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Sep 01
2006
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September 2006 NewsletterPosted by KMSF in newsletter, interview |
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From Barny's Desk
Most people don’t aim too high and miss, they aim too low and hit.
We have lost a member of the Krav Maga family. Marni Levine, one of the top instructors at the Krav Maga National Training Center and the wife of US Chief Instructor Darren Levine, passed away due to a long struggle with cancer. She set her sights high and achievedthe ranking of 4th degree Black Belt, and was becoming of the top officials of Krav Maga World Wide, the governing body for Krav Maga in the US. Marni was one of my first Krav Maga instructors and from the first she showed me just how much she deserved the position she had attained. It is with great sorrow that we must say goodbye to such a great instructor, she will be missed greatly by all who had the fortune to know and study with her.
Barny
Announcements and Events
To see an online memorial for Marni Levine, click here: www.kravmaga.com/marni
Eat healthy, save time and lose weight
Krav Maga SF is now offering Diet-To-Go meal plans. Come see (and taste) why Diet-to-Go is becoming the plan of choice for people looking to eat healthy, save time and lose weight. Get your free sample and brochure now!
Come try Diet-to-Go food on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 12th and 13th from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Diet-to-Go Benefits:
October 28th
1:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Defense against common Gun attacks from all angles and threats.
Training guns will be provided.
Cost: Sign up by October 10th - $65, after October 10th goes to $79
Women's Self Defense Seminar
November 4th and 5th
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM each day Saturday and Sunday
The Seminar is designed to train participants with simulated exercises that include the psychological and physical aspects of a real attack or sexual assault. Participants will learn environmental awareness as well as many defenses, both verbal and physical, that can be used when most needed in a confrontation. This women’s only seminar is a lot of fun, a terrific workout, and is a must for any woman.
Cost: $149 for both days
Upcoming Belt Tests
Orange Belt Test
Saturday September 16th
Yellow Belt Test
Saturday October 14th
Interview: Matvey Chaban
Last Wednesday night one of our students came over to cook pelmeni, a kind of tender meat filled Eastern European ravioli, and drink copious amounts of vodka. Yes, on a school night. I met Matvey in a strike and fight class a couple years ago. Afterwards, he asked me to train him and I've worked with him periodically since then. I've enjoy working with him a great deal, he always seems to enjoy life, trains hard yet under control, and treats everyone with respect. Here he is with Head Instructor Barny Foland after his first belt test in 2003. We cooked artichokes, boiled the pelmeni, poured some shots and talked at the kitchen table.
KMSF: How old were you when you left the Ukraine?
MC: 11 years old, we came straight to San Francisco.
KMSF: What was it that made your family move here?
MC: Basically, it was the discrimination against us, and the fact that I would not advance anywhere in my life. There was no future in being an honest citizen. The Soviet Union broke apart in 91, and that's when a lot of the states gained their independence. Basically there was no more standard of living, so anything goes. If you can be what you can be, you will be it. If it's illegal, no problem.
KMSF: So just surviving in any way that you can. You were 11 years old, who made that decision to leave? Your father?
MC: The family! Everybody said, screw this, we're leaving.
KMSF: You are the first generation American then. Where do you guys all live now?
In the Sunset. If anybody needs self defense stuff, my Dad owns a self defense store in Pacifica. I recommend that every one carry pepper spray, everyone should own a can of it, while it's still legal. In the country I grew up in, you couldn't own anything. Countries that abuse their citizens, don't want them to have weapons. So in America, we have the freedom to own weapons, we can defend ourselves.
KMSF: What got you started in Krav? What gave you the idea that you needed to protect yourself? The things you've already told me, if you'd stayed in the Ukraine you would have needed these skills in order to protect yourself there but -
MC: Not even in the Ukraine! Even here in San Francisco, there have been situations where I have been faced with multiple opponents, not necessarily of better skills - but in quantity, and I really wanted to learn the most effective way to defend myself without going down. I have had 15 people on me and I couldn't even get up. I've been kicked in the crotch, if you get kicked real hard and precisely there, you can't do shit! So number one, I really wanted to learn how to prevent myself from getting into these situations, and number two, if I do get into these situations, what to do. Nowhere else did I learn multiple opponents against one. Krav Maga was the first place where I learned about multiple opponents.
KMSF: Did you study other martial arts?
MC: Yes sir, I studied boxing for 3 or 4 years, even though I didn't feel successful with it, it still contributed, but it was still a one on one opponent perspective. That didn't work in a street situation where you have multiple opponents. You take one down and the others come at you and then what do you do?
KMSF: Did you look at other marital arts before you settled on Krav Maga?
