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Jan 01
2007
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January 2007 NewsletterPosted by KMSF in newsletter, interview |
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From Barny's Desk
"Do or do not; there is no try."
Star Wars Jedi Master Yoda
To try new things is always good for the mind and spirit. It is spawned by the curiosity that fuels us all. The point that was being made by Yoda was either do the absolute best you can or don't do it at all. To try to do something usually means you are notgiving every bit of your concentration to the task at hand, or the here and now as Yoda would say. When training stay focused on what you are doing, not what is going on at work or what ever else you might be struggling with in your life. This will help you to clear your mind and enable you to get rid of the frustrations of the day while you cement the techniques you are working on.
Happy New Year
Barny
Announcements and Events
Food as Fuel
Learn how to eat for peak performance, decrease your body fat and build lean muscle mass.
Do you have extra holiday weight hanging around, and not dropping off as quickly as you would like? Do you feel like you are working out, but not losing the weight and getting the results you want?
Come to learn the fundamentals for nutrition, including: what and when to eat, meal planning, supplements, and nutrition for long term health care.
Date: Saturday, Febuary 10th., 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Cost: $15 for members
$20 non-members
Seminar: Head IKMF Instructor Eyal Yanilov
For one day only, Head IKMF Instructor Eyal Yanilov is coming from Israel to Berkeley for a one day seminar. For more than 20 years, Eyal Yanilov was the closest assistant of to the founder of Krav Maga, Imi Lichtenfeld. He holds the highest degree in the system and has been teaching Krav Maga for over 30 years worldwide to law enforcement, military, vip protection and civilians.
Seminar Subjects:
When: Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
Time: 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm for the general public
For law enforcement and instructors, also from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
Where: 1500 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703
Cost: $85.00 by January 20th, $100 at the door
For more information and signing up, call Danny at 415-269-3199
Annual Member Survey - We need more of your opinions!
At the Krav Maga Training Center in San Francisco we are always looking for ways to improve. During the next few weeks, we would like to hear your input, feedback and suggestions. It will help us continue meeting the needs of our members and identify any areas that require our attention. Thanks in advance and please get your surveys turned in by January 15th. On January 20th we will draw 3 names from surveys turned in and each person will receive a 1 hour private lesson with the instructor of their choice.
Interview: Head Instructor and KMSF Owner Barny Foland
KMSF: What got you started on martial arts? Was Chinese Boxing your first exposure?
BF: Chinese Boxing was my first style. I started really late, I was almost 40. I was looking for something to do as an aerobic workout. I was strong, because I'd done construction all my life, but as far as any kind of aerobic workout no. Gail took me to a couple Jazzercise classes and we tried so other options, but nothing fit. She was actually the one who met Roger (our former Chinese Boxing teacher), and hooked me up with him, and as you know, I was there pretty much every night that he was open. I ended up doing that nearly 10 years.
KMSF: Do you remember what your first impressions of it were?
BF: I loved it. After the first class, I was sold. I went every day and as I got in shape increased to 2 classes in a row as often as I could. I had looked at different styles of martial arts, and I found I wasn’t really into doing the forms and katas. That's what I really liked about our style of Chinese Boxing. I think that's the a big problem with traditional martial arts, and why a lot of people don't stick with them. You start out learning forms, they're a big part of being able to advance. They help you learn how to move, and improve your hand-eye coordination, but most people don't understand that until they've moved up in the ranks a bit and really want to learn.
KMSF: It seems like anyone who is interested in using it runs into the barrier of "Well, I'm studying something, and I just don't use it when I fight," so it's easy to lose interest unless you're really into the art form.
BF: Yeah. And you know, I grew up fighting - I lived in a not great neighborhood and ran around with some of the bad boys. Never had any formal training as far as fighting goes. It was just "Don't quit", so I already had that built into me.
KMSF: That's a critical component for sure. So you did some other athletic activities, though, right? You picked it up pretty quickly.
