2009
I like to keep up with what is going on in the Krav Maga world. I like to know what other organizations are up to. Actually I really don’t have time but from now and then I find their information in my inbox. So I take a minute to watch. I have to admit that honestly, I am continuously disappointed.
I really do feel that many Krav organizations give Krav Maga a bad name. I watch these sample video clips and all I see is what I have decided to term “Flash and Fear”.
I see tough looking guys and great looking girls beating up the bad guys. Of course all the bad guys look the part, only evil looking types commit crimes or attack others. There is usually great acting, good music and the videos are indeed exciting, at least the promos. However, when I observe the techniques, (who knows, I keep thinking maybe I will see something new) it is always the same old ineffective, complicated, out of date stuff that I have seen for years.
It is the same old stuff repackaged and advertised as the “latest and greatest”. It is like many of the popular martial arts magazines (of which I currently buy none after having read most of them); same articles repackaged every six months because there is so much turn-over in the readership. I stopped reading them because they offer me nothing at all. (here is a little tip, if you want to be a featured story, simply invest a great deal in advertising in their publication).
The other element in these DVD’s is fear. Yes, many people fear violence but do we need to scare people into buying our product, does a person learn best when they are afraid? I watch these DVD’s and I sense fear, excitement, movie type heroes, much drama. But I do not see any substance. I do not see the techniques or the training that will do what needs to be done. I see techniques that are either hard to learn, impossible to apply, and difficult to remember. This is exactly the opposite of what IKI stands for; all techniques must be easy to learn easy to remember and easy to apply, and they must be effective.
The martial arts are here to serve people, not to pray on their fears and take their money while offering them nothing in return. I am sorry to see all this Flash and Fear, lets leave that for the movies. I want to focus on real Krav Maga, tried and tested on the streets by ordinary people with ordinary bodies and ordinary skills.
Lets keep Krav Maga real, not reel.