MC: I looked at kung fu, I looked at taekwondo, I looked a few ground fighting styles like jujitsu and sambo but after what I saw in Israel I believed Krav Maga would give me a superior knowledge base over anything else.
KMSF: You went to Israel?
MC: Yes, in 2003 and 2005. Unfortunately I didn't train there but I was exposed to different Israeli Army members that knew about Krav Maga and they enlightened me on it. A good example was when three ex-IDF members went to the Czech Republic, and they were talking to some women. Their boyfriends came out, their friends came out, and pretty soon it was a situation where there was twelve against three. In nice terms, the three Israeli Army members messed them up, each one of them was able to take on four people based on Krav Maga. That's what really enlightened me and inspired me to take on this self defense system.
KMSF: I know you've been through some things in your life that have given you a perspective that I don't usually find in young people, you let things go, you have an understanding of what your priorities in life are. I understood that when I first started working with you over a couple years ago. This may have nothing to do with martial arts. What did has your experience done to establish your hierarchy of priorities?
MC: Ok all right. You know what? This right here? (gesturing at me, the table, the food we are eating) This is worth everything. What we have now, is what people take for granted. You can put this in the interview. Everybody takes everything for granted. People think their whole life is granted to them, it's not. It's not. We have a certain time, and a certain ability in this life to do what we can do, or to do what we need to, and if we don't do it, we fail. If we do it, we surpass our expectations. That's where I come from.
On Loss and Life
It has been difficult to come up with a training article in light of what you may have read above about Marni Levine, the anniversary of September 11th, and to some extent Matvey's interview as well. Sometimes training must take a back seat to more fundamental matters. There are losses we may have suffered, opportunities we may have missed, or life-changing events we wish to remember this month. Even though there are disturbing things going on all over the world, usually our day to day experience provides us all the opportunities to correct ourselves and make a positive impact in our environment. We always have a choice, how do we respond? Here are a few basic positive attitudes we can choose. We can honor the lives of those we've lost by living our lives to the fullest. We can do what we can to raise the consciousness of ourselves and others. We can choose patience over irritation, and we can choose love over anger or hate.
We can do these things while doing everything else we must do on a daily basis; training here, dealing with people at work or within our families. We might not get to choose what we do, but we do always get to choose how we do it.
Most people don’t aim too high and miss, they aim too low and hit.
We have lost a member of the Krav Maga family. Marni Levine, one of the top instructors at the Krav Maga National Training Center and the wife of US Chief Instructor Darren Levine, passed away due to a long struggle with cancer. She set her sights high and achievedthe ranking of 4th degree Black Belt, and was becoming of the top officials of Krav Maga World Wide, the governing body for Krav Maga in the US. Marni was one of my first Krav Maga instructors and from the first she showed me just how much she deserved the position she had attained. It is with great sorrow that we must say goodbye to such a great instructor, she will be missed greatly by all who had the fortune to know and study with her.
Barny
Announcements and Events
To see an online memorial for Marni Levine, click here: www.kravmaga.com/marni
Eat healthy, save time and lose weight
Krav Maga SF is now offering Diet-To-Go meal plans. Come see (and taste) why Diet-to-Go is becoming the plan of choice for people looking to eat healthy, save time and lose weight. Get your free sample and brochure now!
Come try Diet-to-Go food on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 12th and 13th from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
Diet-to-Go Benefits:
- Tasty Meals
- Affordable Plans
- Calorie Portioned
- Dietitian Approved
- Traditional, Low-Carb and Vegetarian menus
October 28th
1:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Defense against common Gun attacks from all angles and threats.
Training guns will be provided.
Cost: Sign up by October 10th - $65, after October 10th goes to $79
Women's Self Defense Seminar
November 4th and 5th
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM each day Saturday and Sunday
The Seminar is designed to train participants with simulated exercises that include the psychological and physical aspects of a real attack or sexual assault. Participants will learn environmental awareness as well as many defenses, both verbal and physical, that can be used when most needed in a confrontation. This women’s only seminar is a lot of fun, a terrific workout, and is a must for any woman.
Cost: $149 for both days
Upcoming Belt Tests
Orange Belt Test
Saturday September 16th
Yellow Belt Test
Saturday October 14th
Interview: Matvey Chaban
Last Wednesday night one of our students came over to cook pelmeni, a kind of tender meat filled Eastern European ravioli, and drink copious amounts of vodka. Yes, on a school night. I met Matvey in a strike and fight class a couple years ago. Afterwards, he asked me to train him and I've worked with him periodically since then. I've enjoy working with him a great deal, he always seems to enjoy life, trains hard yet under control, and treats everyone with respect. Here he is with Head Instructor Barny Foland after his first belt test in 2003. We cooked artichokes, boiled the pelmeni, poured some shots and talked at the kitchen table.