BF: I was always athletic in high school. I did a couple years of college, but I didn't have time for sports because I was already married and in and out of the service. But yeah, I was athletically inclined. I played football, and was captain of the track team in high school. Played city league softball until I was 30, then blew out my knee and quit playing all sports after that. My surgeon told me I was done, that there was nothing left to put it back together if I blew it out again. So I went for several years without doing anything. After a few years I started to see how far I could go without my knee hurting. I tried water skiing, snow skiing and riding motorcycles. I figured if I could get away with all that, then there was no reason why I couldn't try to do martial arts. Just put a brace on the knee and go.
KMSF: So what about the transition to Krav? Tell me about your transition to being an instructor, aside from the business end of things.
BF: Roger told me about it. He had read an article and then went to LA to check out the system. He was interested in the practicality of the style but found out that to be a licensed school you needed 2 instructors. He approached me about becoming his partner. I didn't think I was ready for it, but he did. I was questioning my ability to be able to go through the instructors course but he said, "Ah, you'll be fine." So I went to LA with him to do phase 1 training. My first trip to the national training center was nine days - I was exposed to pretty much everything in level 1 and level 2, and I was sold immediately. It was so practical, and so direct and easy to absorb. I knew that this system was perfect for everyone. It was fun to learn, easy to remember, a great cardio workout, Plus I got to fight [laughs].
KMSF: So what was your experience meeting Darren? I know you got to train with him a lot, he was running the whole thing, right?
BF: Darrin was there for four days the first time we went down, and then two or three days during each of the other seven-day trips. I was very lucky to be in one of the first few groups to go through instructor training and spend that much time learning from him. We were told before we went to our first class that we could not train in tank tops or shorts. So there we are, at our very first class, in our Krav gear waiting for our instructor who was suppose to be the top ranked Krav Maga instructor in the US and in comes this big guy dressed in a tank top and shorts. Darrin's physique is not exactly the image most people have of what a "martial artist, fitness instructor" is suppose to look like. We all kind of looked at each other and thought "This is him?? Welll Ohh-kay we’ll see!" And then he started to move. And I'm like, "Wow", the way he did things, the way he explains them and his enthusiasm for the system, it was awe inspiring. After watching him I understood why he's number one in the United States.
KMSF: So talk to me a little bit about the business of krav maga. You were doing contracting before, right? So this has really gotten you into a completely different career.
BF: I was a general contractor for nearly twenty years. I got burned out on it, and was looking for something else to do. I've always been one to have a job and a hobby, and I put as much time into both as I possibly can. And when I got a chance to make my hobby my business, it made a lot of sense. When I went to LA for instructor training we were also exposed to business s seminars. I saw what a successful business had been created there and knew that we could do the same thing here in San Francisco.
When we moved here 4 years ago we opened with about 50 students. Right now, we're well over 400 and growing rapidly but its taken a long time to grow into this space and it definitely has been a struggle financially. We have tried to create an atmosphere that’s fun, friendly and without competition so that no one feels they have to prove anything to prove to other students. And I think that is what has made us grow and thanks to the loyalty of our students we have brought in a architect to do designs so we can get bids to do the improvements we all know we need. Number one is bringing the ventilation system up to par then working on making the class rooms larger, incorporating the shower/locker rooms and bathrooms to make them one area instead of two then downstairs besides the weight room adding 1 or 2 classrooms and a bathroom. It will be a nice project, it’ll cost us some money but it will be worth it.
KMSF: So it was just the two of you, and now you have a staff of 20 people. How has it been for you, developing a staff?
BF: Exhausting! I'm still teaching a lot of classes, thank goodness it's not 28 a week like it was, but still about 12 regular classes a week, belt tests, seminars, private lessons, besides trying to keep on top of the building. Gabriel has been a great asset to us, getting more and more involved in things, and he was just awarded top program director of the year at the annual instructor meeting.
