To Be Seventy
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International

---

April 8, 2015, Israel

---

Can you imagine us years from today?
Sharing a park bench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy

(Paul Simon)

---

Do not forsake us in our old age. Older people have a right to self-defense.

---

Seventy, it creeps up on us, faster than we think...

---

When we are young we believe that we shall be young forever.

It is truly amazing. We see old people but we never imagine that that is our own future. As Paul Simon wrote...How terribly strange to be seventy.

It is as if we never imagined that we would grow old. (sure beats the alternative).

And then...we are older, and we did not prepare.

When we are young we might engage in tough guy sports or martial arts. But we do not stop to think if this will be of any value as we grow older.

What happens when our physical strength leaves us? What happens when we are no longer so flexible?  Will our MMA skills still be of use? Judo, Thai boxing, back spinning and high kicking?

Good luck with that.

But IKI Krav Maga, yes, we plan ahead, and we think of the future, and we think of age 70 and beyond. Our techniques will work, even as we grow older.

My mother is not a Krav Maga practitioner, yet...but she turns 80 in a few minutes. And I think of her and everyone else who is privileged to hit a high number on the scale of life. I want a system that works for everyone, and that includes older people.

My Dad is no longer with us, physically, but I felt him in spirit, and he loved Al Jolson. So I dedicate the song below to both my parents.

---

---

Krav Maga should for everyone; talented, uncoordinated, young and old. We all deserve to live without fear, to walk in peace.