Going Biblical

Our gym has a couple of biblical sayings painted on the walls. They are there for a reason as they represent the mindset and philosophy of what we stand for. The sayings are:

"The Guardian of Israel will not sleep nor slumber" (Psalms 121), and "My rock that trains my hand for war, my fingers for battle" (Pslams 144).

It is easy to get caught up in the religious and metaphysical aspect of any biblical statement, and especially these two. But if we take a second look, can we actually learn something practical from them? The answer of course is: yes we can!

Think about what we do at Masada each and every day. We train. We train hard. And we do so with a purpose. Many heard me speak of the Sheepdog mentality, a term coined by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman who spoke of sheep (general populous), wolves (the "bad guys") and the sheepdogs (the protectors of the sheep from the wolves).

We teach skills that can hurt, maim, and even kill another human being. But we never take it for granted, and furthermore we teach how to utilize those skills in order to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our community. It may not be Israel in the pure sense of the saying, but for us, Israel refers to our brothers and sisters here in the USA, just as much as it does in Israel the country.

To drive this point home even further: we have all heard in recent days about the "Knockout Game".  What few realize is that the game has been around for a while. It is not a new thing. And it is not a game, but rather a racially motivated hate crime. Targets are black people, Jews, and other minorities. Our "Israel" is right here in our back yards, and we vow to guard the people we care about.

But it is one thing to want to guard and protect, and another to have the skills to actually do it. At the end of the day, that is what we do at Masada. We train. We train your "hands and fingers" for war. We provide you with skills, a gym to get stronger, and drills to improve your situational awareness  and tactical analysis abilities. We train. We teach you how to strike and kick, and how to defend against various types of attacks. We train.

So we dug deeper, can the scripture, that has been handed down from generation to generation give us actual skills? We found out that the list was long, from describing strikes to weapon fighting skills, and even tactics for how to wage war. But we liked one specifically. This one is taken from the Talmud, which is the basis for Judaic law. The statement is Aramaic and reads "דבתר רישא גופא אזיל" which translates into: After the head the body goes. Or, the way we say it in classes, where the head goes the body follows. When trying to control another person, control their head and you can take them down, pick them up, or take them out all together.

So stay sharp, train your hands for combat and your fingers for war and guard your "Israel".

As always, stays safe. 

Tzviel 'BK' Blankchtein

Masada Tactical