KMSF: As far as people you have here, it is one of the finest communities I've been around. There is a real lack of ego and competitiveness here.
BF: It’s the way we market our school. Since we don’t train for competition in Krav Maga we are all here to help each other learn and I think that includes the instructors as well. When students come in to ask about the school, we tell them that up front We are not a martial arts center, we have no competitions, we are all here to learn how to defend ourselves, get a good workout and support each other.
KMSF: What about how you've chosen to expand your curriculum? Did you have that strategy in mind from the beginning or not?
BF: We always planned on offering fitness classes, the cardio kickboxing and bag classes are part of the krav fitness system.
The marketing idea is Why go to the gym and wait in line for cardio machines, then watch TV, read or space out while you run nowhere when you can come here, get a better workout and actually learn something that might save your life. We have had such a great response to the conditioning classes that we have to add more in 2007. Gail really pushed for the yoga, and now I'm convinced. We want to have an all-in-one center, and yoga is part of that. As far as the other classes we try to offer our students as much diversity as we can. We also bring in different instructors for seminars to see if the students are interested and if we have enough interest we start by adding one class a week. We are not here to say what is the best we are here to offer our students what they want.
KMSF: There's a few students that say to me its part of their rotation now, when they're feeling worn down, they can revert to other types of exercise like the yoga so they can heal up and keep training.
BF: Oh definitely. That is what this center has become, and that is why we are growing like we are. It has taken a long time to get the word out about what we offer and as we grow we try to add more. We also keep students longer by offering so much and each year we do a survey to find out what the students want next so we are giving them not only diversity but also the classes they are interested in trying out.
KMSF: So how long have you been doing martial arts?
BF: 16 plus years
KMSF: Are there ways that this type of training affects other areas of your life, like stress management or other relationships?
BF: Well how it's changed me mentally? I feel that I am proficient enough now to know there are few types of attacks that could come at me, especially from untrained attacker, that I couldn’t recognize and deal with. That gives me a certain amount of confidence that translates into every day life and shows in my attitude. When I walk down the street I'm not complacent, I'm aware of everything that's going on, I'm playing by the rules, trying not to talk on the cell phone, or look down. Even when I'm concentrating or upset about something, I instinctively keep my head up and stay aware. In that aspect, it absolutely has helped me. . I think once you have that awareness about you, people leave you alone anyway because they can recognize it.
KMSF: What are the things you tend to focus on with your students in classes?
BF: Body mechanics (laughing) Yes, I focus on it a lot. I'm not a big guy and yet I've had big guys I've played with tell me to please not hit them so hard. That's why I concentrate on body mechanics, because mechanics is what allows a small person to be able to strike really hard. You can describe a little or a lot, but if students are not getting the potential out of their striking it drives me crazy.
KMSF: Do you find that is an advantage while teaching women?
BF: Absolutely. Women have smaller frames than men. I want people walking out of here knowing how to deal with attacks. Mistakes with body mechanics are one of the things that makes a difference and I really focus on it.
KMSF: You seem to enjoy yourself a lot at work. Is this something you see yourself doing for a long time?
BF: I'm going to do this as long as I can physically. We are looking at extending our lease another 10 years, and we still have some time on our current lease. I'm 56 now, and in another 5 years I'll be past 60! And with the hours of teaching I do there is not a lot of energy left over to train so I would like to cut back a little on teaching and get back into training.
KMSF: Don't start acting your age now!
BF: I'll slow down a little, but I'll still be in the business of teaching, and look to bring more people in.
Back to Top
Training goals for 2007
Do you have any training goals you would like to share? Send me your lists of training goals for this year and I'll publish some of them next month. Here are some of mine:
"Do or do not; there is no try."
