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One Hour Krav Maga
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
September 10, 2025, LAX, Los Angeles airport Business lounge
These days most advertising is driven by social media; in my opinion this has led to a downgrading of all real self-defense martial arts. I have already written about this. What we see promoted, for the most part, are two extremes of martial arts, both labeled as self-defense. On the one hand we see the overly complicated precision-based techniques, i.e. a woman is attack, she deftly bends her body and avoids the punch, then she precisely grabs the powerful attackers' wrist, and twists it as he falls over, and then a swift precise kick to the groin. Totally Fantastic. (from the word Fantasy). On the other hand, we witness the following - a heavyweight, powerful muscular man, clearly spends his life in the gym, foul-mounthed and aggressive, takes a blow to the head, "feels no pain" (of course this is in training with padded equipment and control), and then his one and only defense is to charge forward aggressively. i.e. Pure Force and Aggression to beat a seasoned street criminal, all brawn, no brain.
After more than 40 years of training, my educated opinion is that both of these approaches are useless and will get in more trouble than before. Our way is very different.
So if we are not focused on pure muscle techniques, or on refined precision based techniques, what are we about?
When I was younger, I recall a great new Deveopment, something that changed our world, the one-hour photo development. Wow, I recall the days when you would wait for a roll of film to be complete, either 24 or 36 photos, and then finally bring it to be developed, and then 10 days later get it back and see how your photos came out. And then there was the overnight developing, and then "same day developing" and finally, the peak of modern technology - the One-Hour Photo!
WOW, talk about progress.
Today of course if you told a teenager they would have to bring their camera to a special store and then wait an hour to see how a photo came out, they would most likely suffer a heart attack. Tough times, tough people.
But there are things that are not dependent on technology, and things that artificial intelligence and computers cannot replace, I am one of those things, a human being, a highly complex creature that combines so many different aspects fo life; knowledge, wisdom, understanding, the ability to adapt, the ability to be human.
So now let us use the One-Hour-Photo but apply it to Krav Maga. I was contacted by a student for a private lesson. I do not teach private lessons, for any price. On a rare occasion I will teach a small group, but not one on one. I will not allow some random person to hit me, use bad muscle driven techniques to twist my arm etc. I have had enough injuries over the years. But here was an older gentleman, whom I knew, and he was willing to drive 3.5 hours, as I no longer had a seminar in his area. I felt he really needed the training, and so I made an exception, I agreed to one on one training, and I said, you set the price. He humbly offered my $250 an hour and said - You are worth more than that. You are the best in the world. It is always nice to be appreciated.
But the challenge was, he only had one hour to train. What could I do in one hour?
With IKI Krav Maga, this is possible.
No, you cannot become a muscular heavyweight in one hour, and no you cannot have the skills of Chinese acrobats in one hour. Those both take many years of hard work and dedication, but we had only one hour, and we had to succeed. There was a lot at stake, the man's well-being.
I only had the one hour but what I did not realize was that not only that I had only one hour to teach, but I also had to use that time to debunk myths that he learned in our styles of Krav Maga, such as the 360 Block, which I completely reject.
I decided to focus on the logic of the IKI Fighting Stance, the IKI Universal Block and the Ginga movement.
My student, a very intelligent man, a lawyer by profession, was at first confused. "This is very different from what other Krav Maga instructors have taught me", as he tried to FORCE the 360-block. I told him to relax and open his mind. Within a few minutes he saw the light, and the logic. He saw how with minimal movement, without trying to anticipate the attack, without knowing what kind of attack was coming, he was able to defend against a knife, a club, a hook punch, a slash, a straight punch, an uppercut, a push. He saw how easy this was, how one technique solved all his problems without requiring memorization, muscle, speed or precision. He saw how one solution could stop any attack and thus not have to use violence that could get him in legal trouble.
Whilst at first it always seems that I am "wasting" time by explaining the Universal Block, the intelligent will soon see that in fact I have been saving them time, a lot of time, and then, much like the Karate Kid flim, the student realizes that they have in fact learned a great deal. Like Daniel who suddenly realizes that those "useless" chores were actually valuable lessons, my students soon realize that my analogies and explanations soon become very quick learning devices. In fact many veteran martial arts legends have noted that IKI is the Fastested system to learn. I.e. the progress here is faster than in any other known system. Your progress from complete beginnier to proficient is measured in hours not years. Yes, that is true. and I can prove it. Come and try it.
With IKI Krav Maga, you do not have to be
A bad ass bully,
An Olympic athlete
an Israeli soldier between the ages of 18 and 21
A super talented member of the Chinese acrobatic trope.
A muscular body builder.
Our techniques do not depend upon - Strength, Speed or Precision.
Our techniques are Easy to Learn, Easy to apply in diverse situations, Easy to Remember.
Come to a seminar and find out.
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.
Start Your REAL Training TODAY
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