- Home
- Krav Maga Blog
- Krav Instructors
- Train in Israel
- Tour Train Israel
- Krav Shop
- DVD
- Kickboxing
- IKI Near Me
- Seminars
- IKI Membership
- On-Line Training
- Krav Maga Training
- Testimonials
- History Krav Maga
- Instructors Page
- Past Blogs
- Spanish
- Italian
- Certification
- Contact
- Holland Seminar
- Vienna Seminar
- Poland Seminar
- Italy Seminar
- Belt Requirements
Sparring or Self Defense
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
June 8, 2025, Israel
It was the late 1980's, what a long, interesting journey it has been since then. I was young, determined, and extremely dedicated to the Oyama dojo and my Kyokushin karate training. There was Karate, and then there was Kyokushin Karate. When I met karate practitioners and we began to talk, and asked which style I train in, which school, when the name Oyama Kyokushin Karate came up, they took a step back, they fell silent for a moment, for they knew. Even when I met Japanese karate students, they took a moment, respect.
This was the Bad Ass karate, this was the full-contact no holds barred karate of the name, bare knuckles, hard-hitting, and I loved it.
Pain was not an issue. I would wake up in the middle of the night with my leg throbbing, from the pain of a well-delivered kick from the previous night's training session. I had my visits to the emergency room, ST Vincents. Roosevelt St Luke, etc, the results of hard-hitting fights, good times.
Sparring, or fighting, was my favorite part. In fact, the rest of the lesson, as far as I was concerned, was just the price I had to pay to get to the sparring. My favorite was when we had a sparring class, only fighting, no drills, no kata's, no kicking in the air, just facing off and fighting. I lived for that.
But yet I knew something was missing. I did not know it at first. At first, I thought that authentic Japanese karate was the ultimate in self-defense, nothing could be better, and nothing could be missing. One who mastered Japanese karate, mastered life, he certainly had nothing to fear on the streets, even the streets of New York City, or Brooklyn, where I lived at the time,
But then there was this one little advertisement in the martial arts magazines, one little intriguing yet annoying advertisement. I could not get it out of my head. It was a small black and white ad, the Charlie Nelson school of self-defense in New York. It showed a man with a knife to another mans' neck as he was pushed back against the wall, and one simple, horrible question - Do you know how to get out of this?
I could not escape that question. It haunted me. I wanted to wear the Japanese Karate gi, follow the dojo ceremonies, learn more of the Japanese language, buy into the myth of martial arts prowess. But that ad, that little black and white advertisement.
It took several years for the message, the truth, to sink in. When I came to Israel, I wanted to find a Kyokushin school, but I could not. I found Itay Gil who I was told was a black belt in Kyokushin, but that was not exactly true. But it was as close as I could come, at least we had the same full-contact fighting, and here in Israel, unlike the New York school, hitting to the head was allowed.
Gradually the self-defense aspect began to materialize in my thoughts, and in my training. It took many years, but at a certain point, as an instructor, I felt I had to make a choice, I could not teach Kickboxing, Karate, Kung Fu, Brazilian Jujitsu, Judo etc. I did not have the time, I had to choose one field, and I chose self-defense, which happened to go under the name of Krav Maga. Regardless of the name, my goal was pure self-defense, self-protection, survival, I was clear on that. Gone were the sport techniques, the fun sparring, the board breaking.
And now I look around the world and I see many "Krav Maga" schools, but honestly, I don't consider them Krav Maga schools at all. Most are fitness schools, Aerobic Kickboxing, Cardio Karate, a lot of bag work and some have a lot of sparring, but sparring is not self-defense. I loved sparring but eventually I had to understand that it did not answer that pesky question, Can you get out of this situation? Actually, it did answer it, the unfortunate answer was no, my karate training, tough as it was, was not sufficient to get out of a knife situation. That took me years to realize because I did not want to realize it.
Today I no longer care for martial arts rituals, in our school there is no bowing, everyone calls me by my first name, there is no Mokuso meditation, no uniforms, no kata's. I do not focus on fitness or weight loss, that is up to you, on your own time. I only have enough time, and barely at that, to teach you survival skills, that is all. Your choreographed martial arts moves, and fitness, you will have to find someplace else. Here we teach survival. and that is enough.
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
Or is someone coming to save you?
IKI Krav Maga online distance training - Leading to ranks and certification.
Tour and Train Israel Experience
Personal Training - If you are interested in personal Krav Maga training please contact us on the form below.
