December 23, 2014
Uncomfortable change, perhaps that is even redundant, as for most of us any change at all, for better or for worse, is uncomfortable.
I recall when my brother announced to his young children that the family was getting a new car, one of the kids started crying.."But I love our car".
Upgrading to a brand new model car did not please my nephew, he liked the old car, with all the old and familiar smells.
In the film Shawshank Redemption one of the characters commits suicide after being released from prison. He was in the prison for 50 years. That was the life he knew and he was unprepared for change.
Change is not easy.
One of the greatest traumas in life is moving. You build a life, you like your neighbors, your community, everyone knows you, and then life circumstances create the need to move. I have moved many times and do not plan to move again. Never easy.
And now I find myself dealing with change and it is not easy.
My home was broken into and much was taken. As a result I have had to change where I put things; my phone, my wallet, my passports, everything is now in a different place.
It may not sound like much, but it is very difficult. In many ways it is a new reality. It is also a new reality of awareness: Turns out our homes are not our castles, not our fortress, and no where near as safe as many of us believed.
This is the reality, deal with it.
The same reality holds true for outside the home. We are not as safe as we think we are. Note: only a tiny tiny fraction of society trains in any form of martial arts. Even less train in reality based systems such as Krav Maga. There is nearly zero awareness of the dangers out there, just as there is so little awareness of the dangers in here, in our homes.
The fact is we feel way too comfortable and there is, sadly, no justification for this. We need to be better prepared, much better.
It is our job as Krav Maga instructors and students to spread the word. Yes, we must be alarmists.
We must sound the alarm for better home security, better self-defense Krav Maga training and better safety drills.
For we are not as safe as we think.
This will involve change, and yes, I know, change is uncomfortable, I am going through this now, learned my lesson the hard way.