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Krav Maga Lineage and Action
By Moshe Katz
January 10, 2013
To many people in martial arts and in Krav Maga the idea of lineage is very important. In other words, who was your teacher? who was his teacher and how directly are you connected to the founder of the style or system?
There is a certain degree of legitimacy to this question, to a point. If you are a beginner and you find out, (like I heard from one of our instructors in Holland recently) about an instructor whose lineage includes a hodge podge of techniques gathered from seminars, You Tube, and internet samples, well…you might think twice about trusting him with training you to protect your life and your family.
On the other hand, excessive concern with lineage leads to Idol Worship. "I am a 34th generation master of Shaolin Gung Gu"; so what! The question is can you teach me to protect myself from violent thugs in my neighborhood. Your techniques from 34 generations ago might not work for me in downtown Jerusalem today.
As I have written before, I don't care if your style originated with the American Indians, (sorry, Native Americans), The Biblical patriarchs, some Chinese guy in a monastery, or your dear old granny; if it works – great, that is all I care about.
Krav Maga, self-defense, is an evolving process, like everything else in life. As I have written before; very few people practice medicine like the doctors of Louis the 14th or use phones like the original ones developed by Alexander Graham Bell.
Do we know if the guys who developed the iPhone have direct lineage to A. G. Bell? Does it matter? And how many teenagers today even know the name Alexander Graham Bell?
This week's Torah portion seems to offer some insight, in my opinion, to this topic.
It starts off as follows: "And God spoke to Moshe and He said to him I am God."
OK, let's call this the introduction. Actually, the text does not say "God", it says God's name, which for reasons of tradition we do not write, so I leave it as "I am God."
Lets continue.
"And I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the form of 'El Shaday' but my name, XXXX, I did not reveal to them."
Let's call this part, a basic claim to lineage. God is telling Moshe (Moses, Moises, Musa etc...) that he has lineage. "I knew the forefathers of your people; I have a history you can trust." (This would be the same as saying I am a 34th generation disciple of the Shaolin Temple or of the "founder" of Krav Maga)
And then…"And I have also fulfilled my covenant with them (the promise I made to the forefathers long ago) to give them the Land of Cana'an, the land in which they had dwelt."
So here God is establishing that not only does He have lineage, but He has proof that "His system works", i.e. I have proven myself; you can check out the results. I have proven I can deliver as I have promised.
Now, looking at the current problems, God continues, "I have heard also the crying out of the Children of Israel, that the Egyptians are oppressing them. And I have remembered my covenant."
So here we see the full picture. He has lineage, but he does not dwell on it. He has proof that His system works. He is ready to act now again. He is relevant to your current needs.
I think this would be a pretty good role model for us to follow.
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What weapons did the ancient Hebrews use?
How did they fight?
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Krav Maga Tour and Train in Israel
Tour and Train in Israel.
Join the most exciting program; train in all aspects of Krav Maga, (option for instructor testing), see the country, learn the heritage, taste the food and float in the Dead Sea. Experience Counter-Terrorism training from Israel's best. Learn how Israelis handle hostage situations, defense in and around a car, fight on the stairs.
Open to beginners and advanced instructors. We have trained people with no previous experience and those who have fought in the best units in the world, and every level in between. This is suitable for anyone in good health with an open mind and a strong desire to learn.
Next sessions: June 10, 2013, November 2013.
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