Gain The Right Perspective, And The Path Forward Is Revealed.
Often, we, as Krav Maga practitioners, yearn for the capacity to do great things – such as defend a live blade, or make a lighting fast handgun defense, or even punch with such speed, power, and ferocity that a knock out is a certainty.
The truth is, Krav Maga training is a building block process. So much so, that I often use the analogy of a box of Lego pieces to describe to new students how to see and approach the Krav Maga system.
In general, I describe the process of throwing out 50 Lego pieces onto the floor. I ask a student, how many things could you make with these Lego pieces. I’ve had answers ranging from a couple thousand to the infinite. The point then, is to understand that Krav Maga movements are like Lego pieces in that these movements can be arranged in a logical way to create many effective defenses (as Lego pieces can create many different things).
This perspective tells much of the story, but I also ask students to consider that many movements are used and reused in defenses. And if thought of as leaves on a family tree, we can understand the thinking and similarities that go into different defenses. My favorite comparison is that of the Krav Maga inside defense and Krav Maga’s straight stab defense. Because these defenses have so much in common, one can imagine that, although one defense is a yellow belt technique and the other a brown belt technique, the two defenses (represented as leaves) that sit very close to one another on the Krav Maga family tree of techniques.
Once you clearly understand these concepts, it’s unlikely that you’ll find yourself yearning for “advanced technique training” – as you understand that the foundation for that training is happening in the here and now (and without a mastery of the here and now there is not viable future).
Remember this…
”The lure of the distant and difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are now.”
-John Burroughs
Stay focused, master today’s tasks. Tomorrow will take care of itself.
