Krav Torah 001
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International

August 12, 2014

I hear it all time. Defeatist attitude, I can't defend myself, there is no point in learning Krav Maga because it would take me years of training to be able to defend myself, the situation is hopeless.

Or, someone my size has no chance, so there is no point in training.

Indeed, with an attitude like that it does not pay to learn Krav Maga. You will never succeed. Better save the money for your medical bills when you get attacked and for the therapist to help you cope with being attacked by a bad guy with a knife or gun. Or rape.

Don't waste your money on Krav Maga, save it for the doctors and therapists.

I just love it when I am reading the weekly Torah portion and the answers to today's problems just pop up. And yet there are people who think that our problems today are new and that "old books" are useless.

The foolish make me smile. And I need that.

So just now I am reading..."Should you say in your heart these foreign nations are too great and outnumber me, how can I defeat them?" (Parshath Ekev)

And God answers and says..."Remember what I have done to the great Pharaoh and the Egyptians" , Remember the miracles that you saw.

Recently, in our most recent war, soldiers, including many "secular" soldiers, came home with stories of "miracles of Biblical proportions".

But lets leave that for a moment. Lets leave out the Godly and the supernatural. We do not base our Krav Maga on miracles.

But we do base it on Attitude.

The Torah, thousands of years ago, is addressing the issue we deal with with every new Krav Maga student. Attitude. "Should you say in your heart..."   The issue is, the KEY issue is, that in our hearts we truly do not believe we can defend ourselves. And that is the key issue we as instructors must deal with.

Most instructors focus on techniques, that is a huge mistake. Techniques will never save lives, but attitude will. We must start with attitude and then teach some very basic concepts that can be applied in a multitude of various situations.

These girls and women in our classes in Israel have the correct attitude, the Biblical attitude, never say I am too small, never say they are too many!

It is my contention that the vast majority of martial arts programs, and even Krav Maga programs, are doomed to failure as they fail to address the key issues.

The Torah, however, thousands of years ago, addressed the very issue that most Krav instructors ignore.

We must give students that faith in themselves that they need to succeed.

Other programs do stress attitude and "empowerment" but then teach useless techniques, that too is futile and of little value.

It goes hand in hand. Teach the correct way and they develop faith in themselves, once they have faith in themselves they can apply the IKI Krav Maga concepts successfully and succeed.

This is where we differ. I always teach that Krav Maga begins in the heart. But I am the exception. Sadly most Krav and "Reality self defense" systems stress big muscles, "bad ass" talk and Neanderthal attitudes. Their style is for their own ego and for their own insecurities. That attitude will never save lives. So sad.

The Torah teaches that humility is the beginning of learning. As such most Krav Maga instructors should be disqualified at once! They do not have what it takes to be a teacher.

It should be clear now that the entire approach is upside down and inside out. The style is here to help the students, not feed the ego of the instructor. There is no place for an instructor with an ego.

When I test a student to be an instructor I first look at the heart. Techniques can always be improved as we go along. Heart and Soul!

Look back to the Torah and the answers are there.

Please note that all fields followed by an asterisk must be filled in.