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Teacher Student Adapt
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
May 14, 2025, Israel
I was watching a video that popped up on my screen, a young, athletic, so called "Krav Maga" instructor was bouncing around the gym where he was teaching a small group of fans. He was talking a good talk, using lots of "bull shit" and putting down other styles of martial arts. I use the term "so-called Krav Maga instructor" because to me Krav Maga is not about just acting all tough and using foul language and hurting your students, to me it is about being a true educator. To me it is about connecting with students and guiding them, in their own way. As the book of Proverbs says, "Guide the young man according to his own way, and even as he grows old, he shall not depart from the path." (Proverbs, Chapter 22, verse 6)
This guy was teaching some sort of defense where, as you are punching, you step out of line and then continue fighting from another angle. This is nothing new and I was doing this more than 30 years ago back in the Oyama Kyokushin Dojo in Manhattan. It is a good fighting strategy, but it has nothing really to do with Krav Maga self-defense.
At my seminars I always see a variety of people; young, old, thin and fit, overweight and not fit, people with disabilities; physical and emotional, people with years of experience and people stepping onto the mat for the first time in their lives. Watching this young guy teaching, a thought entered my mind: Years ago, as a student I recall our goal, as students, was to emulate our teacher. We wanted to be like him, so we worked hard. We stayed fit, we ran, lifted weights, did pushups, sit-ups, etc. We were young and enthusiastic.
But what if you are not? What if you finally make the decision that you want to learn to defend yourself but you don't have the time or the inclination to take up an entire body transformation fitness regime? What if the two nights per week that you go to Krav Maga class is all the time you can afford? Perhaps you don't have time for the Cross fit, perhaps you have physical limitations? (asthma or heart trouble or something else) etc.
So Krav Maga is not for you? Should you just forget about it?
Well that depends on which style you choose. I know schools where people are told, lose 20 pounds and get back to me. But that is not what true Krav Maga is about. Krav Maga is defense for everyone. So that all people may walk in peace.
So the question is - should the instructor be expecting his students to become like him? Must they be fit in order for the system to work for them? Must they be able to bounce around the gym, throwing spin kicks and rapid-fire jabs and crosses? Is that real Krav Maga? Based on what I see it does seem that many instructors feel this way, or at least they act this way.
The basic question is should the student become like the teacher, or should the teacher adapt to the student?
My answer is the teacher must adapt to the student, and over time the student will become more like the teacher. It is said about the great Der Alter fun Slabodka (The elder from the school of Slabodka, Słobódka Wiliampolska, Lithuania) Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, that he saw each and every student in a unique way, he understood each student's potential and guided him in that way, the student's way. This student could become a great scholar, while that student might become a prominent community leader, while another student might be a great teacher/preacher. He became a different guide to each student rather expecting the students to all become uniform, copies of one mold. His motto and philosophy were summed up in the words Gadlus HaAdam ("Greatness of Man").
The stories of the Alter had quite an impact on me as a young man, when my teacher would speak of him, his eyes glowing, recalling the years before the Holocaust in Europe. The Alter, the Elder, knew how to reach students, raise them up and help them reach their greatest potential. A hundred years after his death and his impact is still greatly felt. His disciples, his boys, went on to lead the way in Israel and the USA after the destruction of European Jewry. See each student as an individual. People are not made by cookie cutters.
And so it is with Krav Maga, the instructor must adapt himself to each student, the techniques must be adapted to each student. To me, that is what I call real Krav Maga.
Important Addition
Sometimes I feel something, and I express this in writing, and then someone else comes along and explains it even better, amplifying my words and clarifying them. The rabbis says there is none so wise as he with experience. A dear friend commented on this blog and added how it affected her, how she could totally relate to it. I feel her words bring added insight.
Not only does she feel that the instructor, or coach, should adapt to the student, but that often "encouragement" serves the exact opposite force, it discourages the student and pushes them to give up, to quit. The coach sees the client/student as themselves and treats them the way they would like to be treated, C'mon, push yourself! You can do this, you got this! but not understanding the individual and not understanding that this can have the opposite effect.
In her own words...
Once I was very fit, sportive, trained, muscles, no fat...you wouldn't believe it by now. I went to the gym 5 times a week, watched my food, was jogging, and in the weekends, I rode my mountainbike.
Then I got ill, I was diagnosed with a kidney disease I was born with. At first I was oke, but I knew slightly my kidneys would fail more and more and that there was going to be dialyse and a transplantation in the future and I did have my transplantant 1,5 year ago. Before this I became more and more ill. I went from very sportive and fit to laying on the couch exhausted.
Now I'm trying to work to get in shape again. As I step into the gym, with my minus 30 condition level and starting from scratch, I meet these young, fit, mostly male instructors that immediately start pushing me. As they think they are motivating me, instead it is very overwhelming and causes a lot of pressure. To me, as they do not level, I get the feeling of failure not of motivation and succes.
Which makes that I quit every time, because they cannot level up. I think people can achieve more by stepping in according to where they stand, than leaving from somewhere where they are not (yet) They will grow by levelling and building not by the pressure of a teacher that is way "better" and get the feeling they will not reach that level at all. So I do agree with you that it is a betrer starting point as a teacher to adapt to your student. As it gives confidence and understanding and gives a feeling of succes every time you grow and level up It is a far more successfull approach in terms of coaching and growing and in the end the results and the pleasure will be far better.
And finally some true words of wisdom!
It is difficult to know where you were and where you are now. A feeling of loss and a long road back, which means that sometimes you loose confidence. Its not about achieving what was there, but by accepting what is now. Once I reach acceptance, I know I will grow fast. My mind needs to work with me not fight against me. I know this, but I do not feel it yet. But it gets better and one day I will be unstoppable again.
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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All that and more in this unique book.
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