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What the Masters Don't See
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL
July 31, 2025, Alberton, South Africa
Sitting with good friends, all Krav Maga practitioners, I take a break to check my messages. I notice an advertisement on social media for a seminar in Los Angeles. I know the "instructor" well, as his infamy proceeds him. There are two aspects of the advertisement that disturb me. But first let me make something clear, if you care about self-defense, you must be sincere. If you like a different genre of film, music, or food, than I do. That is fine with me. If you believe in a different faith than I do, no harm done as long as your belief does not cause you to want to massacre my people. (That is when we run into a "conflict"). But when it comes to self-defense, I will not be silent, for silence is not golden, rather silence leads to death, violence, murder, rape. I must speak up and say, no, this is not good, no, this will not work for the average person. Speak up. As they say in New York, if you see something - say something. In some cases, Silence is NOT Golden.
I see the advertisement, the first thing that strikes me, besides the instructors' murky and controversial reputation, is the photo chosen. It is a defense vs a Knife Attack. I am familiar with this defense and have not only rejected it out of hand, but I have made videos demonstrating the falsehood, the fallacy, of this defense. This defense technique is very dangerous, for the defender. I have demonstrated again and again how easy it is to counter it and how the person attempted this defense will end up cut in enough places that death will likely follow, I cannot remain silent.
The second thing that bothered me was the list of people supporting this post, people that I know personally, people that should know better. I will say this bluntly, if you can support such a post, such a technique, in any way, even with a "Like", all your Krav Maga knowledge and expertise is subject to question, you should know better!
If you can like such a technique, if you can support such a seminar, than I must question if you really understand self-defense. I would not feel comfortable recommending such people as instructors. Support of such a terrible technique makes me question your credentials as an instructor. Yes, and I stand by that.
But there is hope.
I share this photo with my friends at the table, as this truly upsets me. One dear friend who trained with my one of my students for some time and attended several of my seminars here in South Africa a few years ago, immediately noticed something. Now allow me to point out, she is a woman who passed 60 years of age a few years ago, in her training days she reached the rank of green belt or perhaps blue belt but due to physical distance from our training facility and other life obligations she has not trained in several years although she is a member of our online Distance Training program. But she has not actively trained in quite a few years. She took one look at the photo, the advertisement for the seminar of the "Grand Master" and she said, something is terribly wrong here.
Immediately she pointed out exactly what I pointed out, all the attacker with the knife has to do is hit the defender with the totally free hand and then pull the knife out, the pulling out of the knife will cause terrible bleeding in several locations, most likely death. But that is not all, once the knife is pulled out, the Defender is now in a very vulnerable position and the Attacker is angrier than ever, but now you the Defender are in a very open, exposed, and vulnerable position, and your Attacker is out for blood, or should I say, More blood! What my friend and student was able to ascertain and understand perfectly upon a simple glance, veteran experienced Krav Maga instructors and "masters" could not see. They signed their name to this poster, they disgraced themselves by endorsing such a false, dangerous and ineffective technique.
Every technique I teach I am willing to expose to scrutiny. Every student can question and challenge any technique, I as an instructor must be able to stand behind my techniques, and "defend my self-defense".
I stand by what I teach.
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.
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