Krav Maga

On the very first day of my training in Krav Maga, the weather outside was stuck between late fall and early winter. Dead leaves crackled underfoot as I took my first steps toward The Garage. I was early. I’m always early.

I was uncertain and hopeful, all at once. I’d waited for more than ten years to have the opportunity to train in this particular discipline; beginning the actual training at Alaska Krav Maga & Fitness seemed almost surreal.

The half-hour orientation class covered the “what”, the “why”, the “how” and all I had to do was pick up a set of focus mitts and become the “who”. I did. The days, weeks and months flew by. I trained. I practiced. I trained harder.

The class size quickly outgrew the garage, and within a few months we were training after hours at the Elite Urban Fitness facility. Winter’s brutal cold, and long, dark days were punctuated by the sounds of front kicks destroying kick shields, sprint drills and thousands of combatives delivered and received.

Mark Slane, USKMA

This past week, I had the honor of attending a week-long Level 1 and Level 2 Instructor Course for Krav Maga. Mark Slane, head of the USKMA, flew to Fairbanks, AK to provide comprehensive instruction for seven participants. We trained, we practiced, threw punches and kicks and elbows. We ran drills. And more drills. We trained techniques, we ingrained the philosophy of self-defense.

On Friday, March 8th, we tested. This was no paper-and-pencil test (unless you count Mark’s clipboard and notations on every single technique). Time warped, bent, wrapping seconds into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into… more hours. Having not worn a wrist watch for the entire week, and spending the days inside The Garage, I truly lost track of time.

Afterward, on the long drive home, there was a curious silence in the space where thoughts are normally churning.

* * *

This is a beginning. A starting point. A sharp burst forward into a system of self-defense that will enable me to assist others in training functional, real-world self-protection.

This? Is where I've been.