Star Wars Jedi Master Yoda
To try new things is always good for the mind and spirit. It is spawned by the curiosity that fuels us all. The point that was being made by Yoda was either do the absolute best you can or don't do it at all. To try to do something usually means you are notgiving every bit of your concentration to the task at hand, or the here and now as Yoda would say. When training stay focused on what you are doing, not what is going on at work or what ever else you might be struggling with in your life. This will help you to clear your mind and enable you to get rid of the frustrations of the day while you cement the techniques you are working on.
Happy New Year
Barny
Announcements and Events
Food as Fuel
Learn how to eat for peak performance, decrease your body fat and build lean muscle mass.
Do you have extra holiday weight hanging around, and not dropping off as quickly as you would like? Do you feel like you are working out, but not losing the weight and getting the results you want?
Come to learn the fundamentals for nutrition, including: what and when to eat, meal planning, supplements, and nutrition for long term health care.
Date: Saturday, Febuary 10th., 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Cost: $15 for members
$20 non-members
Seminar: Head IKMF Instructor Eyal Yanilov
For one day only, Head IKMF Instructor Eyal Yanilov is coming from Israel to Berkeley for a one day seminar. For more than 20 years, Eyal Yanilov was the closest assistant of to the founder of Krav Maga, Imi Lichtenfeld. He holds the highest degree in the system and has been teaching Krav Maga for over 30 years worldwide to law enforcement, military, vip protection and civilians.
Seminar Subjects:
- Krav maga concepts, techniques and tactics.
- Defending unarmed attacks
- Defending knife attacks
- Ground situations in the street
- Street self-defense and fighting skills
- Multiple attackers, mental training, and more
When: Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
Time: 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm for the general public
For law enforcement and instructors, also from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
Where: 1500 Ashby Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94703
Cost: $85.00 by January 20th, $100 at the door
For more information and signing up, call Danny at 415-269-3199
Annual Member Survey - We need more of your opinions!
At the Krav Maga Training Center in San Francisco we are always looking for ways to improve. During the next few weeks, we would like to hear your input, feedback and suggestions. It will help us continue meeting the needs of our members and identify any areas that require our attention. Thanks in advance and please get your surveys turned in by January 15th. On January 20th we will draw 3 names from surveys turned in and each person will receive a 1 hour private lesson with the instructor of their choice.
Interview: Head Instructor and KMSF Owner Barny Foland
KMSF: What got you started on martial arts? Was Chinese Boxing your first exposure?
BF: Chinese Boxing was my first style. I started really late, I was almost 40. I was looking for something to do as an aerobic workout. I was strong, because I'd done construction all my life, but as far as any kind of aerobic workout no. Gail took me to a couple Jazzercise classes and we tried so other options, but nothing fit. She was actually the one who met Roger (our former Chinese Boxing teacher), and hooked me up with him, and as you know, I was there pretty much every night that he was open. I ended up doing that nearly 10 years.
KMSF: Do you remember what your first impressions of it were?
BF: I loved it. After the first class, I was sold. I went every day and as I got in shape increased to 2 classes in a row as often as I could. I had looked at different styles of martial arts, and I found I wasn’t really into doing the forms and katas. That's what I really liked about our style of Chinese Boxing. I think that's the a big problem with traditional martial arts, and why a lot of people don't stick with them. You start out learning forms, they're a big part of being able to advance. They help you learn how to move, and improve your hand-eye coordination, but most people don't understand that until they've moved up in the ranks a bit and really want to learn.
KMSF: It seems like anyone who is interested in using it runs into the barrier of "Well, I'm studying something, and I just don't use it when I fight," so it's easy to lose interest unless you're really into the art form.
BF: Yeah. And you know, I grew up fighting - I lived in a not great neighborhood and ran around with some of the bad boys. Never had any formal training as far as fighting goes. It was just "Don't quit", so I already had that built into me.
KMSF: That's a critical component for sure. So you did some other athletic activities, though, right? You picked it up pretty quickly.
