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Blocking or Defending
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
May 31, 2026, The Netherlands
When I began my karate training many years ago, we learned the stances, the strikes and the blocks. These all had great value and the lessons are still with me today. The foundations of Karate are vitally important as a basis for self-defense. And yet there are some points that I approach differently today. The goal with IKI Krav Maga is to find not only better solutions but faster methods of learning and absorbing the mechanisms of defense.
In the traditional training we learn the various blocks, upward block, downward block jodan uki, gedan barai etc. We train hard and we do not ask questions. We stand in a row, in our clean gis and block hard, in unison, shouting our kia's.
I have no issues with that. There are many valuable foundations gained from such training.
Now let us think about this. We learn a block. We do not question it. We do not ask why we learn this block. It is tradition. Eventually we are told the advanced practitioners will learn about "Bunkai", applications; how to apply these blocks to real attacks. I never saw that. I never saw how a downward gedan barai block actually works in a street mugging situation. Yes, we learn balance, yes, we develop power, but how these various blocks relate to real attacks, is still a mystery. As I see it now, the problem is we begin with a solution, not with a problem, we begin with a defense rather than an attack. and once we learn this defense, we must find an attack that matches the defense we have mastered. But this attack is not aligned with the violence we see on the streets, on the CCTV videos, or on the police cameras. I believe we are approaching the issue backwards.
What we do is view footage of actual violence, we study the attacks, the angles, the directions, the twists and turns, and then we train to find a solution to these very real and very dangerous and explosive attacks. We begin with the attack, which is never what we would ideally like to see, but it is real not reel. It is not acting or dojo "one steps". and then when we understand the attack, we work on a solution. Rather than beginning with a defense and then finding an attack to match it, we begin with the chaos of real violence, and we do our best to survive.
Moshe Katz, 7th dan Black Belt, Israeli Krav Maga. Certified by Wingate Institute. Member Black Belt hall of fame, USA and Europe.
Understand the Israeli Fighting Mentality - Israel a Nation of Warriors by Moshe Katz
What is the cultural background of Krav Maga? What makes it unique? What makes the Israeli military so effective? Why are Israeli security systems used all over the world?
What are the Biblical origins of Krav Maga and who was the first Krav Maga instructor?
What weapons and military strategies did our Biblical ancestors use?
How has Krav Maga developed in Israel and what are its goals?
All that and more in this unique book.
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