embrace who you are 
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

September 22, 2020,  

As I was walking home today I noticed a beautiful young blonde, yes, I know, this does not sound like a good opening for a Krav Maga blog, but as a Krav Maga instructor I am trained to notice things. We do not have many natural blondes in these parts, those we do have are "Blonde from a bottle". So she turns and looks and me, smiles a big smile and says, Hello, How are you?

Turns out she was one of my students. As a little girl she was a regular in our kids karate class. What I noticed about her today was she seemed happy, confident, and at peace with herself. My feeling was an individual who was "one" with herself, no longer trying, struggling, to be someone else or to meet someone else's expectations.

I recall her as a little girl, she seemed to lack some self confidence. Her mother told me about her "issue", it was her natural blonde hair. As I said here that is rather rare. We tend to be of darker skin and black curly hair. As a little girl she wondered what was wrong with her, why was she different? Her Lilly white skin and natural light blonde hair stood out. Today she seems to have embraced herself, with her uniqueness, lifestyle and choice of clothing. She stood out today but she seemed to be happy in being herself. 

And now for the Krav Maga application. 

The Krav Maga world wants to make money. I have been advised by some to use a marketing agency, an advisor for my website, I have been called a dinosaur, and even worse! These advisers, for example, chose for the seminar flyers not a photo of me, but a stock Krav Maga photo of a model. Never mind that their technique was in total opposition to IKI, never mind that the message is opposite of what we preach.

The male models were young, muscular, large in every way. The females were tough looking, wearing of course camouflage bikinis revealing their perfect abs and buttocks. This is what the marketing experts advise, this is what catches the eye and sells. My website was all wrong, too many words, not enough photos. I was told the image had to change every few seconds. My site was insulted as it was compared to an encyclopedia. 

But I am who I am, I accept myself and I do not try to be anyone but myself, and so it is with our Krav Maga. We do not train you to be someone other than yourself. If you feel uncomfortable with a certain technique, then you will not do that, we will find something else. You will be trained according to your own nature, because that is what will work best for you. Being you is the best you can be, better be the best you than a poor imitation of someone else. Embrace yourself, work on your strong points, your talents. If you are good at something, that will be our focus. We accept you with your individuality. We have students who survived cancer, we have students who have survived a stroke, we have students with one eye, and one arm. Be the best you that you can be. That is all anyone can hope for.  And if you have blonde hair, stop fretting over not being a brunette. Embrace your "blondehood!.