Truth as the Victim
BY MOSHE KATZ 
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

September 19, 2026, Israel

TruthVictim

"You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph, but not though me." (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

I have spent many years in many martial arts schools and systems. Like many, I walked in with a sense of awe, of total respect and total belief in the absolute truth of what was being taught; If I only trained hard enough, long enough, with no questions, I would achive mastery. 

Now I do believe that each system taught what they honestly believed to be the best system. And at no point did I ever hear, "We possess the Absolute Truth". However, that was the feeling that I had, the unspoken word.  Over many years I never compared real street and domestic violence with our dojo training. For many years I never thought about the psychological aspects of crime and violence. I simply believed that at a higher stage of training the "bunkai" or "Application" would be explained to me. At the point I would be a great undefeatable master. 

It took a long gradual process for me to unravel the myths and see that this was not the truth. 

As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, The first victim in most martial schools is the Truth. The actual quote is "Communism has killed more souls than bodies, because its first victim is the Truth."

We can easily apply this to self-defense training. I will use the term self-defense and not martial art because not all martial arts make the claim of being self-defense systems. Most admit that over the years they have evolved to arts and sports with some possible self-defense applications. However, schools and systems that advertise themselves as Reality Based self-defense systems, but are in fact No Holds Barred Sports systems, or "Tough Guy Wanna Be systems", are in fact creating a potential victim; you the student. In these systems you come in believing the hype, the Flash, the Gore, but the first victim, long before you or your classmates are attacked, is the Truth. The Truth was denied, the Truth was attacked, and the Truth has fallen victim. Now the students shall follow this course, if they ever encounter true violence. 

This is indeed quite sad, and most refuse to speak this truth. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn suffered for speaking the truth, but despite the huge cost he dared defy the most powerful system in the world, and he eventually won.

We challenge many systems and often must stand alone, but as my father taught me, and demonstrated in his own life, better to stand alone with the Truth than follow the masses. 

"The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie; one word of truth outweighs the world." (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

MosheProfile001

Moshe Katz, 8th 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

CoverNationWarriorsNew

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.

Books by Moshe Katz

Start Your REAL Training TODAY

Or is someone coming to save you?

IKI Krav Maga online distance training - Leading to ranks and certification.

DVDs from Israel

Tour and Train Israel Experience

IKI Membership Options.

Krav Maga Certification

Krav Maga Instructors

Krav Maga Seminars

Personal Training - If you are interested in personal Krav Maga training please contact us on the form below. 

IKIFlag

Please note that all fields followed by an asterisk must be filled in.
Google