Krav Dojo Newsletter

"ברוך ה צורי המלמד ידי לקרב אצבעותי למלחמה"

Blessed be God my rock who teaches my hands to do battle, my fingers for war." (King David)

FEBRUARY 2009

Head Instructor: Moshe D. Katz, 4th dan black belt; kickboxing, krav maga, jujitsu (5th dan)

Black Belts: Nadav Alon, Eitan Susman, Yisrael Kaplan, Avi Baldasare, Esther Cohen

Certified by:

Sensei Itay Gil, 6th dan, former trainer of the Israeli Counter Terror Force, trainer of elite IDF units

Wingate Institute of Sports, Martial Arts Dept. Roni Kluger, 8th dan

ISC Control Points, Professor Arthur Cohen, 6th dan

World Martial Arts Masters Academy of Black Belts, Dr. Jerry Beasley 9th dan

United Black Belt Federation

World Black Belt Bureau, Master Kang Rhee, 9th dan

Dojo Address: 50/3 Mitzpe Nevo, Maaleh Adumim, 98410 Israel

Telephone: 054 589 0357, 02 535 7265

International phone 972 2 535 7265

Wise Advice From Mark Hatmaker

I have decided to make a page with his articles and I advise you to frequent this page and read them. Trust me, it is worth your time.

The current article, which I have listed first, echoes words of wisdom from other reality based instructors, but Mark articulates it better than anyone I have heard so far. Very simply; the fancy kung fu blocks you see on TV should be used only for Hollywood stunts and Jackie Chan films. Even more practial blocking, including the bobing and weaving from boxing, is very very hard to use effectively in a real fight. The shield that we use in our krav maga training acknowleges the fact that most of us are too slow to do the fancy blocking.

Funny thing, I thought it was just me, I always said I am faster with my feet than my hands and therefore I don't really on fancy blocking but rather on just 'getting my hand up' and letting my forearms take the beating. From what Mark says, it is not only me. Anyway, this is your home work assignement; read the article. Mark Hatmaker Articles

Promtions

Avi Klein- Yellow belt

Yedidya Even Chen - Advanced Yellow belt

Laizer Roskind - Orange belt

Yaakov Agranat - Orange belt

Moshe to USA

Training in the Dark

While I am away the dojo will stay open as usual. The teaching will be shared by Ariel Biton, Sensei Bruce Dublin, Jonathan Rossner, and a new addition; Baruch Mackler who wil be teaching the kids class on Wednesday.

The instructors will all have my phone number in the USA.

Tonight when training at Itay's; the lights went out. Blackouts are fairly common in Israel. The emergency lights went on but it was still quite dark, so much so that I could only recognize friends by their body shape but not by their faces.

Did this affect the workout? Of course not, the grappling class went on as usual, the kickboxing went on just the same, and so did the Krav Maga. In fact we worked on how to react when you can not tell if the gun is the right hand or the left hand, a situation quite possible on the street.

Made me wonder; how many techniques depend upon perfect visual? What happens when you don't have the perfect lighting conditions in which you trained? What will you do then? In addition to being tired, alone and surprised, you will also have to deal with the darkness and the uncertainty of which hand the weapon is in. Are you training for this kind of situation?

If the answer is yes, consider yourself fortunate. If the answer is no – you will have to reevaluate your entire training situation and goals.

In Krav Maga our goal is to survive, that is our first goal, that is our only goal.

Be Ready

As a martial artist I am often asked silly questions such as: "So tell me truthfully, how many guys do you usually take out in a typical bar fight?" or, "As a black belt you must feel totally at east walking through the worst nieghborhoods in the world."

Nonesense! Life is unpredictable, all we can do is prepare as much as possible, and do our best to avoid trouble. No one can predict what will happen in a real situation, but, as we always say, "Luck favors the prepared."

So we train, and we train, and we hope we never need to test our skills. Thank G-d, our skills have proven themselves many times in real time situations, but we still cannot say with certainly what the future will bring.

My friend Mark Hatmaker, an expert fighter and teacher, wrote a short article on this very topic. I feel it is worth your time.

YOU’LL NEVER BE READY

I’ve got some bad news for us--we’ll never be ready. The predators of the world always have the upper-hand. They get to choose the when, the where, the how, the why, they get to choose everything. None of the victims recounted in the Predator Profiles woke up the morning of their horrific destiny and knew what was in store for them. If they did, I’m certain they would have done everything in their power to alter what was foreseen.

