As many of you know, I completed a weekend of training that would be the envy of many Kravists…three straight days of working though Krav Maga techniques with instruction from Rick Blitstein, a man who teaches Krav Maga techniques, strategy and tactics in the same manner it was taught to him by Imi Lichtenfeld.
As many of my students have heard me say, my cup is always empty. I always crave learning the nuances and subtleties in even the Yellow Belt curriculum , as it translates into improving me in not just my performance of self defense techniques, but its instruction.
While attending my second Rick seminar yesterday, I was even more fortunate to be able to partner with one of my mentors, Alan Feldman, who elected to also take the class (a great example of an expert level kravist choosing to revisit technique, footwork and tactics from the ground up).
Aside from the insightful instruction Rick gave to the group in attendance, I benefited by watching and working with Alan on each technique; observing how he trains, processes, repeats and focuses on minute details. I was, in essence, learning how he learns. It is eye opening.
I am not suggesting that there is only one way one learn. I do recognize that everyone is unique in how they take in information. What I walked away from is the slow methodical way Alan breaks each technique down: Matrix-slow. There is no concern for speed of technique, nor is he interested in getting to power. He repeatedly focused upon his footwork, hand placement, angle of leverage and identification of target, multiple times in a row, just so he could “feel” where he needed to be. Alan broke every technique into several individual micro-objectives, each equally important. After repeating this deconstruction several times, Alan built it back up and found the actual cadence Rick was demonstrating.
So here is my new mission as an instructor of Krav Maga..it is not enough for me to be able to demonstrate and teach a technique to my students. I will strive to empower the class with the identification of those same micro-objectives I watched Alan analyze and ultimately perfect.
In the end, the old adage that “practice makes perfect” is really incomplete in its teaching…only “PERFECT practice makes perfect”.
Many thanks to Rick and Alan for reinforcing that for me this weekend. I am the wiser for it.
