We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve del Castillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
First and foremost is need, will people need what I have to offer? Will they need it enough that I don’t have to do much “selling”? How can I improve on the current iterations of the product I am planning to sell? I don’t want to sell a “knock off” of something already in the market. What new innovations or designs can I bring to the table to improve on the product that will attract customers. How feasible is it for me to produce these at a rate that I can satisfy all consumers. What can I do to manipulate the market to benefit my company and allow me some positive growth. How can I interact with the consumers to create and develop a community that will have a need for what I have to sell.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a professor of kinesiology focusing on Combatives for the past 20 or so years. The courses I teach are Self-defense, Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Filipino Martial Arts, Yoga, Boxing, and several fitness related courses. I currently teach at 3 different colleges. Mt. San Antonio College and Glendale Community College I teach college credit courses, and Cal Poly Pomona I teach recreation based classes.
When I first started I didn’t even think about teaching. It was presented to me and I ended up loving it. An opportunity arose and I took it and have never looked back. The road was not easy and after 20 years I’m still learning to traverse the ins and outs of being a college professor, especially when student culture is constantly changing. Teaching was something I love but with time, I grew to have a passion to making my instruction clearer and better. How to relate to the students better and how to make them see and understand my perspective as well as realize and observe how they view my teachings.
I like how I don’t have to sell myself and compromise what I have to teach. Sometimes when you own your own school, you have to sacrifice various things to keep a roof over your head. I just have to focus on teaching and teaching well so the students keep coming back, which many do. I’m in a very unique position as there are not many positions like mine available out there and not many instructors have a rich and diverse background in the martial arts like I do.
With each passing year, I grow and evolve, and sometimes regress. Regress, take a step back, yes that’s part of the cycle to take a step back to take several steps or a leap forward. Like all things its a constant evolving process because the only thing that’s constant is change. In martial arts, and especially when teaching and sharing the art.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Places I love to hang out…. Hmmm I love Larchmont Village in the heart of Los Angeles. I love to go there to hangout and eat at the various places in that area. Pasadena/ Eagle Rock is another place you can find me, especially when enroute to Glendale Community College after teaching at Mt. San Antonio College. Pasadena is a rich city with many choices to dine and Eagle Rock has just as many with it’s eatery’s in the gentrified area of the city. Last but not least, I love to go to Century City Mall and hang out in Eataly. With it’s authentic Italian market and restaurants I can’t help but be reminded of France and Europe which I’m usually visiting during the summer and winter breaks.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to give a shoutout to all my previous and current martial arts instructors who inspired me to travel the path I am walking today. Richard Bustillo, Ciriaco “Cacoy” Cañete, Dionisio “Diony” Cañete, Percival “Val” Pableo, Guy Kananahan, Romeo “Romy” Macapagal, JJ Hervas, Celestino Macachor, Danny Suarez, and many more. I can’t leave out the many training partners I’ve had that have helped me hone my skills and to all my students who allowed me to share the arts I love with them. Thank you.

Website: https://Bunalbrand.com

Instagram: @esgrimanati, @bunalbrand.com

Linkedin: Steve del Castillo

Youtube: Esgrimanati

Image Credits
Patrick Tagudar II, Matt Emery, Rachel Ugay

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