Krav Maga

 It’s thrilling. It’s challenging. It’s fun. It’s difficult…very, very difficult, especially when you have one really strong arm and solid, steady leg and one very weak arm and a shaky leg. I can’t make a fist with my right hand or stand securely enough on my right leg to throw a kick with the left. But I don’t care. I love Krav Maga regardless.

At the heart of my connection to this sport is that fact that Krav Maga is an original creation of my country. I am studying with Shlomi, the son of Avi who is the first student of the father of Krav Maga. And none of them care that I am disabled. In fact, Shlomi also has his own limitations from being wounded while serving in the army defending our country.

 I also love this sport because it is very practical. One of the main points is to defend yourself no matter what your situation is. The objective is to find alternatives to the ‘regular’ way of fighting that take a person’s limitations into consideration. As opposed to martial arts that have a distinctive way of fighting or specific defense positions that can’t be substituted or altered, Krav Maga is all about innovation. (Sounds very Israeli doesn’t it? See START UP NATION by Dan Senor and Saul Singer) All disabled people are really welcome. The teachers like the challenge of helping people with limitations to protect themselves. So this is just right for me.

 I like that it’s body and mind – build up your body, strengthen your mind. I love the Krav Maga center when I train – it’s small, humble and has a personal atmosphere. I enjoy seeing my own progress and I work on the different moves. I’m only at the beginning but already I find the whole who experience very satisfying. Another thing I love about krav maga is that it is the first sport I ever did that was totally my choice and not because it was ‘good for me’. Over the years I did different sports but always with the idea of some kind of therapy in mind. It feels great to have something that is all mine just because I want to do it. In fact, people worried that any martial art or contact sport might be bad for me not only because I could get hurt but because of the pressure on my hand and the asymmetry of my body that could be exacerbated by serious work outs. However, my teacher isn’t concerned. He’s seen people with much more severe limitation learn to defend themselves with this sport.

 So like the man said, YES I CAN!

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