Teaching Another Way
BY MOSHE KATZ 
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

January 26, 2026, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Airports have their enjoyable aspects and their less pleasant aspects. For me, security is one of the least enjoyable aspects, and it is often a very stressful experience. Airport security people seem to assume that all airports have exactly the same rules and regulations, but this is not true. As someone who travels all over the world, international flights and domestic flights, I can tell you with absolute certainty that even within one country there are differences between airports.

In most you need to remove your laptop, but in some American airports there are newer scanning machines which allow you to leave your laptop in its bag. But unless you really know the machines, you need to ask. 

In some you need to take off your shoes, in others you do not. In some they make you take out every last thread of tissue from your pockets, in others you many keep your money in your pocket. In some you can hold on to your passport, in others, such as Panama, they threaten to call the police and ban you from flying if you want to hold on to your passport. In some airports they bark out - your bag is your bin! Keep everything in the bag. In some airports you must place your hand luggage, including a trolly, in the large bins, in other airports the trolly goes directly on the belt. In some airports you must place the shoes in a bin, in others they insist that the shoes go directly on the belt. 

In other words, there are many differences and there is no way to know unless you ask. If you dare ask!

Now we getting closer to the point of this blog. In most airports I find the security staff rude, arrogant, loud and nasty. If you make a mistake, you are shouted at. If you ask a question they treat you as you are stupid and blind. Of course you need to take your shoes off!! (but in the other airport they said keep your shoes on?)

This is often the worst part of the trip for me, and perhaps as a male often traveling alone, perhaps a little "Middle Eastern" looking, I get stopped a lot! and the treatment is almost never kind. 

In smaller USA airports I do find that the staff are much nicer, and often make a friendly remark, in particular in Florida I have seen such kindness. 

I was just in several European airports, sadly most of the staff were less than kind, and did not speak or understand a word of English. One can dismiss such behavior as, it is a stressful job, they are overworked, the times are tense, etc. But then...there was this one super nice guy in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. He was patient, he told me, in Italian, you can keep your shoes on, let's see if the machine beeps. He helped me with my bags, he was just...nice! He smiled. 

And it hit me, again, there are more than one way of doing things. You can do your job and be nice, you can smile. 

I am often told that I "gentle", or "too kind" and that I should be more like a "real Krav Maga Instructor", I prefer to be kind, to explain, to encourage questions, but that is not the way many are. 

I recently read a description of a Krav Maga instructor in a book; we shall not reveal the details. "Ns interactions were visibly influenced by his personal preferences: he rarely intervened to correct students ...on the contrary, if a participant he disliked made a mistake, he would humiliate them, making them feel incompetent. ...during training N answered Joseph's questions in a dismissive, brief, fragmentary, and unsatisfactory manner, revealing his obvious annoyance. 

Joseph hypothesized that this pedagogical system was based on fostering such a deep-rooted sense of guilt in individuals that it instilled in them the suspicion that any question was an unequivocal demonstration of ineptitude and therefore to be avoided."

I will add that the real-life instructor referred to here is very successful, and students come from all over the world to be beaten, mocked and humiliated while being taught substandard techniques that will not work in real life. I myself have experienced such instructors, and I think there is a certain type of individual who the more they are put down, the more they appreciate and admire the instructor. I recall one such instructors, who after having us round around in circles from some time, holding our arms up in a boxing position, noticed that some of us were having trouble with this nonsensical drill and our arms began to droop a little. How did he encourage us? "Come on girls lift up your arms!", or "What are you doing with your arms so low? caressing your testicles? 

I personally did not find this very motivating. The first comment is of course insulting to the students, but also to women in general. The second comment, I have no words. 

You can teach with a smile, and still be effective, in fact, you can be more effective. You can help students without making them feel stupid. You can correct mistakes, or what I prefer think of as a natural part of the learning process, not "mistakes" without making them feel like total failures.

In fact, when I look at students, and in my mind, I wonder "Why are they having so much trouble with a simple movement?" I then imagine myself learning a phrase in Polish, and getting it wrong time after time while a 3-year-old Polish boy can say it perfectly. Or trying to learn how to download and transfer a document, while kids are using AI. I am not stupid, and neither are those new students, we are just unfamiliar with these moves. There is no need to make peolple feel they are stupid. Remember, you too were once an awkward beginner. As I like to say, I was you!

Moshe2021

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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