Are you interested in Krav Maga? Already begun your journey in Israeli Martial Arts? Maybe you are advanced, or even an expert in the skills to protect your life or that of someone you love. Whatever your particular situation, ask yourself what is my training mindset? How do you approach training? What thoughts do you have when training? Could you really take the life of another human being?

Fill in the blank: “Practice makes __________.”
Every single one of you said “perfect.” You and I have been told a lie our whole lives…. “Practice makes Perfect!” Those three words, that simple and common phrase, is a quick way to get yourself killed. I would go as far as saying that a “practice makes perfect” mentality is worse than not practicing at all. Instead, perfect practice makes perfect!!!

Unfortunately, Krav Maga has experienced fractures and division. The reasoning and causation is debatable, but irrelevant. Few, if any, groups agree on the authenticity of techniques, credibility of leaders, or lineage to the origin. Despite all of the bickering, I think all would agree that a guiding principle is peace and love. Yes, Krav Maga techniques can be violent, ruthless, intense, and even deadly. But why do people learn Krav Maga? The reason is out of love or to live in peace. I began Krav Maga because I love my family and wanted the skills to protect and defend them. I began Krav Maga, because I wanted the skills and confidence to walk through life peacefully and know that when (not if) I was confronted with a violent situation, I could defend myself. I began teaching Krav Maga and opened a school because I wanted to share the peace and love that I received from Krav Maga with others.

Any legitimate Krav Maga school or instructor I believe would agree with that. I don’t care what organization they are affiliated with. If you can show me an instructor or school that disagrees, I will show you an instructor or school that shouldn’t be teaching Krav Maga.

Great, Krav Maga is about peace and love, what does that have to do with your mindset. Well, quite a lot actually. What are you willing to do for that peace and love? If the answer isn’t “anything,” to include killing another human being, I would caution you from deploying any Krav Maga techniques.

As humans, there is something deep down inside of us that knows killing another person is wrong. We are created to give life, not take it away. Products of our intimate relationships are children. We spend trillions every year on medical research to cure and prevent deadly diseases. Some spend the majority of their lives training and practicing medicine. Taking a human life is just something we are not naturally programmed to do (and that’s a good thing). I personally know several badass dudes – the rough and tough type that no one would want to mess with – that couldn’t pull the trigger. Each of them were in a situation where they could have lawfully taken the life of another person. Clicked off safety and three-quarters of the way through their trigger pull, when it came time to send lead, they froze and couldn’t take the shot. These are the type of guys that would say, “If you ______________, I will kill you.” However, they failed to do so.

I hope none of you are ever faced with this reality, but if you are in a real-life situation where you are about to use a Krav Maga technique, hopefully you are in a situation where your life, or that of someone you love, is in danger. Hopefully you are in a situation where a threat exists that without action will cause life altering, debilitating injuries.

Try to imagine this …. It is late at night and you are walking down the sidewalk. The streets are empty and quiet. Maybe you are on your way back to your house or apartment after meeting a friend for a drink. As you turn a corner, some strung-out, drug-addicted thug stands waiting for a victim. He is about to rob you at gunpoint so that he can score his next high. Before you can run or find cover, he sticks a gun to your forehead and says, “Give me your money!” Well, give him your money. But, for the point I am trying to make, you don’t have any money. You don’t carry a wallet or purse and the cash that you normally carry in your pocket, you just spent at the bar on a couple drinks. What next?

Unless you have a really quick and powerful straight (much quicker and powerful than a professional boxer), that you hide very well and throw with a short arm motion, it is time for one of those techniques you have been practicing. Now what? Hopefully you have never had a real, loaded gun stuck to your head by someone with no conscience, care, or remorse. I have. It’s a feeling I don’t have the words to describe and one you cannot replicate in training. I don’t remember any scared feelings. The closest thing I can describe is some sort of intense, hyper-focused, rage, with an eerie serenity.

You are under stress. Your body is immediately flooded with a release of epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, and dopamine. Pupils dilate and you loose periphery vision. Blood flow is diverted to your muscles from other organs in the body. Your pulse, blood pressure and respiratory rate all increase to meet the blood and oxygen needs of those muscles. Clotting functions increase to reduce potential blood loss. All of this, and more, happens in the blink of an eye, leaving you with a loss of fine motor function, and the need to perform a technique you have been practicing for months or years, maybe even decades, in a safe and controlled environment, with little to no realistic stress. Are we really going to keep our fingers crossed and hope the skills translate? I hope not! I’m not.

So, how are you training? Are you laser focused on developing muscle memory with the finer details the instructor taught you? Is what you are going to make for dinner, your need to pick the kids up from some activity, the hot guy or gal you met today, or the meeting at work tomorrow in the back of your mind? Are you wondering how you look in whatever it is you wore to training? Are you slowly increasing the speed, effort and intensity of your techniques? All of these questions influence the mindset with which your approach your training and are getting in the way if you are thinking about them at all.

Many of you, probably most, are not members of an elite military unit. Many of you, are not training members of an elite military unit. I get that. But, for the one-hour tomorrow that you are going to be training, could you have the mindset of such a person? Absolutely you can. Will you? Operators from Navy Seals, Delta, Shayetet 13, Sayeret Metkal, British SAS and SBS weren’t born with an elite superhuman mentality, it was learned and trained.

Check your ego at the door. Leave all of the drama and baggage of your day and life outside – I promise it will be there waiting for you when you get done. If you have one ear and two mouths, I have wasted your time. For the rest of us, God gave you two ears and one mouth. That means He intended for you to listen twice as much as you talk. So, for one hour, keep your ears open and mouth shut. Don’t leave effort in the tank for the rest of class.

Here me out on this. Don’t put 100% effort into a technique. Put 100% into each element of that technique. There is an enormous distinction. If you put 100% effort into a simple gun disarm, that’s 100% that gets spread out over your hands coming up, a simultaneous strike and trap of the weapon, headbutts, knees, elbows or whatever you choose to do, stripping the weapon, creating space, giving commands, etc…. Instead, put 100% into bringing up your hands. Then put 100% into the initial strike, 100% into trapping the weapon, etc…. Approach this hour of training as if your life depends on it – IT DOES!!!

Until next time,

 

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease

 

LD

 

Self Defense, Krav Maga, Auburn Alabama, Opelika Alabama, MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Muay Thai