Just as they never knew, we will never know if or when we have similar experiences in store for us. The predators of the world, on the other hand, they always know. They always have the advantage. They have a plan. They know when they get up in the morning what they have in store for whatever innocents they have targeted. There may be unexpected developments in the course of executing that plan but , nevertheless, they are dealing with minor course corrections in their devious goals. We? Again, we will never know if/when it is coming.

Now, with that bit of cheery information you might be asking yourself what’s the point of our training if we will never be prepared? Let’s liken preparation for surviving criminal assault to “preparing” for a car accident. Statistically speaking, chances are you have been involved in a car accident at some point in your driving life (hopefully a minor one). When you awoke that morning you had no idea it was going to occur. You didn’t get into the car taking special pains with your seat-belt, you didn’t go ahead and make sure your driver’s license, vehicle registration, and auto insurance information were easily handy. You didn’t re-read your original driver’s education manual (if you ever did) reviewing accident avoidance protocols. No, you were just going about your business and the accident happened catching you by surprise.

Now, assuming you kept your head and had some foresight, your seatbelt provided you with some protection, you had your information readily available, you knew what to do when the collision occurred. This preventive foresight still does not stop you from being surprised, injured, or even quell the adrenaline dump that such occasions elicit. According to the indelicate phrase, shit happens and that day shit just happened. We know that all drivers are unprepared for an accident in the foreknowledge sense but, let’s compare drivers who exercise preventive maintenance with those who do not.

Chances are, if you have been obeying traffic laws, keeping your speed in control, and paying attention to the environment you just might have been able to recognize that the accident was going to occur before it did. Often it is this “split-second” of danger recognition that allows you to brake, decrease speed, or veer to a less damaging collision vector. If you have utilized your safety belt you have (hopefully) mitigated your injuries. If you are organizationally squared away you will have your information ready for easy access and are also able to give 911 a quick call. A little bit of preparedness and obeisance to some simple habits makes this sort of behavior likely.

On the other hand, if you are a driver who has chosen to ignore what others have proposed as good sense and have decided to follow too closely, drive too fast, pay less than optimum attention to the environment (texting, shall we say?) then you have already increased your chances for losing your “split second” window of collision avoidance. If you have foregone your safety-belt for comfort’s sake you have dramatically increased your chances for injury. If you have decided to keep your information in two or more locations or, worse, have no idea if you even have such information, you have increased your own stress level by stacking unneeded confusion on top of an already taxed nervous system.

Neither the prepared driver or the unprepared driver knows if or when an accident will occur but…the odds easily favor the prepared driver. That’s what we are striving for with this book. We will never know if or when we may be confronted by criminal violence but by being a prepared driver we greatly increase our chances of surviving the collision.

Thanks everyone and have a great weekend!

Mark

Boxing Gloves Sale

Kids Group

REMINDER

All students are required to have a pair of shin-guards, boxing gloves, groin protector, and dojo T shirt. I offer these products at prices below market prices but you must have them. Sorry, this is required for the training. Students without these will miss out on the kickboxing portion of the workout.

Boxing Gloves special,made in USA, limited time - 110 NIS. Store price 400 NIS or more.

Adults and Older Teens

Wednesday Night; 8:30 - 10:00

This class is taught in English

News חדשות

Be in a Film, Help out Israel!

Filming would not start for at least a few monthes. May all our troops return home safely, Moshe

New You Tube Video וידיאו חדש

הוידיאו הבא הוא דוגמא לאימונים שאני עובר אצל סנסיי איתי. אני הבחור בחולצה הירוקה.

תהנו

.

Pain Adjustment

Today I was at the nurse, had to get my annual flu shot. The nurse wanted to know which arm I use more often since, as she warned me, there would be some pain associated with the shot. I tried not to laugh.

I told her I am a martial arts instructor and had received my fair share of abuse. As my teacher, Itay Gil, often says, "If I had a dollar for every time Moshe got hurt…" Pain is part of life, nothing you can do about it, so you might as well adjust. In the martial arts we train to avoid pain but yet, paradoxically, we voluntarily accept pain. We accept pain in smaller proportions to learn how to protect ourselves and our loved ones from even greater pain, just like the anti flu injection.

I do not regret any of the pain, it has all been part of a learning experience. There is physical pain and there is emotional pain, we can grow from both of them, if we have the right attitude.

More on Pain

There is a lesson here. A determined human being can endure a great deal of pain and still not submit. Many non-contact martial arts teach "one punch one kill" or other such sillyness. This is not the case. Never assume that the person will submit due to pain, you must make him submit. This is how Itay Gil teachers; if you are doing a knife defense do not assume that a blow to the person will make him stop. You must make him stop, you must neatralize him and disable him. You can not assume he will feel some pain and stop.

