- 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
Two Students
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
March 23, 2026, Israel
Two students walk into the dojo. I have not met them before. Two students, unknown to me, each a mystery.
Two students, two paths, two universes.
What do they know? How talented are they? Are they coordinated or not, are they open to learn or resistant?
Two students walk into the training hall, I look at them, at their eyes, will this be a challenge, will this be easy, will they stay for one lesson and then disappear, or will they be here for twenty years?
Two students walk into the training hall, and we begin to train. I watch them.
One catches on, he moves well, now and then a correction is necessary but only once, and then he gets it. After two three times he has the basics of a kick, of a gun disarm. The usual awkwardness of a beginner, but I can see the potential.
The other, cannot seem to get anything right, adds extra moves that I never demonstrated, can't tell his left from his right. I say hand under the barrel; he grabs on top of the barrel. I say turn backwards; he turns forwards. I can see he is going to be a challenge, will take a lot of patience, this will take time.
But there is a profound lesson here and an insight into what IKI is all about, the message here is part of the DNA of every IKI technique, including moves that look strange to those coming from more traditional forms of Krav Maga.
We have moves that make people scratch their head, what is Moshe thinking? What is this Backwards Burst movement, what is this Ginga move? Why can't Moshe be like everyone else in the Krav Maga world?
Do not expect me to "fit in", do not expect me to follow the herd, expect something different, but honest, and backed up by research. Challenge my techniques, I welcome it.
There will always be more talented and less talented individuals, there will always more and less coordinated students, that is the nature of life. Our approach is that everyone is entitled to learn to defend themselves. Therefore, the core, the essential self-defense moves, must be designed in such a way that nearly all human beings can do them. This is not easy.
In most martial arts, if a student is not doing well, the attitude is - Train harder, become more dedicated, put in more time. and those that do not, fall by the wayside. That is OK, they drop out, others will replace them, the school will survive.
But that is not our approach, it is not the survival of the school that we seek, but the survival of the individual who seeks self-defense training. As such we must develop techniques that do not require a great deal of coordination or strength. This is what we have been doing for many years now.
We take natural body movements, moves that everyone does every day, and we apply them to self-defense. In other words, we are not trying to teach your body new moves. You will not have to "retrain" your body, you will only have to learn to use what you already have, what you already possess, in a self-defense way. We take the tools you already have and apply them.
You can lift your arms? Then you can do our IKI Universal Block.
You can move your hips back? You can move your hips backwards in an imitation skiing motion? Then you can do our backwards burst.
You can do a basic shuffle? Then you have our defense vs Knife thrust to the belly.
When I studied geometry in high school I learned to break down complex problems into simpler ones, and then take those simple building blocks and put them back together. If it is too complex for me, I break it into small pieces that I am capable of understating. And that is how I teach Krav Maga. Take a simple movement, one that everyone can do. You can shake a man's hand? you can do our gun disarms. You can push a car? than you can do our Knife defenses. Yes, it is that simple. We break it down to basic human movements. You will never "be the Tiger", but you will remain human.
I have been teaching for many years, and I have never had a student that I could not teach to defend himself. Not everyone will excel but everyone will be able to learn the basic self-defense moves, and that covers the vast majority of attacks. Yes, we have some "complex" situations, and they are based on real life cases, but those are extremely unlikely to happen to the average person who is not involved in criminal activity. As such these situations are less critical for most people.
Everyone can learn to defend against the most common attacks. If you can ride a bicycle, drive a car, use your cell phone, then we can teach you basic self-defense.
Two students walk into the dojo, they are very different, they are built differently, they have different skills, but both will be able to learn to protect themselves, if they allow themselves the time.
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.
