Random Encounters David
BY MOSHE KATZ 
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

November 24, 2025, Israel

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Teaching kids, a few years ago....(2002)

I was feeling down. According to the Gregorian calendar, today is the day my dear mother left this world, four years ago. I recall some of her last words. A neighbor took the effort to visit some of the children my mother taught, as a volunteer, and they recorded messages of goodwill to her. As she listened to the beautiful messages from the sweet children who missed her so much, she said, "I guess I made a difference after all, I guess I really made a difference", and she kept repeating this. 

She was in the hospice, within a couple of days she would lose the ability to say much, and a few days later she would be gone. But she left this world knowing she made a difference, and that makes all the difference. 

Live a life worth living. Give to others. 

I was feeling down so I took a walk to the local grocery store to pick up a few items. As I walk in, I am greeted by a big Hello Moshe! I look at the muscular young man in front of me; the mind goes back ...many years and I recognize the face, David, from down the street, he and his brothers trained with me in Karate/Krav Maga all those years ago.

He wants to thank me. For what? Sure, as a child he trained with me for a while, not as long as his older brother Yehuda, but I think he may have earned a green belt, perhaps blue. He tells me he just completed 2 years of active reserve duty, i.e. combat. He is smiling, he is healthy in mind and body, not traumatized as the media tries to portray all combat soldiers. He is all smiles. And he begins to talk...

I served in Duvdevan (The Cherry on top, Israel's top combat unit, an elite fighting force that few succeed in being accepted to), in training we did Krav Maga, I, despite being the shortest guy in the group, took down one guy after another. I won the free style fighting championship and the ground fighting championship. The confidence I gained from training with you is what got me into this unit. When I faced the enemy on the battlefield, I felt no fear. After the army I traveled to New York with a few friends from the army. A few local thugs approached us, we took them down with ease, it was not even a challenge. 

Wow! What can I say! I was just teaching children, and yet year after year I have these random encounters when the kids come home to visit their parents, and I bump into them. What they could never express as children they articulate beautifully as adults. 

I guess I made a difference. And, I contributed to the war effort and to our national security. 

Be a teacher, make a difference, live a meaningful life and you will always live. 

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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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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?

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