Using Your Head

Gershon Ben Keren

Tue 29th May 2018

I have been knocked out twice, both times were by headbutts. One, I never saw coming– I walked into the “wrong” bar, and a seemingly friendly patron who was interested in the part of town I was from, smashed his skull into mine, as I started to answer. The other was during a verbal confrontation, that I thought I was handling – there’s having control, and then there’s the illusion of control. Both times, I was fortunate that there were other people with me, and that my assailants didn’t follow their attacks up. Both incidents occurred in Glasgow, in my...Click To Read More

Block or Cover?

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 21st May 2018

Last week, I wrote about some of the lessons that those of us concerned with reality-based self-defense  can take from MMA and Combat Sports, such as recognizing that catching punches from blocks etc. isn’t practical or viable e.g. if it was possible to do, with all the money that is in these sports, somebody would have found a way to do it etc. In this article, I want to look at some of the things I teach and practice in Krav Maga, and why these things aren’t seen in MMA and Combat Sports. I have heard and seen several arguments...Click To Read More

What The Pro's Don't Do

Gershon Ben Keren

Tue 15th May 2018

There are things I want to be true but know/understand that they can’t be. As a Judoka, I’d love to believe it was possible to throw off a punch, but my experience tells me otherwise; I’ve tried to do it, but it’s never worked: not in sparring or reality. When it comes to real-life violence, we need to be honest with ourselves e.g. we can’t change an attack, in order to get our techniques/solutions to work. I could set up a training partner, to make such a punch, that would allow me to execute a throw off it, but I’d...Click To Read More

Critical Vs Cult-like Thinking

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 7th May 2018

Last Autumn, I went back to school to do a second Master’s. It had been over 20-years since I’d been in academia, and I needed to both broaden and update my perspectives. My self-study approach to both psychology and criminology, had run its course, and I was in a situation where I didn’t know, what I didn’t know. I wanted to engage in thinking critically about what I already knew; as well as learn things I didn’t. This is something that is encouraged in academic circles (my professors don’t want me to read only one opinion), but which is often...Click To Read More