Krav Maga Perfect Technique
By Moshe Katz, Krav Maga Instructor, Israel

 "What I like about IKI Krav Maga is you can make it your own.  The techniques all adapt to the individual.  It isn't about perfect technique (which I believe doesn't exist, especially under stress) it is about principles.  

And I am proud to represent an organization with such strong principals and also morals". (George Hutchings, Canada)

I recall a story...Once upon a time there was a perfect day, a perfect couple, perfect man, a perfect woman, Santa Claus ....And then the punch line; the story is fiction, there never was a perfect man. And there never will be.

"For there is not a just man upon earth, and that does good and never misses" (Koheleth, Chapter 7, verse 20)

This is not a criticism of men. What is perfect? How does one define perfection?

I think we all have different answers to that question. Is perfection when everything goes according to plan? Is perfection when you get the result you expected?

Or is perfection when you get more than you expected? Or perhaps something different then you expected? Some of the most wonderful things in life are those events or outcomes that we never expected.

I never expected to be traveling the world teaching Krav Maga, I expected to be sitting in a bank, but it did not work out.

Thomas Edison was looking for the perfect light bulb, and I guess he felt he found it. But today it seems that every time I go to the store to replace a light bulb they are telling me that there is a new and improved version. In fact last week I could not find the light bulb my mother needed, I was told they no longer manufacture it. But yet only recently it was the miracle light bulb that would last for years?

Is there perfection in this world?

Is there a perfect relationship?

My student above makes a very wise statement; under pressure there will be no perfect technique. And if there will be, then I believe it is a fluke, luck, chance. For me perfection is that you use the Krav Maga principles and you get home alive.

If it worked for you - it is perfect.

Our student, IKI Instructor Gary Hodges, (Virginia, USA) used an IKI gun defense in a real life situation. He disarmed the man and kept the situation under control. No one was hurt. Was the technique perfect?

Well, it may not have perfectly matched my video clip, but, it worked, so yes, it was perfect.

I agree with George, under real life stressful conditions we cannot expect our techniques to look perfect, but if we apply the correct principles we have a good chance of getting home alive, and that is success. Perfection does not require tying up the opponent in a pretzel ala the Zohan, or flipping him over a table, ala Seven Segal.

So we do not train for perfection, we train for survival. We teach concepts over techniques, attitude and intensity over precision, flow and adaptation over rigid pre-arranged moves. And the way it looks on me may not be the way it looks on you. But! we must maintain the integrity of the concept, the balance, the position. This is how I will train you. This is the IKI way.

To understand what I mean you will have to join us for some training. This is a different approach then you will find in most places.

We have had many cases where our students were attacked, men, women and children. Thank God they have always succeeded and walked away. But in all the cases that I have heard I have never heard of a perfectly executed technique in the way that I would want to see on a Black Belt test.

I.e. the techniques were not "perfect" enough to pass a test, but they were good enough to beat off an aggressive and violent attacker.

So what is perfection?

Gun Defense Volume Two now ready

Techniques that can save your life

see IKI Krav Maga DVDs

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