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Did Not See That Coming
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
June 10, 2024, Israel
Moshe teaching at a seminar in Germany, 2024, you never know what you will face.
Life, plans, you never know what will come next. Our childhood, our education, high-school, university, it is a gamble. We plan for a future not knowing what that future will bring. My major in college was Soviet Foreign Policy, who knew that the Soviet Union would collapse. The knowledge is still relevant, but my point is no one foresaw the collapse of the USSR at the time. I have a graduate degree in Finance. I recall October 19, 1987, known as Black Monday; the global stock market crash of 1987. On October 19, 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 508 points, about 22.6 percent of its value. The drop wiped out approximately $500 billion, the largest single-day drop in history to that point. Stock markets in Europe, Hong Kong, Australia, and others around the world experienced similar crashes. I personally lost my savings of $14,000.
I recall the words of our esteemed professor, Prof. Seth Grossman, "So what does this mean for your, in terms of the value of your degree, and your future job opportunities and future earnings?" The answer was - we are up Shit's Creek without a paddle. The value of our degree and education went way down. The future is unknown, the future is unpredictable. Many changed their course of study.
I had already started working in the financial field, I worked on Wall Street, but no one saw this coming. They all spoke of a future "correction", but no one knew when, or to what extent this would happen. There was one professor in our school who guessed correctly, and he made a lot of money, but two years later he died of cancer. Life is unpredictable. The future is unknown.
I received a letter from an investment company I work with. It was a long letter which was their way of explaining why profits were down. I could sum up the entire letter in two words, "Shit happens", but I think they make some good points which are relevant to us as Krav Maga practitioners.
Some points...
The future is and has always been a great unknown, as it is made up of an endless puzzle of decisions, events and results that come from all kinds of directions, some of which are impossible to know in advance. This was not, and there has never been, an "expected year", in that each year brings with it events, processes and developments including those that never popped up on the "Possibilities Scenarios Chart" of decision makers.
In addition, over the years we have seen that the threats and dangers that cause the most significant changes in our environment, are lurking and ready for an ambush particularly in areas that we no one thought of, until the moment when they become real and attack us. In recent years these include the Coronavirus, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and of course as we all unfortunately know, the terror attacks of October 7, 2023.
These events take us by surprise and even the worlds' foremost financial institution, the US Federal Bank, could not foresee the financial future. In addition, many events were misinterpreted and analyzed incorrectly.
What this means for us is that we must be ready at all times, and as much as possible, for events and processes that may affect us.
From all this we derive two major lessons:
1. Risks and dangers are and will remain, part of every investment.
2. While we cannot avoid all of these risks and dangers, we can certainly minimize them significantly by planning and preparing accordingly.
Now let us apply this to Krav Maga, to self defense, to self preservation.
I think it is clear and obvious, but let us go over a few points.
Violence, hatred, racism, cruelty, war, terrorism, drug trafficking, are here for the foreseeable future. We aim to educate the public and raise the next generation a better way, but, the truth is that for now, all this crap is here to stay. So we had better get used to it, and we had better prepare for it. While our children are drawing rainbows and unicorns, the enemy's children are crawling under barbed wire with fake guns and explosions all around them, while shouting "death to the enemy"(that is you in case you were wondering)
As the letter pointed out, the most significant dangers come from the unknown and unknowable dark areas. And we still have to prepare. How many times have I heard, OH, we don't need that technique, or we don't need to train defense vs rifles, or handgun, (this is a gun-free zone etc). Those are the voices of those who will die. Those are what we call in Israel the "October 6" voices. i.e. the naivety that existed before the attack. Better to be an "October 8" person, wiser and battle-hardened. And yet, even here in Israel, after all that happened, there all those who continue to believe in Fantasies. They are still in the 1960s's with Peace, Love and Understanding.
The 60's ended brutally with the Manson murders. It is time that our complacency end as well. As the Bible teaches, work for peace but prepare for war. Raise your children to be like the Hebrew prophets of old; men who walk in peace but carry a big stick. All our prophets were men of peace, who strove their entire lives for the betterment of mankind, but they all knew how to fight. (If you have not yet read my book, "Israel, A Nation of Warriors", READ IT, see below).
How many more warnings do we need? How many more warnings are we going to receive?
Moshe Katz, 7th dan Black Belt, Israeli Krav Maga. Certified by Wingate Institute. Member Black Belt hall of fame, USA and Europe.
Understand the Israeli Fighting Mentality - Israel a Nation of Warriors by Moshe Katz
What is the cultural background of Krav Maga? What makes it unique? What makes the Israeli military so effective? Why are Israeli security systems used all over the world?
What are the Biblical origins of Krav Maga and who was the first Krav Maga instructor?
What weapons and military strategies did our Biblical ancestors use?
How has Krav Maga developed in Israel and what are its goals?
All that and more in this unique book.
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