This picture I have chosen from my camera roll tells of a story that holds a lot of value to me. It was taken a few years ago in the middle of my Level 2 test in Commando Krav Maga (CKM). I am a martial artist, and I used to train in CKM for about one and a half years. CKM is very unique from other traditional martial arts in that it is a combination of all the other arts. It is commonly referred to as the “stolen art” for this very reason. It was developed in Israel for the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) to use in combat at a time when war was being waged on all fronts. It is extremely practical and effective against things such as multiple attackers, knife or gun wielding attackers, and simply hand to hand combat. Another thing that is interesting about CKM is that it does not go by the belt system, it instead uses levels. There are eight levels total, and it takes 25+ years for a typical person to get to level 8.
In the picture, I am in the process of training to become level 2. This was my first test, and I had extensive preparation leading up to that day. More specifically, I was in the middle of the technique portion of the test, in which I had to rehearse all of the techniques I had learned up to that point from memory.
After this part, I went through what we called the “live” testing portion. This is the part of the test when I am attacked by multiple attackers for four minutes, right after doing an intense cardio workout. We had to carry one 50 pound sandbag in each arm while sprinting back and forth across the room from wall to wall, while being timed. The time we had was determined by having us sprint one lap as fast as we could, that time was then multiplied by the number of laps we had to do (10), and we were expected to run each lap as quickly as we had for our first one. Obviously this idea was put together with the intentions of us failing, and when we inevitably did we had to walk the bags back and forth 10 times. If it puts it into perspective, one of my training partners pinched his sciatic nerve from doing this, and was consequently out for about 6 months. As soon as I had touched the wall the tenth time, four of my training partners armed with training knifes, guns, and the intention to make it as difficult as possible for me, surrounded me and began attacking.
After being completely physically exhausted, I had to put to test all of the things I had learned for the past year. At the very end of the four minutes in the “live” portion, my head instructor picked up a gun and held it to me, which I knew was my final test. However, what I was not ready for, was the open handed smack across the side of the head that I received.
In the end though, I did pass my test and was promoted to level 2. This was an extremely gratifying moment for me, and this picture represents a day of my life that I am very proud of.
