arts website.
About Grandmaster Stephen J. Del Castillo: Grandmaster Del Castillo is the founding Master Instructor of Krav Maga Martial Arts and has been empowering lives in Pasco and Hillsborough Counties since October of 2000. He is a 7th degree Blackbelt, MBA, author, mentor and success coach, a US Army Veteran and a proud father and grandfather. He is married to Ms. Barbara Del Castillo who helps him run the school. Grand Master Del Castillo began his training in the early 80’s and has high level blackbelts in Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Premier Martial Arts and Krav Maga Martial Arts as well as experience in kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do and Jiujitsu. He has high level instructor certifications from BBSI, IKMF, and KMG and has been featured in numerous Martial Arts publications and also Success magazine. He was a competitive sport karate and American Kickboxing instructor until he enlisted in the US Army where he served in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he won an Army Green to Gold scholarship and proceeded to ROTC and the University of Tampa. He was commisioned in 1992 and went on to serve in Germany with the 3rd Infantry Division and then in several other posts in the US until he left military service to pursue his dream of creating KMMA in 2000.
The Krav MagaMartial Arts Headquarters is in Lutz, FL at 1900 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., 33549. Krav Maga Martial Arts serves Lutz, Land O’ Lakes, Wesley Chapel, and surrounding areas.
Also, check us out on Fun4TampaKids & on Go2Karate.com