A Leadership Academy that Teaches the Most Practical Self-Defense
When I say that “we are a leadership development academy that also teaches the world’s most practical self-defense”, I wonder how many truly understand.
The simple sentence is meant to be a very clear statement of our USP (Unique Selling Proposition) …
but I wonder how clear it really is.
Truthfully, I’d especially like your opinion if you aren’t a student yet.
That’s because my students are already experiencing it and, so, understand it better.
But is it clear to the rest of you?
Still, I am also going to share a little about what it means; and even use a few memes I downloaded this morning to help.
We are a leadership development academy.
But as even the very concept of “leadership” can convey multiple meanings to multiple people, let me convey a few of the things that I think leadership implies:
- A leader never quits. Of the most essential elements of success in business, life, sports, and any other thing, perseverance is one of the most important.
It’s one of the most important leadership principles we teach.
We teach it in many ways through many lessons, up to and including the Blackbelt tests, which I consider the ultimate metaphor and preparation for life!
Suffice it to say, for the purposes of this writing, that every Krav Maga Martial Arts Blackbelt Leader has it!
- Leaders have learned to control their own thoughts and actions, to focus their energy and attention and to control the things they can control.
Most people focus the things they can’t control: they fret about the past, worry about the future, about the behaviors of others, about what other people may feel about them, about the news, the situation, or the circumstances…
My Blackbelt Leaders learn a principle I call Circle of Concern and Circle of Control.
I draw two circles on a whiteboard. One represents the circle of concern- everything we care about.
The other represents that circle of control- that which I can do something about.
It is where the two circles intersect that we should invest our time, energy, and attention. It’s where our power is.
And the magic of this Blackbelt Leadership Principle (they’re all magic by the way) is that when we do this successfully, we indirectly affect the things that happen around and to us too!
But step one is to control our own thought and behavior.
Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we react to it.
- The Voices.
There used to be jokes about talking to yourself.
But the truth is, we all do that.
The voices in our head are sometimes caused or created by that, but that is irrelevant- refer to principle two.
What is important is that we take control of the voices in our head.
You see, rather we are 7 or 67, we have the voices…
of course, we know that the most formative years are between 0 and 8 by the way…
but, again, refer to number two. That info is only most useful to you if you have a child in that age range. You CAN and WILL make it easier or harder for that child as an adult based on the things you say and do today.
You DO have control of that, and it is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
But what our parents did or didn’t do, say, or instill in us is now irrelevant.
Being in the past, we can’t control that. We can only control our present beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors to create our future.
So, I am diving a little deeper into a complex subject that I mean to and, I don’t mean to minimize the effects of childhood trauma.
What I am saying is simple, not easy.
But it is true.
The only one that ultimately controls the battle in your head, is YOU.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to win that battle.
This is why positive self-talk, mental and emotional control, and the result I call empowerment is such a huge piece of what we do!
Because, when we win that battle, we can win all the rest too!
Thank you for reading.
It is always my sincere desire that I have served you well.
My contributions to you are one of the things I can control; and that I get to do.
If this has been useful for you, please comment wherever you read it, and share it with someone that can use it!
And, of you are ready to begin Blackbelt Leadership Training for yourself, your child, or your whole family, please reply and tell me so I can serve you!
It’s my calling to help you.
Prepare To Live & Empower to Lead!
Grand Master Stephen J. Del Castillo
Author, MBA & 7th Degree Blackbelt
Founder & Chief Master Instructor,
Krav Maga Martial Arts
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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 commissioned 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.
See stephendelcastillo.com for more information and to order my book, Developing Your Superpower, Meditations on Mastery, Volume 1.
Also, check us out on Fun4TampaKids & on Go2Karate.com