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Re: Are we being true to the system?
James and Ryan are right!
But let me give a little more critique of the criticism that is being made here. The whole “watered down” deal comes from two sources. First you have the other organizations that have not managed to grow as fast and are virtually ignored when it comes to Krav Maga in the United States. Under previous and current leadership KMWW has been able to carve out a niche and stake its claim to being the premiere Krav Maga organization in the United States. It’s proximity to Hollywood and the business tactics have irritated some of those who are either not smart enough or simply not good enough to make as much money as KMWW has. So they hide behind false humility and they lambaste KMWW and anyone else who has managed to make a better than average living doing what we love to do. They claim that they don’t want to be “so big” because they would lose authenticity. B.S.! They would trade places with John Whitman and Darren Levine in a heartbeat! They wish they could have the connections and the exposure that comes to KMWW.
The second major critic are other systems. Yes other systems who lie about Budo spirit. They can’t comprehend why they are dying on the vine and Krav Maga continues to grow. So they find a video of a class that is either not being taught by qualified instructors or it is a room full of brand new students doing the techniques or it is some guy who is teaching a “hybrid” style of Krav Maga. If I have to see that crap one more time I might just kill myself by the way. You are not qualified to teach a hybrid style of anything if you have not even studied a foundation system for a period of time. But I digress.
I have said this before but it bears repeating. The fitness program be it Krav Fit, Cross Fit, My Fit or Your Fit is not Krav Maga. They are merely programs that exsist and are taught at some Krav Maga schools. Ryan pointed out the fact that there are more people interested in fitness than there are in Self Defense. In fact there are More people interested in Krav Maga than there are people who want to learn how to fight. Don’t believe me? Look at the attendance for Krav Maga classes then look at the attendance for fight class. The harder the class, the more contact involved in training the less people want to attend. Simple.
As a school owner we always have to listen to what the public wants. No school can survive or grow by simply having Krav Maga as its only product. Sorry folks. However the other programs that are not Krav Maga should not be sold as Krav Maga. This is more damaging to the system than anything. Well, other than having non qualified instructors teaching. Just as there are horrible Krav Maga videos there are excellent ones as well. The same can be said for almost every system. So the question of watered down is really not the issue. The issue is understanding. Understanding the context of the entire lesson, not just a few minutes on video.
For all of you so called “hard core” Kravists and Martial Artists who think that you are tougher or more authentic because you train in a dingy, musty, dirty, filthy, stinky little school that smells like a rotting corpse you are wrong. There is nothing wrong with training in a top flight facility as long as the instruction is top flight.
Re: Are we being true to the system?
I’ve been involved in a news story like this for a competitive stair climb I compete in every year. Also, the KM school I used to train at had a story like this on local news as well. What I can tell you from both experiences is that the “action” shots they are getting are usually NOT indiciative of what the actual event or the actual training is like. It is staged by producers who think they know what they want going on in the background. The producers are people who don’t train or compete. I mean for the stair climb race they took like 15 mins of video of me and another dude stretching outside on the grass. I kept saying under my breath “this is gonna look sooooo bad.” And you know what? Too people that do the race, it did. But to people who don’t, I’m sure they didnt think anything of it. And for the shoot at the KM gym, they needed to shoot at a time when there weren’t even classes going on so they interviewed the head instructor while people who could show up were doing techique in the background. To people that train did it look as intense as some of the classes? Maybe not. But to the target audience – people you dont train YET – it probably did. Make no mistake though, damn good Krav is happening at that school.
Bottom line is this – in both experiences, if it raised awareness and got more people to train or participate in the stair climb event, then who cares what it “looked” like? I don’t think you can make a snap judgment on what is happening to all Krav everywhere based on a local news story when you don’t even know the circumstances behind the shoot. Hell, IMHO, you can’t even make judgment about a school unless you train with them. Not saying you did that zvor. Just saying…. But you sure got some traffic to your blog, huh?
Re: Are we being true to the system?
quote spartankrav:But you sure got some traffic to your blog, huh?http://kravmagamedia.wordpress.com/
So, is “zvor” the same person as “kravmagamedia”? I really hope not – otherwise :angry: (Interesting that the website above seems “strongly related” to IKMF and the school in the video is apparently a KMWW school… ??) If not, what relationship does zvor have to the website (since it is linked in zvor’s sig line and it is listed as zvor’s homepage)?
