Moshe Katz

Krav Maga Blogs 2010 Moshe Katz

Krav Maga is Hebrew for close quarter combat; fighting for survival up close and personal. The nation of Israel was born in a struggle. Our patriarch Jacob wrestled with an angel in the form of a man. When he emerged victorious the angel changed Jacob's name to Israel, meaning "One who has wrestled with God" and said, "You have wrestled with God and with man and have prevailed." Ever since then the nation of Israel had been fighting for survival. The ancient people of Israel were a nation of warriors. The patriarch Abraham trained all the members of his household in combat, the sons of Jacob were fierce warriors and masters of the sword. The judges of Israel combined life wisdom with combat prowess; Ehud Ben Gerah was a master of the dagger, Deborah the Prophetess led Israel in battle, Samson slew the Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. Modern Krav-Maga is but a continuation of this ancient struggle. The people of Israel are still fighting for survival. Krav Maga training is all about the real world. When people train in martial arts such as jujitsu or Israeli Krav Maga they sometimes wonder, 'but what about the real world'? 'Would this training really help me on the street?' 'What about Krav Maga reality training For over two years I had the privilege of training elite security guards of Jerusalem in hand to hand Krav Maga, gun disarms and knife defenses. It was a tough job with lousy pay. I would not trade that experience for anything. These guys fought for a living, not in the ring but on the meanest streets of Jerusalem. Their opponents were not boxers or wrestlers but knife wielding assassins, drunken thugs and suicide bombers. These guys had to face the real deal. They had to have the right attitude Just to be accepted as a guard one had to have served in a combat unit in the Israel Defense Forces, many of them also had served in the Russian army. So these guys (women were not accepted for this job)were in the military for a long time and had faced death before. Most had seen friends die in combat or as the result of suicide attacks. They had to take this Krav Maga stuff seriously. Both in Israel and abroad we live with great challenges; in our personal lives, in our national existence, and in our view of history and international relations. I see krav maga, and martial arts in general, as part of how we view the world and our lives, and how we cope. My Krav Maga Blogs are a mini journal of my thoughts on how krav maga action and philosophy relate to our daily lives.