Respect and Guard
Respect is the second “Blackbelt Superpower” that we develop in students at Krav Maga Martial Arts.
And we teach two main types of Respect- Respect for self and Respect for others.
In this blog I will share some of the most important things we need to remember, and teach our kids and others we lead, as pertains to each of these.
But first a little story about the superpowers.
In case you don’t know, the Blackbelt Superpowers refer to 6 of the most important personal leadership skills that we teach.
Truth is, I had been teaching these for many years before calling them Superpowers. I opened our school in October of 2000, and have been teaching these attributes since.
Of course, my own Superpowers, as well as the program and system for developing them, have been evolving and become progressively better over the last 23 years…
they didn’t start as the amazing character and leadership development program that sets us apart from regular schools today.
But, back to the story, when the pandemic hit a few years ago, I decided to focus some of my time, energy, and attention towards my lifelong goal of writing a book.
I’d always wanted to and, over the years, hundreds of students had said I should write a book to capture some of that we teach at the school.
Well, in 2021 I finally did, and it published in January 2022.
You can find it on amazon or come in for your 2-week free trial and orientationand I’ll give you one!
Of course, if you are already a student and haven’t gotten yours yet, stop in to see me this week and I’ll sign yours to you!
Anyway, back to the story again, as I was writing about Focus, Respect, Discipline, Confidence, Gratitude and Vision….
I realized they are Superpowers!
After all, superpowers are superpowers because:
- Not everybody has them. They are rare and somewhat unique to the hero.
- They allow the superhero to accomplish superhuman feats; to accomplish things they could not without the powers.
- They are generally used for the good of not only the hero but the community of people around him or her.
Well, I realized that these characteristics of Superhero’s Superpowers are true of the powers we teach, and develop, in our program, and the Blackbelt Superpowers were born!
Today we will talk about the second superpower, Respect, and specifically the quote I opened this blog with:
Take care of your thoughts when you’re alone, and take care of your words when you are with people.
Our thoughts are critical.
What we think when we are alone manifests the reality we experience.
The truth is, of course, that all of the other Superpowers are relevant to our thoughts too; think about it…
I am sure it is at least somewhat obvious that each of these are directly relevant to the quality of our thought lives.
But I want to speak to the subject particularly as pertains to our Respect for ourselves today.
Have you ever spoken to yourself in a disrespectful way?
Everyone has.
Of course, there are varying degrees of this, any many causes and conditions that affect how we think but, for the purposes of today’s writing I only want to address what I mean when I say that we should Respect ourselves and what it means to “take care of your thoughts.”
You see, the myriad of real and imagined threats in life can create fear.
And that fear can create irrational and counterproductive thoughts and emotion.
Fear begets thoughts of how terrible everything is, all the bad things that may happen, what we can’t do and how we may as well give up.
Respect begets a healthy and productive analysis of the problem and our place in it.
The Superhero understands that he or she is ultimately in control that their thoughts, beliefs, and actions- and that these have a positive or negative effect on what happens and that, even regards external circumstances indeed out of their control, they can always control how they react to what happens.
This is such an important and exciting thing for me to write about. I want to write a whole chapter on the subject, and will for my next book, but for now suffice it to say that we equip students with the Confidence, Discipline and Respect to have healthy and empowering thoughts when they are alone, and the skills to guard them.
The second respect, also critically short in supply in society today, is Respect for others.
We teach children the magical language of respect, the 7 words of respect, to think win-win, seek first to understand, and other communication skills that help them be respectful in the interactions with others.
We also teach them Discipline, so they can show greater Respect to their parents when it’s time to clean their room- or whatever. 🙂
But, these Superpowers aren’t only for kids.
Many of my adult students tell me how so many of the Superpowers have helped them at work and in key relationships, in addition to the fun, fitness and Confidence that comes through training.
Well, in conclusion, remember to guard your thoughts when alone and your words with others.
Raise your kids to do the same.
And, let us help you do both.
Prepare To Live; Empower To Lead!
Grand Master Stephen J. Del Castillo
Founding Master Instructor, Krav Maga Martial Arts
TampaKravMaga.com StephenDelCastillo.com
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