Pain Free Krav Training
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International

February 25, 2015, Orlando, Florida, USA

There is an old saying, no pain no gain. There can be many interpretations to this. 

Indeed it is true that whatever you want to accomplish in life will involve some sort of pain; you want a college degree, you will have to make some painful sacrifices. You may have to cut down on your regular work, reduce your work hours and income, stay up late at night, miss some great parties. This is all painful but it is a pain you are willing to endure in order to earn your college degree.

Having a family also involves painful sacrifices. You do it because you love having a family.

Martial arts training is no different. To achieve your goals you will have to make some painful sacrifices.

And then of course there is some physical pain. No matter how careful we are there are going to be some bumps and bruises along the way, it is inevitable. You cannot learn to ride a bike without falling down a few times.

However, there are types of pain that must never happen.

There is a myth that for training to be good, people must get hurt. I could not disagree more. Many styles of Krav Maga thrive on this image. We do not. One instructor told me that for a seminar to be successful he wants everyone cursing his name. I pray that never happens with me.

I believe that one need not brutalize their students during training in order for the training to be effective. Our results have proven this time and time again.  We have numerous examples of first time students using their techniques successfully in real life cases.  None of them have ever been hurt during my seminars.

No one comes to Krav to get hurt. They come to protect themselves from being hurt. 

No one comes to Krav to get bullied. They come to protect themselves from the bullies.

Bullies do not make good Krav Maga instructors, and are not welcome in the IKI system.

Moshe teaching Jenna. We are gentle instructors, we never hurt our students. We teach them how to avoid getting hurt.

There is always a chance that at the higher levels, with more intense training there might be some bumps and bruises. In all my years of training I have never seen terrible injuries resulting from this, nothing more than some soreness and bruising.

But there is no room for dislocated shoulders or broken bones during teaching demonstrations. Teachers must be gentle, we have nothing to prove.  There is never a reason or any justification for hurting a student.

Remember, no one came to Krav classes to get hurt, they came to learn how to avoid getting hurt.

Our Seminars are Pain free!

Moshe, 

I just wanted to let you know that I cannot thank you enough for your visit. It was GREAT seeing so many students in there, all learning and getting excited about Krav Maga. 

We love what you bring to your seminars. Your passion for teaching people to learn to defend themselves matches ours.

The world is getting scarier every day, and I feel great about myself knowing that I teach people how to defend their lives. I'm excited about continuously learning from you. You are an awesome mentor in many ways.

Thank you so much.

Carrie Banton

Maestro you nailed it directly in the kill spot. I was talking to a student from another style recently and she said she is tired of getting hurt. This system you created works and it does not have to hurt to learn it. We can't get the techniques to the very people who need this the most if we hurt our students?!

Thanks for what you do Maestro, and thanks for having patience for all of your seminars.. Rest when you can, drink good coffee and be safe. See you when I see you!

Rob

Very nice.

 

As an aside I have a friend who hates to even work out in any way (great guy and really smart but….)  Anyhow his mantra is “No pain, No pain”…..I’ve always gotten a chuckle out of that.

On a more serious note, I have personally been hurt pretty badly in my training and Martha has actually had a broken foot and a broken ankle plus a serious ACL tear training, all in relatively hard core martial arts over the years.  When I started teaching on my own, both in HKD and in IKI Krav I have made it a distinct point to emphasize that nobody needs to go through that.  Bumps, bruises, maybe a snag here and there but we will absolutely allow no serious injuries due to another student’s lack of control or “excitement”.  Granted, accidents do happen, e.g., one student actually tore his ACL a couple of years ago simply by moving around in a circle trying to do a technique (trying to go too fast without understanding the principle of the technique).  Nobody contacted him at all.  He simply got more or less stuck in the transition because he was rushing what he was doing, maybe to try to prove something, his foot stalled and his knee went.  I have made it clear from day one that I will personally escort anyone out the door who deliberately tries to hurt another student or who cannot develop a decent degree of control.

Old police training adage:  “Slow is Smooth, Smooth is fast” or something like that.  In essence if you can properly execute a technique slowly and with good focus it will be as fast as you need it when you actually need it.

 

Stay safe and get rest!

Hal, Georgia Mountain Krav Maga

 

Moshe,       

               GREAT BLOG, and one I totally believe in!

Partner preservation should be on everyone's mind every class.We see, too many times, students trying to make up for poor technique with brute force.  

 I believe once you remove the 'brute force' techniques, you open your mine to proper technique.      With new young aggressive students in our class these days, Brenda and I stay largely to our selves and don't do the 'move one partner to the right' thing. We learn more and we do not get damaged. Thanks again for 'spreading the word'.

Al

I agree whole heartedly!


Amy Jo Giles

Moshe thank you for teaching us the very very true krav maga...noo only physical but mentally too.

Juan Carlos

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