Tag: self-defense

Camaraderie, Why We Need It And How To Get It

Posted on | by KMMA

Latest graduating class of Blackbelts and various degrees, Oct 3 2020! Congratulations! They have camaraderie btw.

 

I was thinking this morning about my time in the Army and what I’ve missed about it and, while there is more than one thing, the greatest is the camaraderie.

Then I started thinking about my 38 years in the martial arts and the last 20 doing it for a living, empowering lives through my programs at Krav Maga Martial Arts, and I realized that what I love most- amongst the many, many great things I love about my mission- is the camaraderie.

 

  What is camaraderie and why do we need it?

ca·ma·ra·de·rie

/ˌkäməˈrädərē/

noun

  • 1.mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together:“a genuine camaraderie on the hockey team”

I realized two important things pondering cameraderie this morning:

     1. Over a literal lifetime in the martial arts, my memories of the people I have spent considerable time with are the greatest of many great memories.

     2. That camaraderie is the thing that my students are referencing when they say that they love our program not only for the great training, lessons and benefits they gain, but for the people.…..

We need positive interaction with others. We are wired that way. We long for the feelings of friendship and community and having fun socializing with other humans is just part of what we are created to do.

  And let’s face it, circumstances of recent history have stifled some of that for many; we have seen the dire results of people isolated and locked away from this basic human need. I am proud to say we are coming back from some of that and also that KMMA has been able to provide some normalcy during the whole pandemic through our live virtual and our live in the dojo programs…

     I do also think, however,  in meditating on my years of military and martial arts education service, that there is another element that makes the feeling of cameraderie even more special than the feeling of fellowship, which is also important but I would argue a step below camaraderie in degree.

  Camaraderie is the prize when we engage in a meaningful, purposeful mission with others, towards some greater cause; a situation where we are together with others,  but not just for the sake of being together but also for the sake of accomplishing a mission greater than ourselves.

   It’s what we do in the military and it’s what we do in the best martial arts programs.

It’s what we do at Krav Maga Martial Arts and it’s why the feelings of camaraderie are great amongst those that serve in the military and also those that are on the Blackbelt Leadership Quest at KMMA!

  Join Us!

For A 2 week free trial of our program call 813-948-4844 or visit TampaKravMaga.com

And check out the free community events this month at KMMA!

Remember to RSVP as events are free but limited! 813-948-4844

Bring A Buddy Goal Setting Workshop!

     Oct 23 from 6-7:30pm

Students and guests will have fun, practice some great martial arts and break a real board! Through this Grand Master Del Castillo will teach the process of setting and getting and goal you want to accomplish in martial arts and in life!

 

KMMA Blackbelt Taylor Hixson, Now Lt. Hixson, Graduating from US Naval Aviation School

 

The Great Pumpkin Tournament

     Oct 24 from 1030-1230am

Students will be competing for 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place Pumpkins. Guests are welcome to spectate or enter the 1st-timer division where you can take a special 1st class and qualify to earn your white belt and win a free month in addition to a prize pumpkin!

 

Our own Sensei Kyle and Shihan Harley, both who grew up here and are National Tournament Champions as well as champions in life will be hosting the tournament, running and judging the divisions along with other KMMA Sensei celebrities.

 

Halloween Costume Party

     Oct 30 from 6-8:00pm

Fun, games, obstacle course, halloween based activities and contests, candy (of course) and a costume contest too! There will be grand, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes and every guest will win a free month membership for the whole family!

 

 

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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

It Wont Work

Posted on | by KMMA

No idea, no matter how good, will work if it doesn’t get used…

  • Even with the most ardent self improvement enthusiasts, any program that takes too much time, requires too much sacrifice, or is too complex to use easily will not get used.
  • Some personal growth concepts too often fall into the same category as home exercise machines that were once used and put away. They are like barbells and gym sets or dance instructioin videos that seemed like a good idea at the time we got them, but they took too much work.

 

The 3 very true statements above are excerpts I took directly from my reading in Chapter 13 of What To Say When You Talk To Yourself by Shad Helmstetter, PhD this morning. It’s a great book and I highly recomend you read it.

    But the reason I bring it up in this message is because I couldn’t help but think about the contrast in what we do and why we have such amazing success helping people accomplsih all of their self improvement goals! 

  • We can do it in 1-3 hours per week! 
  • It’s FUN, not sacrifice! You won’t even believe how fast the time flies by each session! 
  • The Krav Maga we teach is mostly simple, but even were it complex, our amazing certified instructors are masters at making hard things simple! 
  • Unlike the barbells, gym sets and dance videos, you can’t hide us in the closet! My team is also astute at giving you the pefect balance of support, encouragement and accountability to ensure that you accomplish the goals you told us you wanted to get when you started! 
  • And, while there is some hard work involved, the fun, the community and the excellent coaching and mentorship will give you everything that you need to succeed! 