If so, I think it’s poor form to run one’s mouth (talking crap) on one’s own website and then come here and talk about “an article I read” as if one didn’t write it in the first place…
Looking at the video in question on that website, I really didn’t see anything that I would be “alarmed” about (or anything else that would lead me to believe that someone wasn’t “being true to the system”).
As an instructor, I don’t expect everything to be done absolutely perfectly by every student every minute of class. I do, however, like seeing students working hard (getting a good sweat on) and enjoying themselves (which is different than goofing off/around).
Btw, IME, it’s rare when the media “gets it right” – even so, I do appreciate when they try to do a positive piece…
Re: Are we being true to the system?
quote Ryan:As a hardcore KM instructor, I’d like to show the meat and potatoes; give folks what’s “real”. As a business owner in a tough economic environment (who feeds his family by teaching KM), I realize I could never buy airtime like this. Look at the percentage of folks interested in fitness vs. the percentage interested in martial arts/self defense/fighting…it isn’t close. What happens on my mats, what I send my members home with at the end of the day is what matters. So what if it took a good looking woman with rock hard abs to get them there? To me, the ends justify the means.While I disagree about the ends and means Ryan, I think you’re not fully pointing out the benefits. I’ve met the “woman with rock hard abs” and not only is she as described, but she trains actively and seriously!
Anyone can go to a convienence store and see pictures of cute girls advertising beer. Ever see the girl show up when you bought the beer? Ever have your abs tighen up after a few? Didn’t think so. That sort of marketing only provides the illusion of beauty and relationships. Like Ryan said, the news spot is marketing. Pure and simple. It may not be the most crafted to customize your message but at the cost it’s more effective that the stuff you want to do but can’t afford. Look at the messages it can send. “There is Krav Maga in the Charlotte area”. “Ryan Hoover and Krav Maga in Charlotte are one”. “Ryan Hoover speaks for Krav Maga, and he’s right here in Charlotte.” “Ryan Hoover has a secret mix that will let you be as good looking as she is.”
Every time someone hears about Krav or Ryan the news spot will come to mind. The image will be emotionally reinforced and if they are interested in whatever their perception is, they may find the time and energy to intellectually engage. That’s the key factor here, the viewer’s act of will based on desire. If they don’t have the energy to check it out then they don’t see their particular situation needing change. The more you market the better chance of finding someone’s motivator. If Ryan can’t grab 99% of Charlotte, who cares? If he got to 1% of the audience he’d have 7,000 students and a lot more worries about managing things! If he missed 99.9% he’d still have 0.1% of the action and that’s ~700 students!
You can even be more critical of the math and still make out well. If Ryan hit 0.01% he’d have 70 potential students walk in the door. Of those 70 you’d have a mixed bag but if any of them were serious they’d see kids having class and enjoying it, BJJ and boxers working together, a profesional training ring, various contact bags, multilpe classrooms, engaging and knowledgeable staff, and scores of happy customers. Might even see the young lady mentioned or some of the muscular yet truly helpful male staff. (Hi Mike! :wav: )
Of those 70, maybe 10% sign up. While Ryan can’t get rich off 7 L-0 students he now has new marketers who will be happy to share the truth about his school, his instructors, and the awesome benefits of RHEK. That’s good marketing math for essentially no cost.
If you get a chance to train with Ryan and crew, lemme know if you find any evidence of the material being “watered down”. rofl2
Leam
Re: Are we being true to the system?
I agree about the video taping…we’ve had a few news stories done out of the Maryland facilities, and the reporters who are filming the piece are interested in making it what will interest viewers, not what will accurately represent the spirit of the system.
Re: Are we being true to the system?
quote Ryan:Wait, is Leam agreeing with me or not?😉
Everyone pictured in your avatar can beat me up, what do you think?
:combat:
Leam
Re: Are we being true to the system?
All we know from that video is that they intended to do a segment on a “new fitness craze” or something similar. Most people don’t put much thought into self defense, but lots of people want to “get fit”, whatever that means to them. Most of them now seem to be clogging my gym. Ahh yes, the “New Year’s Resolutioners”. At least they’ll all be gone in a month so I won’t have to wait while some skinny kid does 10 sets of bicep curls in the squat rack. But I digress…
Even if KM were getting “watered down”, TV segments like that would not be the way to judge it. You can’t judge the system, good or bad, based on a first lesson by a tv reporter, and with no information about the school, the instructors, or the students, you can’t even make a judgement on that particular school.
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