Robert's Technology Journal

Like most guys who work in the Information Technology field I’m overweight and out of shape. So this summer I set out to change this and break out of the fat geek stereotype. My plan for this included signing up for some type of Martial Art, but with so many to choose from I had a hard time choosing one. Luckily for me I was able to narrow it down to a few choices (Aikido, Judo, Karate, Krav Maga, Mixed Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi, or Wing Chun) that were offered through my employer the University of Utah. After reviewing my options I narrowed it down to three options, Judo, Krav Maga, and MMA. In reality I only had two options since Judo wasn’t offered until the fall. Given the choice between the two I think I would rather learn Krav Maga than spend my time wrestling around with a bunch of hot head college students wanting to learn how to become the next MMA superstar.

At first I didn’t know much about Krav Maga other than the fact that Cote de Pablo’s NCIS character Ziva David has extensive training in Krav Maga. After few days of research I came to the conclusion that Krav Maga is one of the better Martial Arts for self defense. I believe it’s focus on street fighting, knife attacks, and gun attacks would better benefit me if I were to come in contact with someone who wanted to rob me. After all I’m working a second job as a pizza delivery driver. With my new found information I was ready to sign up for class.

This past Wednesday was my first class, and not knowing what to expect I was both a little excited and nervous. For the first forty five minutes of class we went over the safety rules of class and the history of Krav Maga. It was interesting, but at the same time boring as well. As it turns out Krav Maga has only been around for a small fraction of time, sixty four years, compared to the thousands of years for some Martial Arts. After going over the information it was time for our warmup, which by the way almost killed me. Afterwards we began our lesson on the proper fighting stance, three of the seven elbow strikes and a knee strike to the groin. As it turns out the knee strike to the groin is the essence of Krav Maga according to The Simpsons.



One thing the Instructor warned us about was that we would experience pain in muscles that we did not think we had; well she turned out to be half right. I’m very aware of my hamstring and after Wednesday’s class I began wondering if this was the right thing for me. You see I ended up pulling my hamstring while learning how to properly deliver a knee to the groin. I don’t necessary believe in Krama, but I do believe in following the man code, and that includes never hitting below the belt in a fight. As a result my injury must be a related to learning to break the man code. However if it is a life or death situation I’m sure the man code has an exception for this. After a day and half with the ice pack I’m back to normal. Hopefully next week I’ll be able to reman injury free.