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee

New Start

At first look, it was a bit daunting; all these though guys kicking and punching, jumping and spinning, I wondered how would I fit in?

I determined that I would simply have to work harder than everyone else. I kept a log and I wrote every lesson I attended. I also practiced at home, and, at work.

At work I would take a break, go to the bathroom with the large mirror and practice a few techniques, until the next guy walked in. I would do extra pushups when no one was looking.

I recall being told that one about 6 people who put on white belts would someday wear the coveted black belt, I was determined to be one of those few. But what would it take?

Very simply it would take dedication, a long term commitment.

As we begin our new year I can already anticipate the parents telling me, "Listen I don't want to give you checks for a full year, I can be sure if my son will stick with it that long. Well, if one has so little commitment that one year seems like a long time I don't know what kind of goals they can ever hope for in life. What can you learn in less than one year? What can you build in one year? My house took nearly two years to build. What would I have done if the workers would have lost interest after only a few months? Had they walked out in the middle of a job I doubt they would have many new jobs to walk into, no one would ever hire them again!

If this is what you want, they wantit! Invest your time, buy the equipment you need, put in the time it takes to get good at.

An impatient Samurai came to a Zen master for a bowl of soup. He waited but it was not ready. He waited some more and became angry and impatient. Finally the miso soup was ready, and it was the best soup he had ever tasted. The Samurai said, "This is the best soup I ever had, what is the secret ingredient?"

The Zen Master answered, "Time"!

Keep Trying

Sometimes pearl of wisdom can be gained from the most light hearted sources.

When I was a child there was a popular TV show called "The Partridge Family", yes, I admit I watched it. It was a family that was also a musical act. The oldest child was teenage heart throb David Cassidy.

In one episode he meets an attractive young lady who plays classical music and does not care much for his pop music. He tries to gain an appreciation of her style of music and even tries his hand at composing a piece of classical music.

He takes his new composition to a man who has the ability to judge and evaluate such things. I saw this episode many decades ago but I remember this part word for word (I think), there was a message here that would stay with me over all these many years.

The older man listens to the music carefully and then asks the young man a question.

"If I told you the composition was only mediocre, that you had no real talent for this style of music, what would you do?"

The young composer answers, "I would give it up".

"In that case" the older man says, "I would suggest that you give it up."

Now you can interpret that two ways.

The first is; the music was no good so forget about it. This is the wrong interpretation. He never specifically said the music was on good.

The correct interpretation is; If you are willing to give up so quickly, just because one person told that you are no good at something, if you are willing to give up at the first obstacle – then you are clearly never going to succeed with this. If you truly believed in what you were doing, if you were truly passionate about this, if you truly wanted to succeed – than nothing would stand in your way, certainly not a poor initial evaluation.

The reason he was telling the young man to quit had nothing to do with his talent and everything to do with his lack of 'stick-to-it-ness'.

Failure and set backs are just tests. Abraham Lincoln failed at countless things before he became president. The Rolling Stones once had less people in the audience than they had in the band! The Beatles were rejected and told, "Guitar music is on the way out". Early automobile manufactures (called horseless carriages at the time) were told the car would never replace the bicycle as a means of transportation. When the first tape recorder was demonstrated in Japan the audience said, "Great device for party tricks but it has no real practical value, it will never succeed". When my cousin asked for my advice about introducing macaroni and cheese to Israel I said, "Why would anyone buy it! All they have to do is buy pasta and cut up some cheese themselves."

And yet, all these people kept trying, and they all eventually succeeded.

So if you don't feel like a black belt after your first few months in Karate, so if you don't win your first fight, so if you feel like the most awkward person this side of Tibet; know that you are not alone. Know that your talent will not carry you but your motivation will.

And as a great martial arts instructor once wrote: "When the final chapter on your life is written, have them quote your wins and loses but for heavens sake, don’t have them say you never tried. How do you know if you can achieve anything in life, if you never try? And just because you try it and it doesn’t work the first time, try again. Try it harder, try it faster, use a different angle, use a different team, but don’t give up. A true warrior knows that failure is testing, and that now you know another way that doesn’t work and it is positive feedback to use to find the right way."

"Make sure you stick to it long enough to reap the reward. Farmers plant in the spring, work the crop all year and then get their harvest in the fall. It is amazing, so many leave before the harvest. As a true warrior you must learn to stay the course." (T. Bryan)

So take this message and move on, move on!

Personal Responsiblity

How many times did you say you would make a phone call for a friend who is looking for a job, and then you forgot all about it? How many times did other, more important, things come up when you had promised to help a friend?

Fact is most of us are not terribly responsible.

But that is not what I am writing about.