BF: I was always athletic in high school. I did a couple years of college, but I didn't have time for sports because I was already married and in and out of the service. But yeah, I was athletically inclined. I played football, and was captain of the track team in high school. Played city league softball until I was 30, then blew out my knee and quit playing all sports after that. My surgeon told me I was done, that there was nothing left to put it back together if I blew it out again. So I went for several years without doing anything. After a few years I started to see how far I could go without my knee hurting. I tried water skiing, snow skiing and riding motorcycles. I figured if I could get away with all that, then there was no reason why I couldn't try to do martial arts. Just put a brace on the knee and go.
KMSF: So what about the transition to Krav? Tell me about your transition to being an instructor, aside from the business end of things.
BF: Roger told me about it. He had read an article and then went to LA to check out the system. He was interested in the practicality of the style but found out that to be a licensed school you needed 2 instructors. He approached me about becoming his partner. I didn't think I was ready for it, but he did. I was questioning my ability to be able to go through the instructors course but he said, "Ah, you'll be fine." So I went to LA with him to do phase 1 training. My first trip to the national training center was nine days - I was exposed to pretty much everything in level 1 and level 2, and I was sold immediately. It was so practical, and so direct and easy to absorb. I knew that this system was perfect for everyone. It was fun to learn, easy to remember, a great cardio workout, Plus I got to fight [laughs].
KMSF: So what was your experience meeting Darren? I know you got to train with him a lot, he was running the whole thing, right?
BF: Darrin was there for four days the first time we went down, and then two or three days during each of the other seven-day trips. I was very lucky to be in one of the first few groups to go through instructor training and spend that much time learning from him. We were told before we went to our first class that we could not train in tank tops or shorts. So there we are, at our very first class, in our Krav gear waiting for our instructor who was suppose to be the top ranked Krav Maga instructor in the US and in comes this big guy dressed in a tank top and shorts. Darrin's physique is not exactly the image most people have of what a "martial artist, fitness instructor" is suppose to look like. We all kind of looked at each other and thought "This is him?? Welll Ohh-kay we’ll see!" And then he started to move. And I'm like, "Wow", the way he did things, the way he explains them and his enthusiasm for the system, it was awe inspiring. After watching him I understood why he's number one in the United States.
KMSF: So talk to me a little bit about the business of krav maga. You were doing contracting before, right? So this has really gotten you into a completely different career.
BF: I was a general contractor for nearly twenty years. I got burned out on it, and was looking for something else to do. I've always been one to have a job and a hobby, and I put as much time into both as I possibly can. And when I got a chance to make my hobby my business, it made a lot of sense. When I went to LA for instructor training we were also exposed to business s seminars. I saw what a successful business had been created there and knew that we could do the same thing here in San Francisco.
When we moved here 4 years ago we opened with about 50 students. Right now, we're well over 400 and growing rapidly but its taken a long time to grow into this space and it definitely has been a struggle financially. We have tried to create an atmosphere that’s fun, friendly and without competition so that no one feels they have to prove anything to prove to other students. And I think that is what has made us grow and thanks to the loyalty of our students we have brought in a architect to do designs so we can get bids to do the improvements we all know we need. Number one is bringing the ventilation system up to par then working on making the class rooms larger, incorporating the shower/locker rooms and bathrooms to make them one area instead of two then downstairs besides the weight room adding 1 or 2 classrooms and a bathroom. It will be a nice project, it’ll cost us some money but it will be worth it.
KMSF: So it was just the two of you, and now you have a staff of 20 people. How has it been for you, developing a staff?
BF: Exhausting! I'm still teaching a lot of classes, thank goodness it's not 28 a week like it was, but still about 12 regular classes a week, belt tests, seminars, private lessons, besides trying to keep on top of the building. Gabriel has been a great asset to us, getting more and more involved in things, and he was just awarded top program director of the year at the annual instructor meeting.
KMSF: As far as people you have here, it is one of the finest communities I've been around. There is a real lack of ego and competitiveness here.
