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Winning the Fight of your Back Class

Owner/Lead Instructor
Krav Maga Worldwide(TM) Official Training Center
Pompano Beach, Florida

In 1964, the day after Lyndon Johnson’s landslide victory in the 1964 U.S. Presidential election, a cartoon ran that to this day teaches us something about advice.

The cartoon, drawn by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist, Bill Mauldin (October, 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) showed Johnson’s opponent Barry Goldwater writing a letter. The caption read, “Dear Abby”.

The lesson: It is too often only after we experience failure that we seek advice.

Having taught Krav Maga for over 10 years and martial arts for over 18 years, I’ve found the majority of adult students enroll in my classes only AFTER experiencing “failure” in a confrontation or self defense situation. The most common situation is simply someone getting in their face and verbally threatening them. They explain how they felt fear and a lack of confidence because they “didn’t know what to do”. Often times, these situations lead to pushing and even punches being thrown. During most of these confrontations, the injuries sustained are not serious. However, these confrontations are still traumatic enough to the student that they want to be prepared in the future and make the decision to begin self-defense training.

Here’s the problem with seeking self-defense training only after you’ve experienced a confrontationWhat if you experience a more violent attack where you acquire permanent emotional trauma, physical injuries, or even death?

Unfortunately, I’ve also heard numerous stories from students who have experienced such serious attacks that they will NEVER fully recover physically and/or emotionally. Here are all true stories I’ve heard from my own students:

  • Getting choked out, tossed to the pavement, and then stomped in the head while unconscious. Luckily, by-standers stopped the attacker from doing multiple stomps.
  • Broken jaw and having it wired shut due to punches to the head.
  • Cracked teeth from getting kicked in the face.
  • Finger shot off during a struggle with a handgun.
  • Multiple knife wounds to the arms which required surgery to repair cut tendons.
  • Being raped.
  • Students who are police officers and detectives going to crime scenes where the victim has been murdered.

Do you want to experience any of the above before seeking effective self-defense training?! If you asked any of the victims who experienced any of the above, I’m sure they all wish they went through good self-defense training BEFORE they were attacked!

I do hear the following comment occasionally from the uninformed person in regards to self-defense training: “I won’t ever get attacked. Nothing bad will happen to me.” I’m sure some of my students who have been victims of an assault had the same opinion before being attacked. Also, don’t think you or your situation is different from someone else who has been attacked. I’ve had students who are victims of assault come from a wide range of demographics: men vs. women, small vs. large, athletic vs. non-athletic, young vs. old, outgoing vs. introverted, affluent vs. lower middle-class, high-risk occupation vs. white-collar job, live in small town vs. large city, married vs. single, etc. Everyone regardless of their status or lifestyle is a potential victim. You are not different or the exception!

The definition of the word proactive is “tending to initiate change rather than reacting to events.” Be proactive in regards to your personal protection and that of your loved ones! Effective self-defense training is like taking out an insurance policy. We hope to never use it but it gives us peace of mind knowing we have it. Stop procrastinating and start your self-defense training immediately!