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Sharing Videos on Social Media
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
December 8, 2025, Israel
New York, 1990, on "vacation", which means more martial arts training. I go through the Yellow Pages, (for youngsters, that was our "internet", the way to find things). I call up as many martial arts schools as I can. I want to experience as many styles as I can. I am training regularly in Oyama Kyokushin full-contact Karate, and Wing Chun kung fu with Sifu Chow, but I want to see more. New York City has many nightclubs, many restaurants, and many attractions, but those do not interest me. I want to take advantage of the Cultural diversity of martial arts; Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, Thai, American, Russian, Brazilian, Police. I train in many places, meet interesting people and discover new ideas. Many of these ideas will someday in the future influence the unique style of IKI Krav Maga.
But there was one place I did not train, Bak Mei - White Eyebrow Gung Fu. Why? I called the school and the master answered in broken English. I am honest and never want to create the impression that I am a potential long-term student. I am just a visitor, and I want to watch a class, perhaps join in, if permitted.
His answer was brief - "If train- train, no watch - watch. Goodbye." (click).
In years to come I would experience some Bak Mei and I respect the style and use some of their strikes. But today I understand this master. If train - train, if not...we are not interested.
There are many these days who share videos on social media. I do not. Nor do I allow IKI students to share our IKI techniques on social media. Promotional videos are OK, but not full techniques. I shall explain, as I have been asked this question many times.
Why did the Chinese Bak Mei master turn me down? For the same reason I do not post videos online. His message to me was, I am not interested in spectators, if you are serious about training, if you are ready to make a commitment, then you are most welcome, but if not, if only "watch Watch", then goodbye.
I understand the reason instructors post videos on social media, they want to increase their business, they want more students. Perhaps this works, I do not know. But here is my angle; people post videos, to me these are not impressive and only exposes their weakness. People comment, criticize, mock. And then arguments ensue. People get defensive, there is rarely if ever a true open-minded enlightened discussion about techniques. It is always, My school is great, yours is dog shit. And when the comments begin it becomes going down the rabbit hole, you cannot get out of it. To me it is pointless.
When one posts a technique online, what happens, either you end up wasting a lot of time in pointless arguments, or, if your technique is really good, you are giving away the store for free.
I do a lot of charity work, but I work hard for a living and feel I deserve to be paid, this is my only job, and I am fully devoted to it. I have spent decades developing a system which I feel is of great value. Now I know the viewers out there, they are looking for free material. Again, I do not know how successful these other schools are in recruiting new business from these free video lessons, but my feeling is that there are a lot of people out there who are not "Train - train", they are "Watch -watch", and Watch Watch are not welcome here.
The Chinese master of Bak Mei, whose name I do not know, gave me a piece of wisdom that day. We are not commercial. If you want to train, we are here for you, but if you just want some free material, a video here and there but you will never come to class, then goodbye.
I feel my techniques, strategy and tactics are superior to what I see presented on Facebook, and I worked very hard to develop these. If you are series, you can sign up, invest a whopping $18 for the first month and I will send you 50 videos. But if you are just "Watch - Watch", then I repeat the words of the master, goodbye. and I have no time for arguing with a bunch of self-declared experts.
Note: If an instructor puts a video online, if it is bad, low-quality, then you embarrass the entire organization. You cause harm to all your fellow instructors who will lose potential students. and if you put out a quality video, correctly showing the technique, then you have violated the terms of the organization, you are giving away for free what is not free to be given. Promotional videos which do not go into detail, are fine, we all need to make a living and keep the schools operational. But let us not give away our hard work for free. What is given for free is not valued. I have learned that the hard way.
I have trained in a wide circle of martial arts, covering many systems and cultures. All play a part in IKI Krav Maga, not your average Krav Maga. Much deeper, and broader. If you want to be a part of this journey, join IKI for the price of a couple of cups of coffee per month. You will not see my videos on Facebook or Tiktok or whathaveyou.
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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