democratization of krav maga
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL 

September 28, 2021, Israel

The world was once a very different place. So much of what we take for granted was not available to those who came before us. When I was a child we had records, the only way to learn the lyrics of a song was to listen to the record again and again, but even so....I thought the Beatles sang of "I love my car", when in actuality it was, "A love like ours".

So that made a big difference, I love my car, could never die. I had trouble figuring that out, but it did make some sense, he clearly loved his car very much and hoped it would never die. In actuality I discovered many years later, "A love like ours could never die". 

I also thought Paul McCartney sang of "Mother Berry comes to me", and I had no clue who mother Mary was. Today you can look up any song, lyrics, chords, and the meaning behind them. Technology has changed our lives.

When the first European printing press came up, that too dramatically changed the lives of the people at the time, even more than computers in our own time. A world of information became available. 

The first known printing was done in China, but most Europeans did not know about this. The most dramatic change took place when Johannes Gutenberg developed his modern printing press. Now you have to keep in mind that it was nothing like the printing presses we have today. Remember, there was still no electricity, so everything was done manually, and it was a very slow, and laborious, process. Nonetheless it was a huge step forward.

In 1452 he printed the first ever copy of the Bible. This was a revolution. 

Why you may ask?

Without getting into religious conflicts over why the Bible was not available to the average person, the simple fact is that most Europeans (other than the Jews) did not have access to the Bible. In fact many priests also had never read the Bible. The result was, intended or not, that the average European was totally dependent upon the local priest to tell him what is correct and truth, and what is not. 

This meant that the local priest, usually ignorant, had complete control over the minds of his parishioners. And the Church had control over him. Some men began to question the truth of what they were being told, one brave soul name Johan Reuchlin actually studied Greek and Hebrew to discover the truth for himself. This eventually led to, or at least made possible, the Protestant Reformation.

The printing of the Bible, in languages that people could read and understand, made it possible for individuals to read the Bible for themselves and form their own opinions. This was not possible before. Without getting into painful controversies over the reasons the Bible was not accessible to the masses we can certainly establish that the vast majority of Europeans had no clue what the Bible actually said, only what the local preacher told them.

This gave the local preacher a total monopoly on their minds. 

The Democratization of information through technology.

What this means is that now everyone has access to the same information. Of course the scholar may understand it better than the layman, or the beginner, but the information is their for all, equally. This is revolutionary. Now if you are in doubt over what you are being told or taught, you can look it up for yourself. 

The same is true of Krav Maga, and self-defense in general, but only to a degree. 

If your teacher is learning from videos or DVDs, you of course can also purchase these means of learning. But if your teacher also has advanced training with his teacher, this information he needs to impart to you in person.  You will now be able to differentiate between the You Tube master and a real master.

A key advantage of technology is that you can learn and review some techniques on your own. When I was a student I would try and sketch the techniques on a paper napkin, but then we might not see that technique for another month, and I had no way of reviewing it, no way of watching it done again and again, no way of seeing it slowly, or reviewing at home. And I had no way of preparing for a class. 

The advantage of technology is you can prepare better for the lesson. Today we have this option. 

When I was in university the first order of business was getting a copy of the required reading for the course. I purchased the books and tried to get a little head start. Before each lesson we were informed what reading was required for that lesson.

Now you might wonder, if we can read the book ourselves, why bother coming to class?

Professor Vora answered that best. 

He explained that he expects us to read the material and understand it. His job is not to spoon feed us simple information. We should come to class prepared. His job was to build upon that foundation of the required reading, and take us to a higher level.

It is the same with Krav Maga. 

We have our on line program. You can watch the videos and come to class, or come to Tour and Train and be better prepared. At this point you are ready to learn faster, you should have the basics already. Your teacher will help you grow further. He will correct little mistakes, he will refine your technique and help you improve.

Many IKI instructors encourage their students to join IKI on line and come to class having viewed the videos. This takes the class to a higher level and enables everyone to grow faster.

Democratization of information gives everyone access to the printed word and the videos but one still needs a qualified teacher, as the Talmud says, "Acquire for yourself a teacher..."

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