 

So, if you’re already a student, keep up the great work on your goals!

     And if you’re not yet, get started with your 2 week trial and orientation so we can show you how this can be the time you go from goal setting to goal getting with Krav Maga Martial Arts! 

 

Grand Master Stephen Del Castillo and Team KMMA

 

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

   

Why We Train

Posted on | by KMMA

One of our favorite sayings, reference our self defense training, is that we pray for the best, but train for the worst.

   There are two hopefully obvious insinuations of this maxim which are:

  1. better to be prepared and never need it, that to need it and not be prepared and, 
  2. we must train realistically, and hard enough, to create said preparedness.

 

But, if we have our way, we will never have to use the self defense aspects of our art. Does this mean our training in wasted?

   Of course not!

Martial arts training develops fitness, focus, discipline, leadership and goal setting skills to name a few! 

 

These are all great benefits for all people of all ages, but let us focus for a moment especially on our important task of helping raise up a child in the way he or she should go.

 

 

  The four laws of concentration and the seven words of respect are just two examples of the way that we train children with the positive habits that will serve them well for success in school, in life and in their future! 

 

Can you imagine what kids empowered with these kinds of leadership skills are capable of?

   Would you like to?

 

Call 813-948-4844 or visit TampaKravMaga.com to find out.

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

 

The 3 Attitudes Most Important For Success!

Posted on | by KMMA

Want to be happier, lose weight, make more money, have better relationships, do better in school, at work, in business, in martial arts or whatever?

The greatest indicator of one’s success in any area is attitude.

 

I know it sounds like hyperbole, but I don’t believe it is. While aptitude is important and there are of course other external and internal factors, attitude makes a bad situation better, harnesses the power of opportunity and attracts positive or negative into our life based on how good or bad our attitude is.

But I am not going to spend much time on the metaphysics about this truth in this blog. Instead, I want to tell a quick story about my morning walk and then share the 3 specific attitudes that I think are most relevant to you and I getting more of what we want and less of what we don’t.

 

This morning my wife and I were walking around the lake like we do every morning and it was trash day. I walked past four different men emptying trash.

As is my way, I greeted each energetically and asked how he was doing. The first three returned positive responses, the first two reflecting my positive energy and expectency and the third a great sense of gratitude I could feel. I have no doubt that these men are happier and more succesful than the fourth.

 

The fourth guy was the youngest, rather or not that has anything to do with it.

But he put his head down and said, “just trying to get by man”.

I don’t mean to allude that I know the rest of the story; maybe he really is going through something bad. But I will say that whatever it is, the attitude of the first three men would serve him better.

 

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they answer the question, “how are you doing?”.

Be mindful of that when you answer. Not just the other person but your own subconscious is listening- and we do become more of what we think about most often.

So I always say, “Super Fantastic! But I’ll get better!” To be clear, it is irrelevant what happened to me that day. It is always what I say.

 

I’ll teach more on this next week but today I wanted to ensure that I share the 3 Attitudes that I believe are the most important to success at anything!

  1. An Atitude of Gratitude- Grateful for every blessing, every challenge, every opportunity and the chance to begin again every day,
  2. An Attitude of Expectency- This is like being grateful in advance. I not only want great things, and work for them, but I believe and expect that these blessings and succeses are on the way!
  3. An Attitude of Wonder- The attitude of questioning and being curious. It’s important to ask the right questions. Some are empowering while others the opposite. A most classic example is a wonder about the success of another that is jealous or contemptious, versus the same wonder but framed as, what do I have to do and who do I have to become to enjoy those same blessings. Also closely related to this is having the humility to learn.

After 20 years of running my business I still look to mentors ahead of me to learn what I need to do to keep taking our dojo to the next level.

I also wonder every day about what I can do to make our service and your experience even better by the way. I hope you notice the effects of this every day.

 

Make it a great day!

And if you decide to apply this knowledge to your life, and it helps, please tell me! I’d love to hear!

 

 

 

shihansteve@tampakravmaga.com

813-948-4844

 

 

From My Attitude of Gratitude I Want To Give Back Today!

   Choose the gift that’s right for you:

Not A Student Yet: Register for our 2 Week Free Trial and Orientation Program. I WILL DOUBLE IT AND GIVE YOU A FREE MONTH!

Existing Student: I want to help you pay it forward! I am going to give you some free month gift certificates to give to your friend or family and also a $100 gift certificate for both of you!

We’ve also got lots of great FREE KMMA Community Events for Students, Friends, Family and Guests This Month!

October 9- Halloween Costume Party & Parents Night Out

October 19- Day Camp

October 23- Bring A Buddy Goal Setting & Board Breaking Workshop!

October 24- The Great Pumpkin Tournament!

October 26-30: Bring A Buddy Kick or Treat Week!

October 30- Halloween Costume Party & Contest For the Whole Family!

Call 813-948-4844 for more info or to RSVP for any of these great events!

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