Mental Training
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International 

February 25, 2019, San Jose, Costa Rica

Today I had the privilege of training with a wonderful group of people that stretched from one end of the spectrum to another. I rarely know the backgrounds of those at my seminars and that is a good thing for I believe in Krav Maga for all and I treat all people equally.

I do ask for people to bring up situations and questions that pertain to their particular circumstances as I do wish to help everyone. Today it turns out that the group included two top level security guards who work at the highest level of Costa Rican security, I will not mention their names or include their photographs. 

Our group included young women in their early twenties, a woman who works in real estate, and the nature of that work requires Krav Maga, as well as some well built athletic security guards. 

One of the key points I stressed today was the usually forgotten aspect of mental training, which goes far beyond Situational Awareness. 

Mental training/Situational Awareness is so critical that no amount of training or fitness can overcome the lack of these traits. Without this, and despite massive amounts of training, one will likely be frozen during the critical times that one should be responding. By the time the unfreezing takes place the damage will have been done. It is those first critical seconds that make a difference. I have numerous videos of attacks where bystanders, some of them highly trained, simply did not react. They did not react because they were unable to process what was going on. Their brain was not ready. 

This is the forgotten aspect of training that we bring into play. It is not popular and it will not catch on with the commercial Krav Maga schools. They will continue to cater to the public and "give the people what they want" as compared to what they need. Real self defense does not sell as well as Fun N Fit self defense. 

Mental training does not burn calories. Reading books about self defense, watching documentaries about violence, also does not burn calories, but it may actually keep you alive. Mental training involves training your mind for potential scenarios, similar to driving and anticipating lousy drivers trying to cut you off, or poor road conditions. A good driver must be prepared for this. A good Krav Maga practitioner must train this way as well

To some this may seem like a cup-out. I.e. less push ups, less sparring and an "easier" training session. However the truth is that this is how every good military or police unit trains, without this all the physical training in the world is practically useless. 

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