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Inconvenient to Kill
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
October 21, 2026, Israel
When World War Two broke out and Germany was conquering all the neighboring countries, Switzerland had very good reason to fear losing its independence. Not only were neighboring countries falling like a deck of cards, entire countries being submitted in a matter of weeks, but Switzerland had large German speaking provinces and according to the Nazi ideology those German sections belonged to the greater German nation, just as Austria and the Sudetenland. And yet Germany never attacked Switzerland, and the question is why?
There are answers but this is not the place to go into that. Here I only wish to focus on one line that I came across while studying this unique history, a line that caught my attention in terms of its applicability to Krav Maga Survival Training.
The reasons why Germany did not invade Switzerland, at the time, are complicated, and subject to interpretation, there were several factors, mainly economic. While Switzerland is usually thought of as neutral, that was far from the truth, in fact without the Swiss banking system it is unlikely that Nazi Germany would have lasted as long as it did. However, the military factor was certainly a major consideration.
On the first day of the war Switzerland put out 400,000 trained soldiers, with the reserves that came to more than 850,000 trained men in arms. When German aircraft invaded Swiss airspace no their way to France, the Swiss Airforce shot them down, with German made Messersmith's. In addition, Switzerland had major fortifications, command centers dug inside mountain fortifications, a huge network of underground tunnels and natural defenses. They also had the ability to totally disrupt the Germany chain of supplies, detonating bridges and transport routes. The line that caught my attention was this, Switzerland, with a population of only 4.2 million people, had become "Inconvenient to kill".
What does that mean and how is that relevant to our Krav Maga training?
This was a combination of military deterrent and economic necessities. If Germany was willing to take on the entire Soviet Union, and the rest of Europe and the USA, certainly Switzerland should not have been a major obstacle, but that is not the point. The point is that the challenge had become so great, that the cost of such an attack would be far too great for Germany to bare at that time. Switzerland had become Hard to Kill, and highly inconvenient to kill.
Many experts believe that what stopped Hitler was not the economic considerations but a nation of armed citizens, a mountain fortress, and fortifications that promised Germany a long bloody and costly fight. Denmark fell in about 6 hours, the Netherlands in five days, France took 6 weeks to defeat. And there was a plan to attack Switzerland, but it never came to pass.
Switzerland had also issued a statement that it would never capitulate, it would never surrender, and that it would fight to the last man and the last bullet. That meant something. Again, inconvenient to kill.
I will put this in even simpler terms, as IKI instructor Hal Herndon, over 80 years old, said. I may not be able to defeat you but "you will know that you have been to the dance". In other words, I will make you pay, and dearly. You will know that you have been to the dance. And this is one of the key features of IKI Krav Maga.
We are about Truth, and Honesty. Many systems are based on power, on being a cross fit champion, super fit and muscular. These are styles based on youth, and youth is a "passing blemish". Our goal is self-protection for everyone.
Look at the advertisements for Krav Maga, or Urban Combatives, Street Combatives, or any other similar type of name, what do we see? The young, the fit, the beautiful. But that is not reality, just as their defenses are not reality. The Reality of life is busy people, overweight people, an aging population, people of limited mobility, in other words, imperfect people.
Our approach is to use Total Body Movement where a less powerful person can focus their strength on one particular point and overcome a more powerful person. Our approach is to make each and every one of you a less desirable target, hard to kill, or like Switzerland, Inconvenient to Kill. Speaking realistically, you may not be able to subdue, disarm, submit, every violent attacker, but even if all you can do is show them that you will not go down easy, your chances of survival will have improved greatly.
Over the years IKI has had countless reported incidents of survival based on using our techniques and approaches. I will share just two, briefly, to illustrate our point of Inconvenient victims. Old City, Jerusalem, a young, short Italian fellow, works for the Roman Catholic Church, came to Israel to work on behalf of the Arabs. He realizes the dangers and joins our local training program. We learn the defense when you are pushed against a wall, back to the wall, and choked. But we do not teach it based on the jagged rocks that make up the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, and we do not teach as one defending against three, but that is what happened that night. "N" used our defense, but did it less than perfect, one Arab had his head smashed against the wall and some blood emerged from his face, but the other two could have easily attacked and overtaken the one short fellow. But that is not what happened, they saw he was not a Convenient Target as they had thought, and they ran for the hills! "N" was back in class the next night, unharmed.
"H" was an overweight Jewish man, a university student. He attended one of mine in Jerusalem. When he returned to the USA, he had a gun placed to the back of his head was using the urinal at a night club. He had had enough of this New York crime and decided to fight back with a technique he learned at our Krav Maga seminar in Jerusalem. Like "N" he did not perform the technique perfectly, but it was good enough.
As he turned around and got out of the line of fire, he reached for the wrist of the attack as he had been taught. But he was not well-trained, only one seminar. The criminal managed to pull his gun away, and he fled.
But why did he flee? Why did he not stay and try again? Apparently because like most criminals he is looking for an easy target, and "H", who looked very much like a soft target, proved to be "Inconvenient to Kill."
"H" went home safely that night.
We are realistic, we are honest, we can achieve a great deal within our limitations. We can make you an Inconvenient Target. and perhaps much more.
Moshe Katz, 8th dan Black Belt, Israeli Krav Maga. Certified by Wingate Institute. Member Black Belt Hall of fame, USA and Europe. International speaker on Self Defense, Krav Maga seminar presenter.
Understand the Israeli Fighting Mentality - Israel a Nation of Warriors by Moshe Katz
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What are the Biblical origins of Krav Maga and who was the first Krav Maga instructor?
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How has Krav Maga developed in Israel and what are its goals?
All that and more in this unique book.
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