body knowing krav maga
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

September 9, 2021, Israel

This blog falls under our "Krav Maga Concepts" section; i.e. fundamental of Krav Maga strategy and foundation, as we see it in IKI.

As I understand it, most schools begin with - Let's sweat, lets' fight, let's do forms, let's be aggressive. Let's to a Killer Boot camp workout, but I wonder how much they are actually learning when the foundation is shaky.

One key foundational problem is that instructors train the mind, and students think that once they understand a technique, they are done. But they have barely begun. 

There is knowing and there is Body Knowing.

Knowing is...I know it well enough to pass my black belt test. I am ready and prepared, I know what is coming and I know that the worst possible outcome is I have to redo this technique. Even failing the test is not a real tragedy.

But what if failing feels certain death?

Do you know it well enough to be sure that you can pull off in a life or death situation. 

How well do you really know it?

How well do you know the basics?

When the instructor shows up and "repeats" the same old stuff, you might be thinking, "Again?!? Really!?! Does he have nothing else?"

The instructor might be thinking, "I really want to work on new techniques, I really want to do the more advanced techniques today, but I can see that these students are not ready yet. What should I do? Choose the Crowd Pleasing Techniques, or choose the Life Saving Corrections and Improvement?"

Choosing the "Crowd Pleasing techniques" might get you another seminar, but is that the only goal?  Is this only about making a great impression? What matters more the instructor's ego or the students' lives? 

I had a dream, 

and in my dream a man was pulled out of a car.

The men who pulled him out of the car were not kind, they were not friendly. They had death in their eyes. Since was not the neighborhood dojo. These men were killers.

In my dream the man had a gun pointed to his head, just as we do in our very basic Krav Maga classes. Just the standard Yellow belt gun to the head technique.

In my dream the man had the gun pointed to his head, and then I woke up.

I woke up and I thought; how well do I know this technique? My mind knows it but does my body know it so well that I can do it without the slightest bit of hesitation?

I can wake up in the middle of the night and turn on the light, no problem, I have no fear of getting that wrong. I need to know the gun defense technique at the same level, at the level of - I CAN DO THIS, not, I think I can do this.

There is knowing and there is Body Knowing (Yes, I just made up that term). Body knowing is that your body has such confidence in its ability to perform this technique under pressure that there is simply NO doubt. What So Ever!

So we divide out training into two parts: First learn the technique, learn it correctly, master it. and then, once you KNOW that you know it 100%, then the real training will begin, the training after the training, the Body Knowing Training.

This training takes you from knowing the technique to the point of the knowing in advance the outcome of the technique. Your brain has created the path of success, just as you know you will be able to hit the light switch and turn on the light, you know that you will surely take the gun away from these evil invaders of your holy space. You know. Your Body knows.

There is no option of failure, one roll of the dice decides your fate, it is all or nothing. We the instructors have the holy responsibility and obligation to prepare you, for when it comes you will be alone. When you fully have mastered the technique, that is when your real life training only begins. You will drill this technique until you cannot fail. Failure is not an option. This is the level of Body Knowing Krav Maga. To Life!

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