#32 - Raul Castillo: Using Martial Arts For Self-Defense, Coaching World Champions & Building The Next Generation of Athletes In The Bay Area

Welcome back to The Iron Sights Podcast! In this episode, I sat down with JP and our guest Raul Castillo. I traveled down to Half Moon Bay California to check out Raul’s gym, and get some personalized coaching in the art of applicational self-defense. Castillo has a reputation in the bay area for being one of the highest level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructors and coaches for aspiring fighters and competitors. His passion shifted from competing as a professional cage fighter into building a structured program for kids and adolescents to learn discipline and become leaders in their community. Raul started training in martial arts at the age of 4 in Karate, and received his Black Belt in Jiu-Jitsu when he was 22 after training for only 5 years. Castillo is a decorated competitor and former Strikeforce veteran. Since retiring from the cage, he has trained numerous cage fighters, Jiu-Jitsu world champions and was recently awarded role model of the year in San Mateo country through the chamber of commerce for his positive impact on the youth in his community. In this episode, we dive into his story, upbringing and mission to provide the location and support to young athletes and entrepreneurs who have dreams bigger than the community they grow up in.

Timestamps:

00:00 Opening The Show

00:53 Training In Half Moon Bay

01:18 Raul Castillo’s Background

02:48 Training Jiu-Jitsu In The City

04:18 The Early Days of Karate

10:19 What It Takes Being The Best 

11:34 Learning Hard Work From Your Parents

14:26 Testing Yourself Through Fighting

15:33 UFC #1

18:31 Raul’s First Big Tournament

22:41 Training with UFC Fighters

25:42 The Day Raul Castillo Got His Black Belt

27:38 The Transition Out of Fighting

34:30 The Reality of Operating A Dojo

44:35 Growing Up In Today’s Society

46:01 Protect Your Dream

53:30 The Best Weapon and The Best Defense

56:32 Protocols & Preparation

1:02:13 Cops Training Jiu-Jitsu

1:04:37 Finding The Right Gym To Learn MMA