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What You are Not
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
December 9, 2025, Israel
These days we are exposed to a lot of information. In the Old Days, when I was younger, if you wanted to know something about a style of martial arts, or an instructor, you did some leg work. That is what I did. I got the Yellow Pages, copied down addresses and walked, took the subway, and walked. Chinatown, south of Houston St. Chambers Street, New York. California, Jerusalem, I walked a lot, and I experienced many martial arts. but today all you have to do is turn on your social media and you are bombarded with more than you want to see. But yet, like a bad dream, you can't look away, and what do I see, oh my!! Really substandard training. But I don't just criticize, I point out way. And here I will explain a little, to you, those who are interested in my point of view, my opinion based on half a century of experience.
My opinion is not just the old, "My style is great, yours is horse manure", no, there is a logic to it, an indisputable logic.
I see techniques that depend upon the following attributes
1. Acting - I see instructors, or so they claim to be, doing a lot of acting, and in doing so they move their hands to the perfect position to pull off their technique. The viewer does not notice this, that while they are talking, they move their hands exactly to the perfect spot to do their chosen technique. But is that realistic? Will the attacker give you the time to move your hands? On the street every second counts, this is not a tournament when you have time to set up a technique. Your "Hey man, I mean no harm", may not be Oscar winning level of acting. While you are practicing your acting skills he may be going for the kill.
Now let us take this a step further. This man, or woman, is an experienced street thug, this is not their first rodeo. While you spent 4 years in college, they spent 4 years in Sing Sing or in Chino, or some other hellhole of a prison, or the street of San Juan or Philadelphia or East LA. They are trained criminals with degrees from outstanding prisons. Do you really think your little acting skit will fool them? Do you really think this streetwise criminal will allow you to reposition your hands exactly where you can attempt your technique? the answer is NO. The first subtle you move you make will trigger a violent move on his/her part, you had better make sure that your first move gets you out of the most immediate danger, that is what we do in IKI. The second move is not as important.
Conclusion: When I see a lot of talking, and the instructor needs to move his hands to a particular position, usually a non-standard body position, an awkward angle, in order to have a chance at doing their technique, then I call them out as BAD self-defense. You will not be able to do this against a real experienced street thug.
2. Surprising the Attacker - When an attack takes place, it means by definition that you, the Defender, were caught by surprise. Thus, when I see an instructor teaching that you, the Defender, should not fool the attacker and catch him by surprise, it is like going to your birthday party, everyone yells Surprise, and then you yell back "Surprise", i.e. they surprised you, that is the definition of a Surprise Party, you cannot surprise them after they have surprised you. To surprise the attacker is rather difficult, after he caught you by surprise. You can use some distraction technique, but I would not build my technique based on surprise.
3. Strength - I see a lot of styles that depend upon being fit and strong. If you are not fit, they send you away and say, Come back in 6 months when you are a mean lean fighting machine. While it is great to be fit, it should not be a criterion in self-defense. If the technique depends upon your fitness and physical strength, it is, simply put, not a good technique. The assumption, the premise, of our self-defense, is that the Attacker will be stronger than his intended victim. Out muscling your attacker is not self-defense.
4. Speed - If your technique depends upon your being very fast, it is not a good technique. The techniques effectiveness should be in the technique itself, not outside factors such as your strength or speed, or natural talent.
5. Precision - I see many techniques that remind me of acrobatics, outstanding performers, they could be jugglers and stuntmen. Incredible talent, but that is not self-defense. In a real stressful situation, the first thing to go is our precision. When you are nervous you will have trouble putting a key in the door, let alone grabbing a guys' arm while he is trying to stab you.
6. High level training - In many of these videos, that look so impressive on youtube, I see an incredible level of expertise, which is impressive. But to have to acquire such a level in order to be able to defend yourself is unacceptable. How many people can devote years of unconditional devotion to such training? How many have the time, the money, the discipline? Very few indeed. And what of the rest of the population? Doomed to be victims! Unacceptable.
7. Recklessness - and there are those who just charge in. Yes, that is their defense, be a raging bull. And they have a philosophy behind it. They train themselves to be able to get hit a lot, or so they believe. I mean, obviously the students or training partners who hit them, do so in a controlled manner, it made be tough, but it is not a thug with a knife or a hammer ready to bludgeon you, so their training is inherently flawed. But the concept is be tough as hell, expect "some punishment", and then simply charge in at your opponent, regardless of whether he has a gun, knife or machete, and bowl him over. Obviously this is not a good idea for most humans, and in fact, I do not believe it is a good solution for anyone, even those who could win Strong Man competitions. It is simply recklessness and will fail in a real violent situation, as has been proven time and time again. One must study crime to understand that none of these methods are an effective solution.
Conclusion - We need to understand what we are not.
We are not professional Actors.
We are not so tough as to be able to withstand a hammer to the head, or a knife to the heart.
We are not so immune to stress that we can be Precise under pressure.
We are not able to devote our entire lives to cross training, martial arts, aerobics, weightlifting etc. We are normal humans with jobs, families, community responsibilities.
We are not Superman or Spiderman. Leave the fantasies to the children.
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?
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