After my training, I was so excited to get my Instructor pin and return to my unit. My dream had finally come true.
Well, at least it felt that way until I actually returned to base.
When I returned to my troop, they were stationed in a fairly dangerous area. There was little time for Krav Maga training. The vast majority of our time was spent on operational duty like arresting terrorists and maintaining the peace. What little time we had was desperately needed for sleep and food. I was able to teach one Krav Maga class a week, but otherwise, I had returned to being a combat soldier, going on patrols and operations.
I remained proud to serve as an operations soldier, but I knew I wasn’t being utilized to my utmost potential. The army had just invested a lot of time and money into training me for my new role, and I was determined not to waste their resources. I reached out to the instructors I mentioned in the article on the IDF competition. They knew me and knew my skill level. They invited me to train new recruits with them. This meant completely leaving operational duty and teaching full time.
My New Duties
This would not be an easier posting. My work would be different, but no less intense. I would be going from teaching a single class a week to twelve classes per day.
It was grueling work, but it was some of the best times of my life, spent immersed in Krav Maga and working with incredible people. I really am proud of what I accomplished.
We worked on training the recruits in basic skills such as how to use basic strikes, how to use their rifles both offensively and defensively, and how to defend themselves from attacks such bear-hugs, headlocks, chokes, and knife attack. I was able to use my previous field service to give my lessons a true sense of realism.
I took pride in my work. I wasn’t just an instructor, I had field experience. I knew what was waiting for them when they left base and I made sure I did everything in my power to make them ready. I say them because both men and women serve in combat in Israel.
In the video below, you can see some of the training demonstrations that we had to cover. Some were duties of soldiers, like how to work together as a team to perform an arrest, perform a search and get a suspect into custody securely. The goal was to make sure we acted both safely and humanely, making sure we only used enough force as needed to complete the mission without causing any additional harm.
We also worked on striking properly, using elbows and palm strikes to protect our hands from damage. A soldier needs to use their hands properly, so they can use their gun if they have to. They needed to preserve their hands for delicate work, like grabbing a suspect and perform a search. Also, getting injured on duty made soldiers useless, and a lot of money had gone into their training.
Other lessons included how to defend ourselves from being attacked or kidnaped while serving, and how to rescue a fellow soldier or civilian who is under attack.
We only had a few hours to work with these soldiers, so we worked very hard to distill the lessons to be as practical and simple as possible. I am deeply honored that the superior officers actually increased the amount of Krav Maga training, and cited my professionalism as one reason.
Making It Count
I look back on those times very fondly, but I’m sure the soldiers I trained remember it quite differently. I know they went through a difficult time of growth, and I was a definite catalyst that tolerated nothing but the best.
It was made clear to me from training that I had to create a distance from the recruits. It wasn’t my job to be their friend. I was there to toughen them up and turn them into warriors. I couldn’t be nice, because I had to make them ready to take on their duties in highly dangerous areas. Their uniforms made them targets, and they needed to know how to defend themselves.
Unfortunately, all of our lessons were based on real life incidents. During my years of service, there were many instances of attacks on soldiers. There was one in 2010 where Israeli soldier Ihab Khatib was attacked and stabbed while in sitting in traffic, later dying of his wounds.
The uniform also changed their responsibilities. In civilian Krav Maga, you run away from an attacker. In army Krav Maga, you engage the attacker to stop and hopefully arrest them. Soldiers would have to be courageous and competent to protect civilians and take on terrorists that could be armed with knives, guns or suicide belts. That is why there was so much work into aggression training.
I had to be really harsh when they made sloppy mistakes in training. In real life, those mistakes could cost them their lives and the absolute last thing I wanted was for any of them to come back in a body bag for something preventable by good training. It was better that I knocked some sense into them when they were safely on the base.
I also wanted to instill confidence and competence under pressure in them. The army was putting a lot of responsibility on them, and giving them guns and authority. I wanted them to be able to handle themselves professionally, not allowing the pressure to get to them when lives and reputation was on the line.
I talk in another blog post about how people would try to trigger soldiers, aggressively insulting us and pushing cameras into our faces, and hoping to get us on video losing our tempers.
Remember, the soldiers are nineteen year old boys who were under incredible amounts of stress, had weapons and were dealing with people purposely baiting them. Instilling that discipline would be crucial to making sure this didn’t escalate with one hot-blooded soldier losing their temper and humiliating their uniform with bad behavior.
It was up to me to teach them how to fight, but more importantly, when not to fight. The only way I could do that was instill a sense of discipline.
How I knocked that sense into them will be discussed next month in the second to last article in this series.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Don’t miss the previous article in Raz Chen’s series, “A Soldier Who Became an Instructor”!
- Tehran fails to impress on Krav Maga - September 18, 2023
- The Pursuit of Perfection - August 7, 2023
- Grace Under Pressure - March 17, 2023
Such an admirable and inspiring article! I wish I was as mature, motivated and dedicated in my late teens/early 20s. However, it is never to late to start. As a special education teacher in my late 40s, I was fortunately introduced to Krav Maga Experts 3 1/2 years ago. I was hooked on day one after my first class with Raz. It is because of his extreme passion, professionalism, skills, experiences and dedication that I continue to train and work hard to develop a stronger, sharper mind, body and skillset. As a civilian, I thankfully do not need to train to aggressively attack, but rather to walk in peace with my head held high, knowing that I will not be anyone’s easy victim. Thank you Raz for all that you have done and continue to do!!!
Thank you so much Amy 🙏🏼
I love to know that you know how to protect yourself and your loved ones if needed. You are a fighter and I am proud to be your instructor. Keep up with your amazing progress and commitment to Krav Maga training and way of life 💪🏽