Injuries-Advantage-Revisited
BY MOSHE KATZ 
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

February 26, 2026, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

Over ten years ago I wrote a blog called Injuries Advantage, but I would like to update that with my current experience. I am in Mexico for a series of seminars and students come from all over. These students have experienced different sorts of martial arts and have of course these days social media is flooded with various forms of Krav Maga, they have questions; What do you think of such and such a system? How do you differ with that approach? Why do you do things the way you do them?

These questions deserve answers, and if you are a qualified instructor, you should be able to answer these easily. You should be able to prove the validity of and superiority of your system. You should be able to stand by what you do. Answers like, "That is just the way we do it, now shut up and train", are not satisfactory. 

So I demonstrate the way I do it, and I demonstrate the way others do it. And then I leave it for the students, participants, to voice their opinions, raise any doubts and test it for themselves. But I have discovered something, that to me is a fool-proof test: Old Injuries.

Over the years of training, and living, I have unfortunately gathered some permanent injuries, but as it turns out these injuries serve a purpose, they are a gauge of the correctness of a technique. When I demonstrate the solution, the technique that I have come to trust over years of experimentation, my body flows painlessly, and the technique is successful. When I make my best effort to try and prove the effectiveness of a technique from another style, not only is it ineffective but my body responds with immediate pain, as if to say - now you are out of sync.

This came to me as a revelation; the correct technique is in tune with the body, and despite my many injuries I feel no pain. The technique that I have rejected, is in conflict with the body, it is "forced", unnatural and the body responds by reactivating old injuries as if to say, Stop! This is not the correct way.

As such I thought of the old and wise, but at first confusing, Chinese statement, One injury long life, no injuries short life. This did not make sense at first, but now it is clear, on many levels. With regard to the topic at hand the relevance is clear. Many train in various systems for years and do not see the faults. They are incapable of understanding with is wrong with a system, and they are not able to be objective in their analysis. As long as their bodies are strong and their minds are closed, all is well. When injuries set in however, the truth begins to emerge, the system, the techniques, are out of sync with the body. 

Aggravating an old injury means the movement does not flow with the body, the technique is not a natural extension of the body the way the guitar is in the hands of a true guitarist, something is not right, not natural. This is a warning sign, a message from our body.

We analyze and test every technique in every possible way. We are totally objective, lives are on the line, your life is on the line. This is not a matter of "System Loyalty", but of truthfulness.  During this trip I had the pleasure of hanging out with top students of Arthor Cohen, may he rest in peace, and they shared the following message with me, "Mr. Cohen would allow and encourage his students to try out other systems, on one conditino, that they would bring back and share anything new that they learned,and then Mr. Cohen would break down the technique and analyze it.

This sort of totally objective analysis, this truthfulness, is what characterizes our approach to self-defense. 

Moshe2021

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

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