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Not Synchronized Swimming
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
July 2, 2025, Israel
My brother once said about the Olympics, the winner has proven that he is the best in the world in something totally useless.
I agree.
Running fast can be important, if you are a police officer. Being 0.001 seconds faster than anyone else in the world does not seem very important.
Jumping over a fence using a pole can be important if you are a thief in South Africa trying to get over an electric fence, otherwise, perhaps not so important.
Perhaps my favorite is underwater synchronized swimming. Swimming is certainly important as you never know when that will save your life, but if that does happen, I don't believe it really matters if you are synchronized with the other passengers on the ship struggling to survive.
But these are all art forms, things of beauty that some people appreciate, challenges that some wish to overcome, to know you are the fastest runner in history at the 100-yard dash. For me, when I lived in Brooklyn, that was indeed important, as I would see the train coming and I had to run up the road, cross the street, run up the flatform, put the coin in and get on the train before the tour closed. For me that was the Olympic event, and I competed against the D train or the F train. That was always a sweet victory, and the loser did not take it too badly either. But otherwise, races do not matter much to me.
Getting to work on time does matter to me.
Survival matters to me.
And that is why IKI Krav Maga does not look like the Rockets, or underwater synchronized swimming. No two students look alike, no two students do the technique exactly the same way, in fact I don't think I ever do the technique exactly the same way. When I watch my videos, I see that each time I adapt the technique slightly differently. "We are all individuals".
Speaking of watching videos, I want to share something I wrote as a description of one of our defenses on our Krav Maga Distance Online training program. The situation was "In your face", or "Up close and personal". i.e. the attacker suddenly is directly in front of me, in a threatening mode. I did not ask for him to be here, I did not want this, but now he is right there. I don't know what he will do, but I must be ready to respond. As it turns out his intention is to grab my neck and to pull me in for a Muay Thai style knee kick, something I would rather avoid.
This is what I wrote.
Here again Laizer grabs me with the intention of doing a knee kick, but that idea never got off the ground. I used an adaptation of the IKI Universal Block and I moved forward.
Again, the situation is very difficult. I simply do not know what to expect.
Let us contrast two situations - The first, the dojo. We are standing in a row, every Attacker is doing the exact same thing, every Defender is doing the exact same thing. I have seen such demonstrations, they look beautiful. Many years ago, I used to be so impressed by this, what a show! everyone knows their part, everything is perfectly timed, in sync, how marvelous!
Only it is just that, a show, there is no relationship between these martial arts exhibitions and real-life situations.
Now the second situation: You are walking out of a restaurant, you are dressed nicely, nice suit, a tie, fancy shoes, walking towards your car, when a street thug is suddenly "In Your Face", yes, we should never allow anyone in our face, but...guess what? IT HAPPENS. He did not know your philosophy, you were thinking about which credit card you should use to pay the parking and suddenly he is IN YOUR FACE.
Now what Einstein, what now? This is the situation we are dealing with, not two assholes having an ego-based stand-off. So what now? Does he have a knife? a gun? he is just postering or will he attack?
You do not know.
So we stand ready, and we observe every twitch of his body, everything seems to move in slow motion. You are not in the dojo anymore. This is not underwater Olympic synchronized swimming. and now the technique, our defense, makes a little more sense. It is a simple move, a gross motor move, a quick reaction. As he moves his arms towards my neck, as I feel the Thug getting closer, touching my neck which is a sensitive area, control the neck control the body, I react! I Move forward, like a Hockey Body Check, this is not the only possible solution, but it is an effective one, an easy one, one that does not involve any technique. And it works.
Do you see the difference between the two situations I described? One is a martial arts show, the other is the cruel ugly reality of life. One is what I appreciated 30 years ago, the other is the reality I have come to know today. Art or Reality? Never Never Land or the Hood?
Perhaps compare this with a football tackle (American Football), if you knock down the Quarterback, he cannot throw the ball.
Life is not pretty and as we say in Israel to an unrealistic person, "You are living in the movies". This is not a dress rehearsal. Keep it real. And real is not always pretty, or coordinated.
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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