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Conversation with a Student
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
August 15, 2026, Israel
I was taking a walk today. Saturday afternoon, taking the dog for a walk in the park. Shabbat afternoon is a time when our streets are filled with young couples and their children playing in the park, or people strolling along the sidewalks, Shabbat is a day of rest, a break from all our weekday headaches.
We are commanded not to think of work, to let it go, but sometimes, thoughts linger.
I was worried about all sorts of things. One instructor is jealous of another instructor for hosting a successful seminar. One member feels that another should not have been promoted to a certain rank, another felt...and so the headaches continue, and I wonder how I can deal with all this.
To be a head instructor is more than it might seem, knowing how to teach is not enough, knowing Krav Maga is not enough, having an understanding of finance is not enough; one also needs to be a master of interpersonal relationships, and diplomacy. One truly needs to a master of psychology.
I am walking along and trying to take on some of the carefree attitude of the dog and three cats that are part of this little walk when I see two young couples, pushing baby carriages and a couple more toddlers walking along. Nothing unusual.
"Moshe! Shabbat Shalom" says the young man as he reaches out for a warm handshake.
He looks vaguely familiar.
He starts telling the others that I was his martial arts instructor when he was a child. It took me a few minutes and few hints and questions to put his identity together, Michael Sh. brother of Gavriel, trained with me years ago. The last time I saw him he was in high school, a wild high-strung kid, now he is a married man with children, and he has grown a beard, always a good idea.
He looks at his children and says, I wish I could find a place like that for them, when they get older. Your dojo was my home. I can't tell you what the training did for me. It toughened me up, it made me whom I am today. When I enlisted, I was ready for anything, I was hardened, physically and mentally, there was nothing I could not handle, you had prepared me.
When I joined the dojo, I was in 7th grade, my parents went through a difficult divorce, my mother remarried, I was broken, totally broken. But your training brought me back to life, created a new me. I went through the toughest units in the army, but what the IDF taught me was not 25% of what you gave me. And when the training started, all that you had taught me came right back, it was natural, instinctive.
I could see the emotion in his eyes, and I know that he is not a man of words, he is not one who knows how to express himself in flowery language, but he was not speaking as an intellectual, it was straight from the heart. And as the rabbis say, words that come from the heart - enter the heart. I felt his words and my mood changed immediately.
Those were not easy years for me, teaching children hours every single day, including Friday, and even Saturday night. I taught all day every day, received little in the way of financial compensation and little in the way of community respect. But now, all these many years later, when I see my students, as adults they are able to share with me the impact the training, the love, had on them. I poured my heart and soul into them. They were all my children.
Michael asked if I was still teaching locally, and I said, yes, I am, but only adults these days, you are welcome to join us if you are around.
Yes, I still teach locally, I thought to myself, but my main work these days is around the world, IKI, Israeli Krav International. And just as I was thinking this, Michael said, I know that today you are an "international name" but for us, you were our world.
I asked him what he was doing these days, trying to change the subject, and he said I am with unit.....XYZ04 (can't reveal it), have you heard of it? (I was not sure), we deal with...espionage.
I said, OK, no need to share more information. and I realized that "my boy" had done well in life, and is contributing to the security of our nation during these most challenging times. In a way, I made a difference. All those little children today are making a difference in the well-being of our nation.
And I thought, I was feeling down because of the squabbling of adults who should be more mature and here one of my "kids" shows up, a Divine Messenger, to remind me of what is truly important. What is important are not the ranks, and titles, and international reputation, what matters is really making a difference in the life of one person, and they in turn make a difference in the life of the nation, and of our world.
I speak to all of us, instructors, teachers, educations; remember, "Somebody was listening", somebody was getting the message while you thought no one was paying attention. There will be the headaches, the arguments over rank, status, who is more important than who, who is better than who, who did a better test etc etc. But in the big picture, it takes a young man, who was once a troubled boy of 14 years old, to remind us what it is really all about.
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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