IKI Krav Maga Teaching Methods
By Esther Lehman, Krav Maga Instructor, Israel

My name is Esther Lehman www.natural-trainer.com, I have been teaching Krav Maga with Moshe Katz 6th dan for over 20 years and hold the rank of 2nd dan.  

Over the years our Krav Maga has gone through many changes, techniques have come and gone. As we all understand bio mechanics and kinesiology we came to the realization that most of those techniques were simply dangerous. When taking the responsibility to teach people how to defend themselves against and armed attacker, you need to have done your homework pretty well so that your trusting Krav Maga student will not get themselves killed while trying to implement your techniques in a real life situation.

Esther teaching during Tour and Train

A lot of Krav  Maga schools feel that they have to make Krav Maga exciting and action packed,  they want to attract more students and keep them coming; that is understandable, but you have to understand that you are giving the wrong message.

Real life street fights are not cool, it is not a movie but life and death situations. Your students have to understand that. The exciting YouTube video clips does make for great advertisement for your school, but when it comes down to content you have nothing to teach them.

So IKI Krav Maga evolved. IKI was built and developed my Moshe Katz, his system and I stress the word system. Moshe Katz designed his very specific method of teaching his techniques because each technique is built methodically on the basic understanding of the IKI concept. 

The order of presenting these techniques to our students is crucial. New students who start to learn IKI Krav Maga MUST go through the basics to build up their understanding of the IKI concept. They have a lot to learn about body movement, getting out of the line of fire (if we talking about a gun threat). This system is a process to mold students into expert Krav Maga practitioners and IKI Instructors they would like to be, developing instincts, co-ordination and confidence and the ability to teach.

IKI system Goal:

1.       Instincts, when your life is in danger your mind can go into panic mode or hero mode, now we have all been there, when something scary happens you know how you react in these situations. Some people run away from the scene totally panicked and other people run towards the scene because their adrenaline has set them to hero mode and they start thinking clearly and perform miracles. At IKI we teach our techniques so that no matter what mode you go into, your instincts will take over.

2.       Co-ordination, IKI techniques are not complicated, they are designed so that it is logical for your body to be able to perform them. We believe in simplicity of the techniques, using gross motor skills, momentum, and redirection.  We are adamant that all our techniques can be used by anyone, no matter what your size or fitness level is.

3.       Confidence, it is important to be able believe that you can actually save your own life, or the lives of friends or loved ones who may be with you. Now I don’t mean over-confidence, never underestimate an attacker, so it is important to practice, learn and ensure that these techniques become instinct.

Some students become impatient and want to learn the higher level techniques before they are ready; usually this is an indication on how a student will not develop so quickly. They don’t trust in Moshe’s methods of teaching and they feel they need to educate Moshe on how to teach his system “better” because they have not “got it”.

Any student that understands the logic understands that they need to go at their own pace. I have taught many students privately, some students could learn the whole IKI curriculum and concept in 2 weeks of intense 4 hour a day lessons. Other students were able to learn the basics and a little extra in the same amount of time, both are OK. The most important thing to remember is that you should learn Krav Maga well because you may need it one day to save your life.

As a teacher of Krav Maga I understand that I am personally taking my students life into my hands. I have to make sure he totally understands the importance of every stage in our system; this premise will save his life. So if you are teaching IKI techniques don’t be in a hurry to teach everything you know in one day, allow your students to develop, understand, digest and learn the IKI Concept and system as they were meant to be taught by Moshe Katz.

Esther Lehman

www.natural-trainer.com

www.israelikravfitness.com

Qualified Personal Trainer, to help you build muscle, lose weight. Eat right stay healthy and learn how to stay thin by burning body fat. Exciting teaching methods, motivated classes, change your lifestyle!!!

 

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Join us in Israel for 10 days to two weeks. Take your Krav Maga skills to a new level, see your self-confidence soar.

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Endorsement for IKI Method

One of our greatest endorsements came from none other than Shidoshi Frank Dux, upon whose life experiences the movie Blood Sport was based.

Shidosh Dux joined us for one of our Tour and Train sessions in Israel. After one week he said to me the following words, "I have never seen such great progress in such a short period of time. I did not think it was possible. The logical sequence you use has enabled students to build up skills very rapidly. Each move, drill and technique leads the way to understanding the next technique. The same concepts flow through all the techniques so that the student does not even realize how fast these moves are becoming a part of him in a natural way, a way that he will be able to draw on.

It was an honor to have such a great man train with us and offer his unconditional support and endorsement to our unique method of Krav Maga.

Shidoshi Frank Dux with Yakov Agranat, Maaleh Adumim, Israel. IKI Tour and Train.