#ultimatedefense

As a lifelong martial artist, i have earned a 3rd degree black belt in martial arts.  Normally, that would mean something, but if you go to some of these McDojo schools, you’ll find people wearing black belts that don’t look any different technically from those wearing green belts.  Why are so many instructors willing to “give away” the standard of what the black belt means?

As a Krav Maga instructor and practitioner, I take pride in my craft because what I train in can be life saving and what I teach can save someone else’s life.  I have had students eager to advance in rank, but Krav Maga is something that one shouldn’t advance quickly in.  In Krav Maga Global’s rank structure, each level as a focus in the curriculum.  Just because you know the curriculum and have a basic understanding of the techniques doesn’t mean you are ready to test.  The standard should be that when you have a really good understanding of the technique and are able to perform very well, vs “just ok.” then you are ready to test.  Remember, even as Practitioner Level 1, they should be able to effectively defend against all the situations in P-1. 

Not all students testing for P1 will pass, and that’s ok.  As instructors, we have to be ok to fail our students.  People equate rank and advancement with ability to survive an attack, and that is just not true.  I have failed many students who tested for P1, or maybe I should say they failed themselves.  Either they weren’t ready but insisted on testing, or they just performed poorly under pressure.  Remember, in class, the students are a little more comfortable and relaxed, but in a test, they feel pressure and stress which may make them perform differently.  A student shouldn’t pass because you saw them in class all month long and they were good, but during the test, they just had a bad day.  A well run test should bring as close as possible the same amount of stress that an attack would.  If your student didn’t perform well under the stress of a test, that means they may perform poorly under the stress of a violent attack. 

Don’t give your students false security.  I have seen a lot of videos lately on YouTube and FaceBook of students testing for middle to higher level ranks and I can’t help but wonder how and why?  The false sense of security those individuals have will get them seriously hurt or killed in bad situation.  It’s up to us as professional instructors to be honest to our students.  If a student has to stay a P2 for a year, that’s ok.  If they haven’t gotten the techniques of P1 and P2 down well, don’t rush them into P3.  Master the basics and their Krav Maga will be excellent!

This goes for instructors.  As Instructors, we sometimes feel the pressure of getting the highest rank around so people can admire us for our achievement.  People don’t care what our rank is as instructors.  I have only had a couple people ever ask me my rank.  If you are able to WOW them with great technique and aggression, that is what sells.  Who cares that you’re a G4 or G5 or E1.  Can you execute the technique well under pressure and can you teach me to do the same.  That is all our students want to know.

I fear the same is beginning to happen in Krav Maga that has happened in traditional martial arts.  People are more concerned about getting to Expert level as fast as they can instead of enjoying the journey and mastering the technique.  I love the fact that BJJ makes it very difficult (and long) to advance in rank.  To go from white belt to blue belt, you HAVE to have mastered the movements taught at white belt.  There is no “well that was ok, but; or keep practicing that until you get it, but here’s your blue belt.”  You get it and perform it well or you don’t pass.  Make it about the student excelling at the technique and not about advancing quickly.

The Shinkiro reached out with it's sensors. It's auto-reboot had kicked in and it found magnetic clamps restricted movement in it's limbs. Activating it's fact-sphere, it took in the surroundings. a Hanger bay, with Large loading arms and other incomplete Knightmares docked.

It struggled against the locks, finding it's weapons offline and long-ranged communications disabled. Shinkiro was unaware of where it's pilot was or what it was, since the facility was actively blocking any attempts for the Knightmare to connect out of the network.

It was captured by the Britannian's, that much was clear, but deactivation or destruction could be in it's future. which made it struggle all the more.