As a martial arts teacher, it’s our job to sometimes be the bad guy and give a little taste of harsh reality in a controlled environment.
The mat is a safe place to learn lessons that would keep them safe in the real world. Those lessons can sometimes be very harsh, but that’s the duty of the teacher.
That is why training is so important, since a teacher must toe a narrow line between coddling students and crushing students, in order to challenge them to achieve greatness.
Challenging my students was especially important when I was a combat instructor. Everything we were teaching was practical and life-saving skills, needed on the battlefield where there are no second chances. This meant following the rules and having consequences when the rules were not followed.
One rule for soldiers is that they can’t carry their weapons behind them like samurai swords.
I get it may be more comfortable, but it is really unacceptable, and a risk to their lives.
First, obviously their guns should be in front, at the ready and not behind them. It’s not there for decoration. The point of the gun is to be used!
Rifles are obviously “hot weapons” for shooting, but they are also “cold weapons” as in a heavy piece of metal, weighing three kilos. (And for you Americans, that is almost seven pounds) The weapon can definitely be used in self defense. They can be used to block attacks and to create space.
Wasting precious seconds fumbling for your weapon is unacceptable. The gun must be in the proper position for the soldier to use.
Second, if the guns are behind the soldiers, anyone can come from behind and drag them back, using the rifle for leverage. A soldier could not risk being slammed into the ground or pulled into a car to be kidnapped.
This wasn’t paranoia. Israeli soldiers are at risk for violence, including kidnapping and murder. Just this year of 2021, Israeli lost St.-Sgt. Barel Hadaria Shmueli and Staff Sergeant Omer Tabib, both age 21. Both heroes fell in the line of duty.
In 2010, when I served, the IDF lost the following men to terrorism:
- Sgt. Maj. Shuki Sofer, age 39
- Maj. Eliraz Peretz, age 32
- St.Sgt. Ilai Sviatkovsky, age 21
- First Sgt Ihab Khatib age 28
It was very clear that the threat to our lives was most definitely real.
This is the proper position.
Hands on the gun, in the perfect position to shoot or block an attack, which is the soldier’s job when they are on duty.
Of course, sometimes the soldiers forget and carried their weapon in the wrong way, because it was more comfortable. Then it was my duty to remind them.
One time, I was with a few other instructors on base. We noticed a group of soldiers with their guns hanging behind them, completely unaware.
As their instructors, we had to teach them a tough lesson to make sure this habit was stopped. We sneaked up behind them and yanked them backwards by the rifles hard, sending them to the ground.
Yes, the soldiers were furious. I could see how much they wanted to punch us, but the lesson was learned. They are vulnerable to attack when they get careless.
Had it been terrorists and not their instructors who had sneaked up behind them and yanked them backwards to the floor by the rifles, their names might have been added to the list above.
Their safety was my number one priority. Every soldier required a huge amount of resources in terms of training, and injuring one would mean making that soldier useless for duty. It was even worse if that student would be injured on duty, because that meant we had failed them.
It was better I taught them with a take down than a terrorist, who would have followed the takedown with a knife to the jugular.
How would I have liked it if I had been the rookie? I would have hated the instructor and really wanted to punch him, just like those soldiers definitely wanted to do to me.
I know that as they matured as a soldier, they gratefully realized I wasn’t doing it for my own amusement but because they were my responsibility. I may have kept professional distance, but every one of my soldiers was my band of brothers. I truly wanted them to come home safely to their family, and have long happy lives. That’s why I had taught them a lesson they would not forget.
This isn’t me projecting. I actually met one of my former soldiers years later, when he was a security agent at the airport. He recognized me instantly.
I saw the respect and appreciation he had for me. “Combat instructor,” he greeted me with that look that every martial artist knows, the look of respect you give the teacher who really kicked your butt, worked you to your limits, and got you to up your game. I could tell he had hated me every second of training, but loved the results I had gotten. The training had served him well, and he had come back safe.
Seeing him really made my day and reminded me of the important work I did. Soldiers were safer because of my work. I can’t think of anything more meaningful.
Those years were some of the most incredible in my life, but the day came when I had finished my service. I was honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant. Although I would continue in the reserves, I was now a civilian again.
EDITOR’S NOTE: To learn more of Raz Chen’s incredible Krav Maga journey, be sure to check out the previous articles describing his journey of being a soldier who became an instructor and an instructor who found his place!
In memory of Jack Mikulincer, forever remembered as an incredible person, a role model for all of us to aspire to become like and one who did Tikkun Olam (repairing the world)
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