24 December 2009
02 December 2009
Krav Maga Evolution - More Political than Critical?
For a long time, I used to believe all Israeli systems were alike. Experience and hardship has really opened my eyes. While they all seem to have had the same beginnings; they certainly have not all taken the same path.
I started with a group who believed they brought Krav Maga to the US. Perhaps in their own right, they did. Were they the first here, or the only here who taught? Were they the first to have opened a school after travelling to Israel for some intensive training? Did they indeed open the womb of expectation to the American public and break free the fettered and umbilically attached self defense market? Honestly, I don't have a clue! The only persons who truly know are the persons themselves. It seems the politics of the middle east permeate ever crevasse of the culture. i don't mean to call some terrorists and some good guys here. I simply mean to imply exactly what an old Hebrew (not biblical) proverb says: "Put two Israeli's in a room together with one subject and you'll get 3 opinions".
This I learned from my good friend and mentor Moshe Katz. Moshe is a man wise beyond his years. A lifelong veteran of martial arts, and of a short 47 years of age, he enlightens me to the delicate nature of middle eastern cultures every time we spend time together.
Back to how all this applies to Krav Maga. There are literally dozens of Krav Maga organizations out there, many of which claim legitimacy as the heirs to founder Imrich Lichtenfled (Sde-Or). Others claim to be the first ever established of his organization. Other still who say they are carrying on the legacy in the way Imi would have continued were he still alive. More still who say they have grown Krav Maga as it should have been done and they were named by Imi to do so before his passing.
Are they all correct? Are any of them correct? Again, who knows, honestly if we were to all take a vote it may surprise us to find they are the only ones who do. Perhaps we would find the majority wants to know. However, one thing stands certain. The world may never know. It's the tootsie pop dilemma. Will we ever get to the center of it? Again, I honestly do know, personally I don't care.
It's about Krav Maga, a system designed for military combat and evolved into the ultimate in personal self defense. The key word here and the true point of this "self". We teach people to do whatever is reasonable and necessary to defend themselves. So is there any wonder Krav Maga gets a bad name for it's negative internal politics? It is hypocritical to teach "self" defense and then spend all of our time going into the circles of other organizations trying to demean them!
Here is my proposal for solving this issue. I send this in the direction of individuals, I am not so delusional that I believe anything I say here will in anyway cause organizations to suddenly shake hands and make up. My hope is that you will be able to discern for your"self" as an individual, which organization and techniques are best for you.
Here goes: The bottom line.... do your own research. Find people who are training high level persons 'right now' and check 'em out. Get materials from many sources. Don't look at the quality of the production, look at the quality of the application of KM principles and modern combat science. If it meets the scrutiny of those, then train it a while; then ask people who do (and some who do not) know what's coming to "try and prevent my defense to this attack". Show them what you want but don't show all of them what you intend to do. Put on pads and try it full contact some too. Does it work even if the "bad guy" knows what's coming and tries to prevent it from working? Does it work if the "bad guy" doesn't know and is aggressive or skilled in another discipline? Answer all this for yourself.
If it works, then it works. If it doesn't search elsewhere. I get updates from Israel pretty regularly. This is why what we do differs from ALL other orgs. Nearly all the stuff used by other orgs has failed in the field and has been replaced by our leaders. This isn't to say it never works, but if 1 soldier, prison guard, presidential executive protection agent, YAMAM Lochem, Duvdevan Operator, or civilian student gets hurt the skill he was using gets reviewed and revised or even replaced. I am always growing in Israeli Krav International.
Israeli Krav International Link Arizona Krav Maga Link
Unitl next time; train hard, live well, be safe.
I started with a group who believed they brought Krav Maga to the US. Perhaps in their own right, they did. Were they the first here, or the only here who taught? Were they the first to have opened a school after travelling to Israel for some intensive training? Did they indeed open the womb of expectation to the American public and break free the fettered and umbilically attached self defense market? Honestly, I don't have a clue! The only persons who truly know are the persons themselves. It seems the politics of the middle east permeate ever crevasse of the culture. i don't mean to call some terrorists and some good guys here. I simply mean to imply exactly what an old Hebrew (not biblical) proverb says: "Put two Israeli's in a room together with one subject and you'll get 3 opinions".
This I learned from my good friend and mentor Moshe Katz. Moshe is a man wise beyond his years. A lifelong veteran of martial arts, and of a short 47 years of age, he enlightens me to the delicate nature of middle eastern cultures every time we spend time together.
Back to how all this applies to Krav Maga. There are literally dozens of Krav Maga organizations out there, many of which claim legitimacy as the heirs to founder Imrich Lichtenfled (Sde-Or). Others claim to be the first ever established of his organization. Other still who say they are carrying on the legacy in the way Imi would have continued were he still alive. More still who say they have grown Krav Maga as it should have been done and they were named by Imi to do so before his passing.
Are they all correct? Are any of them correct? Again, who knows, honestly if we were to all take a vote it may surprise us to find they are the only ones who do. Perhaps we would find the majority wants to know. However, one thing stands certain. The world may never know. It's the tootsie pop dilemma. Will we ever get to the center of it? Again, I honestly do know, personally I don't care.
It's about Krav Maga, a system designed for military combat and evolved into the ultimate in personal self defense. The key word here and the true point of this "self". We teach people to do whatever is reasonable and necessary to defend themselves. So is there any wonder Krav Maga gets a bad name for it's negative internal politics? It is hypocritical to teach "self" defense and then spend all of our time going into the circles of other organizations trying to demean them!
Here is my proposal for solving this issue. I send this in the direction of individuals, I am not so delusional that I believe anything I say here will in anyway cause organizations to suddenly shake hands and make up. My hope is that you will be able to discern for your"self" as an individual, which organization and techniques are best for you.
Here goes: The bottom line.... do your own research. Find people who are training high level persons 'right now' and check 'em out. Get materials from many sources. Don't look at the quality of the production, look at the quality of the application of KM principles and modern combat science. If it meets the scrutiny of those, then train it a while; then ask people who do (and some who do not) know what's coming to "try and prevent my defense to this attack". Show them what you want but don't show all of them what you intend to do. Put on pads and try it full contact some too. Does it work even if the "bad guy" knows what's coming and tries to prevent it from working? Does it work if the "bad guy" doesn't know and is aggressive or skilled in another discipline? Answer all this for yourself.
If it works, then it works. If it doesn't search elsewhere. I get updates from Israel pretty regularly. This is why what we do differs from ALL other orgs. Nearly all the stuff used by other orgs has failed in the field and has been replaced by our leaders. This isn't to say it never works, but if 1 soldier, prison guard, presidential executive protection agent, YAMAM Lochem, Duvdevan Operator, or civilian student gets hurt the skill he was using gets reviewed and revised or even replaced. I am always growing in Israeli Krav International.
Israeli Krav International Link Arizona Krav Maga Link
Unitl next time; train hard, live well, be safe.
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