I am writing about taking responsibility for your own life, your own success. Fact is most people walk around blaming everyone but themselves for their lack of success. "My parents did not provide me with a good enough education.", "My parents were not encouraging nor loving enough when I grew up." "Life circumstances prevented me from pursuing the career of my choice."

The bottom line is always the same – I did not succeed and it is not my fault.

News Flash – it is.

We need to take full responsibility for our lives; our financial success, our health, our social well being. No one is responsible but us. The sooner we realize this the better off we will be.

The same is true of course of your martial arts and fitness training; I see 'em come and I see 'em go. What differentiates those who succeed from those who don't? Personal responsibility.

Looking at the Long Term

We spend our lives in the "Short term parking lot" when in fact; the real benefits are to be found in the "Long term parking lot."

Looking back at college I can now see how it changed my life. At the time I could not see. Looking back over a career of teaching martial arts to children, I can now see how it changed people's lives, that is, for those who invested the time.

"A black belt is a white belt that never quit." (unknown)

Long term; I can see strong young people, confident, successful, empowered, goal-oriented. You look at time and at once you are impressed with their obvious physical fitness and posture. After a short conversation you see a polite young person, someone with values, almost a throw back to another generation where young people were trained to think beyond themselves. You see someone who can take a challenge and see it through; a 'can –do' sort of person. Is there anything better you can do for your child?

Skipping Class?

Not only do you slip backwards physically when you skip even one scheduled workout, perhaps more devastating is the effect on your mind and character. Every time you successfully complete a scheduled workout plan, you build your discipline and self esteem. When your self esteem increases, it makes you feel good and that stimulates a positive self-reinforcing cycle of even more discipline, confidence and action. Everything you do helps or hurts. Every workout counts. Treat your word as law. When you say you’re going to work out... WORK OUT!

"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them." (Malcolm Forbes)

Learn about some of the top martial arts instructors Martial Arts Leaders . These are all people I have met and trained with.

What Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? Read on

What came first, the attack or the defense? Seems logical to say the attack came first. However if you were to visit dozens of martial arts academies, as I have, you would reach the opposite conclusion. First the students learn the defense. Next they learn the 'correct' way to attack, which, incidentally, fits in perfectly with the defenses that they have perfected. They can defend themselves perfectly, as long as they are attacked by members of their style of martial arts.

Sometimes an embarrassing situation occurs; a new student comes in and messes everyone up with his 'wrong' attacks. I did that once. I was new in Israel and tried out a karate class at the community center. They were unfamiliar with my style and did not know how to deal with it. The instructor told the students that the problem was with me, not them. My attack was 'all wrong', I fought like a "street fighter". I did not stay at that school very long, just long enough to learn what not to do.

Reality check, took me years to get this, the attack is never wrong. The attack comes before the defense. You must first learn the nature of attacks, all attacks, under all conditions. Only then can you begin to understand how to defend.

I have the good fortune of meeting some of the greats. Professor Cohen said to me, "I have a friend in the coast guard, so what if your fancy Taekwondo kick does not work when you are on a small boat fighting a guy with a knife?" Or what if you in Alaska and your jujitsu does not work on a guy wearing a heavy winter coat, or what if your knife defense slides off a New York City gang member because he smeared Vaseline on his arms?! What do you do when the attack does not match what you learned in your Aikido class?

What happens then?

The answer is simple; it is all over, for you.

You must understand the nature of attacks, the possibilities, the 'determined attacker', the gang member, the psycho path; know them or die.

This is why we train in mix martial arts, in reality self defense; this is why our training has evolved tremendously over the years. A student who trained with us back in the mid 90's would not recognize 80% of what we now do. This is the survival of the fittest, the survival of he who adapts and changes."Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, cultivate what is truly your own." (Sifu Bruce Lee)

Now get on the mat and sweat.

Self Defense, Self Preservation or Martial Art?

What should your training include? Kicking, yes, punching? Yes. What about take-downs, arm locks, escapes from impossible holds? Yes, yes, and yes. What about fitness? Yup. How about the psychology of fighting? You got it, yes. How about verbal diffusion, walking away, avoiding a fight? Yes.How about guns, knives, sticks, ropes, rocks? You guessed it, yes, yes and yes.

In real life self defense how important is it to be able to do a back spinning jump kick? Not very. What if you want to be a Hollywood actor or stunt man? Then it becomes more important.Choose your goals then choose your training.

Good Training Advice

1) To be consistent

2) To focus on improving every day

3) To follow professionally designed program & advice

4) To fuel the body with the right foods

5) To accept that things won't change overnight, but that with timeand persistence, you will succeed.

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