BF: It’s the way we market our school. Since we don’t train for competition in Krav Maga we are all here to help each other learn and I think that includes the instructors as well. When students come in to ask about the school, we tell them that up front We are not a martial arts center, we have no competitions, we are all here to learn how to defend ourselves, get a good workout and support each other.
KMSF: What about how you've chosen to expand your curriculum? Did you have that strategy in mind from the beginning or not?
BF: We always planned on offering fitness classes, the cardio kickboxing and bag classes are part of the krav fitness system.
The marketing idea is Why go to the gym and wait in line for cardio machines, then watch TV, read or space out while you run nowhere when you can come here, get a better workout and actually learn something that might save your life. We have had such a great response to the conditioning classes that we have to add more in 2007. Gail really pushed for the yoga, and now I'm convinced. We want to have an all-in-one center, and yoga is part of that. As far as the other classes we try to offer our students as much diversity as we can. We also bring in different instructors for seminars to see if the students are interested and if we have enough interest we start by adding one class a week. We are not here to say what is the best we are here to offer our students what they want.
KMSF: There's a few students that say to me its part of their rotation now, when they're feeling worn down, they can revert to other types of exercise like the yoga so they can heal up and keep training.
BF: Oh definitely. That is what this center has become, and that is why we are growing like we are. It has taken a long time to get the word out about what we offer and as we grow we try to add more. We also keep students longer by offering so much and each year we do a survey to find out what the students want next so we are giving them not only diversity but also the classes they are interested in trying out.
KMSF: So how long have you been doing martial arts?
BF: 16 plus years
KMSF: Are there ways that this type of training affects other areas of your life, like stress management or other relationships?
BF: Well how it's changed me mentally? I feel that I am proficient enough now to know there are few types of attacks that could come at me, especially from untrained attacker, that I couldn’t recognize and deal with. That gives me a certain amount of confidence that translates into every day life and shows in my attitude. When I walk down the street I'm not complacent, I'm aware of everything that's going on, I'm playing by the rules, trying not to talk on the cell phone, or look down. Even when I'm concentrating or upset about something, I instinctively keep my head up and stay aware. In that aspect, it absolutely has helped me. . I think once you have that awareness about you, people leave you alone anyway because they can recognize it.
KMSF: What are the things you tend to focus on with your students in classes?
BF: Body mechanics (laughing) Yes, I focus on it a lot. I'm not a big guy and yet I've had big guys I've played with tell me to please not hit them so hard. That's why I concentrate on body mechanics, because mechanics is what allows a small person to be able to strike really hard. You can describe a little or a lot, but if students are not getting the potential out of their striking it drives me crazy.
KMSF: Do you find that is an advantage while teaching women?
BF: Absolutely. Women have smaller frames than men. I want people walking out of here knowing how to deal with attacks. Mistakes with body mechanics are one of the things that makes a difference and I really focus on it.
KMSF: You seem to enjoy yourself a lot at work. Is this something you see yourself doing for a long time?
BF: I'm going to do this as long as I can physically. We are looking at extending our lease another 10 years, and we still have some time on our current lease. I'm 56 now, and in another 5 years I'll be past 60! And with the hours of teaching I do there is not a lot of energy left over to train so I would like to cut back a little on teaching and get back into training.
KMSF: Don't start acting your age now!
BF: I'll slow down a little, but I'll still be in the business of teaching, and look to bring more people in.
Back to Top
Training goals for 2007
Do you have any training goals you would like to share? Send me your lists of training goals for this year and I'll publish some of them next month. Here are some of mine:
- get another Krav belt or two
- stretch more often
- drink more water
- practice more Chinese Boxing
- spar more often
- do more groundfighting
- work legs and kicking more
- get back up to 30 pull-ups
- rock climb a few times
- teach another seminar
- avoid injuries that keep me from training
- take more of other teacher's classes
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