KMSF: How old were you when you left the Ukraine?
MC: 11 years old, we came straight to San Francisco.
KMSF: What was it that made your family move here?
MC: Basically, it was the discrimination against us, and the fact that I would not advance anywhere in my life. There was no future in being an honest citizen. The Soviet Union broke apart in 91, and that's when a lot of the states gained their independence. Basically there was no more standard of living, so anything goes. If you can be what you can be, you will be it. If it's illegal, no problem.
KMSF: So just surviving in any way that you can. You were 11 years old, who made that decision to leave? Your father?
MC: The family! Everybody said, screw this, we're leaving.
KMSF: You are the first generation American then. Where do you guys all live now?
In the Sunset. If anybody needs self defense stuff, my Dad owns a self defense store in Pacifica. I recommend that every one carry pepper spray, everyone should own a can of it, while it's still legal. In the country I grew up in, you couldn't own anything. Countries that abuse their citizens, don't want them to have weapons. So in America, we have the freedom to own weapons, we can defend ourselves.
KMSF: What got you started in Krav? What gave you the idea that you needed to protect yourself? The things you've already told me, if you'd stayed in the Ukraine you would have needed these skills in order to protect yourself there but -
MC: Not even in the Ukraine! Even here in San Francisco, there have been situations where I have been faced with multiple opponents, not necessarily of better skills - but in quantity, and I really wanted to learn the most effective way to defend myself without going down. I have had 15 people on me and I couldn't even get up. I've been kicked in the crotch, if you get kicked real hard and precisely there, you can't do shit! So number one, I really wanted to learn how to prevent myself from getting into these situations, and number two, if I do get into these situations, what to do. Nowhere else did I learn multiple opponents against one. Krav Maga was the first place where I learned about multiple opponents.
KMSF: Did you study other martial arts?
MC: Yes sir, I studied boxing for 3 or 4 years, even though I didn't feel successful with it, it still contributed, but it was still a one on one opponent perspective. That didn't work in a street situation where you have multiple opponents. You take one down and the others come at you and then what do you do?
KMSF: Did you look at other marital arts before you settled on Krav Maga?
MC: I looked at kung fu, I looked at taekwondo, I looked a few ground fighting styles like jujitsu and sambo but after what I saw in Israel I believed Krav Maga would give me a superior knowledge base over anything else.
KMSF: You went to Israel?
MC: Yes, in 2003 and 2005. Unfortunately I didn't train there but I was exposed to different Israeli Army members that knew about Krav Maga and they enlightened me on it. A good example was when three ex-IDF members went to the Czech Republic, and they were talking to some women. Their boyfriends came out, their friends came out, and pretty soon it was a situation where there was twelve against three. In nice terms, the three Israeli Army members messed them up, each one of them was able to take on four people based on Krav Maga. That's what really enlightened me and inspired me to take on this self defense system.
KMSF: I know you've been through some things in your life that have given you a perspective that I don't usually find in young people, you let things go, you have an understanding of what your priorities in life are. I understood that when I first started working with you over a couple years ago. This may have nothing to do with martial arts. What did has your experience done to establish your hierarchy of priorities?
MC: Ok all right. You know what? This right here? (gesturing at me, the table, the food we are eating) This is worth everything. What we have now, is what people take for granted. You can put this in the interview. Everybody takes everything for granted. People think their whole life is granted to them, it's not. It's not. We have a certain time, and a certain ability in this life to do what we can do, or to do what we need to, and if we don't do it, we fail. If we do it, we surpass our expectations. That's where I come from.
On Loss and Life
It has been difficult to come up with a training article in light of what you may have read above about Marni Levine, the anniversary of September 11th, and to some extent Matvey's interview as well. Sometimes training must take a back seat to more fundamental matters. There are losses we may have suffered, opportunities we may have missed, or life-changing events we wish to remember this month. Even though there are disturbing things going on all over the world, usually our day to day experience provides us all the opportunities to correct ourselves and make a positive impact in our environment. We always have a choice, how do we respond? Here are a few basic positive attitudes we can choose. We can honor the lives of those we've lost by living our lives to the fullest. We can do what we can to raise the consciousness of ourselves and others. We can choose patience over irritation, and we can choose love over anger or hate.
We can do these things while doing everything else we must do on a daily basis; training here, dealing with people at work or within our families. We might not get to choose what we do, but we do always get to choose how we do it.
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