Second Place Finish
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International

August 18, 2016, Israel

The Olympics are taking place in Rio, it is all over the news, everyone seems rather excited. Personally I have never taken any interest. So what if someone improved the world record by 0.0001 seconds?

There was an item in the news recently. Some Hoodlum wannabe decided to have a shoot-out with the police. Naturally he was killed, and naturally the police were blamed. A more accurate, non-news source reported the event more honestly.

The kid was shown in one of his social media postings with a gun in his hand, mocking, taking aim. The caption, in the spirit of the Olympic games, read, "He took second place".

Outstanding message here. Second place is great for a sporting event but in real life second place means you are dead. Krav Maga is not a sport and second place is not an option.

Thus our goal is not to be number one in the world. We are not out to set world records, and trophies are just dust collectors. No, our goal is that you survive your "match" on the street. First place goes home, second place does not.

Too many martial arts, including many styles of Krav Maga, confuse self-defense and sport. The goals are different, the methods are different, the approach is different. And, the results are different. Second place does not go home with a trophy, in fact he does not go home at all.

We train for survival, not glory, not trophies, not headlines and not world records. True martial arts will never be part of the Olympics or any tournament or competition. There is no such thing as a "Krav Maga competition", that is a contradiction in terms.

We keep it real so we can keep you alive.

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