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| Me with the founder of the Haganah F.I.G.H.T system, Mike Lee Kanareck |
I have been warned by people that Mike Lee is a straight forward, no sh*t kind of guy. He's blunt, can come off a bit crude, and I don't think I have heard so many F-bombs in one place at a martial arts event. But I was prepared! Haganah is a mixture of a few Israeli martial arts such as Krav Maga. It is a very militant martial art and survival is the name of the game. When it comes to survival, you have to brutal, and you have to be cut throat, literally.
Mike has been there. He knows what it is like. He shared stories that would shock you if you experienced what he was, or witnessed what he has. But underneath that rough and tough exterior, he was truly a brilliant intellectual who had some fantastic philosophy and critical mind.
Watching Mike Lee instruct in his system was truly an experience and honor. I love watching a master at work. I won't give many details of the seminar out of respect for the information he gave at the seminar (If you want it you should have came to the seminar!!) but I do want to point out some amazing underlying philosophical views that really resonated within me from Mike Lee.
He drew a pyramid like structure of the systematic way we should train for a fight. It would involve a lot of tactics, strategy, and tools. One thing he said was "You must always manage the fight, or the fight will manage you." You don't want to be right behind one enemy and not see the rest, but you also don't want to be the guy far away to see the whole army, you'd rather be the guy up in the sky in the chopper managing the operation.
But he brought up, whether people at the seminar picked up on it or not, a broader view of this. He amended his statement to "Manage your life, or your life will manage you." It was there that I saw his pyramid for trainng was not only structure for the F.I.G.H.T system, but a map for life within itself. From preparation, to movement, to managing, it went deeper than most would see.
He also had two things that were hard for me to accept, and I would have loved to have an intellectual debate about them. He said he hated the word "plateau" in this country. No one ever plateaus he said. People just reach their maximum capacity. This was difficult for me, because in my experience and training, I have always preached and always experienced, just when you think you can't get better (physically or mentally) you find a way. I am a perfectionist that does not believe in perfection and always happy but never satisfied by raising that peak higher and higher. Practice makes better, in my experience, no matter what. So this idea of maximum capacity was difficult. Mike would probably just say that I haven't reached my maximum capacity yet. I really wanted to ask him if there was anyone who surprised him and pushed past what he thought their maximum capacity was.
I did agree with that people will always be faster, stronger, bigger; but you can always be smarter and be able to win the fight. However, I spoke to my Aunt Karen on the subject and she brought out a great point. She said "Honey, sometimes you don't progress upwards, some times you can progress outwards." Well that made great sense to me. So maybe I can see where Mike was coming from.
Then we were working on a specific drill to find out of a plethora of techniques, which we felt most comfortable and dominant with to use in combat. He said this will be the one we use no matter what for the rest of our lives and should master it. Only he can master them all because he is the founder, he said. Then he continued to say, the moment he cannot master them all as the founder, he will stop teaching. Mike plans on retiring when he hits fifty. I found this a little shocking.
Mike is a firm believer in if you can't do it yourself, you shouldn't teach it. The saying "Those who can't do, teach," he inserts the word "shouldn't". This contradict with a recent blog I posted about how I do know of some people who can teach but not do, but it was always a fear of mine to not be able to do what I teach. But how many people do I know who have coached and made the best of the best and know the theory inside and out, but could never do it themselves. How many coaches made Olympic medalists but never won one themselves? I even considered accepting that fact. Mike Lee would probably advise me to continue pushing to be my maximum level at whatever it is I am at if I plan on passing it down.
Most people know that I am SUPER sensitive. More so than what you see. So the people who know me best would really know just how strong skin I actually have. Mike is a ball buster to the tee. The entire time, in an almost relentless fashion, busted my chops when I told him I thought I was intellectual, and would even knock me when I did not answer or know like an intellectual would. It was all in jest, but almost to a point where it could get under your skin. But I knew his intentions were not to put me down (or at least I think lol) so anyone who ever wants to say I am oversensitive can ask the people who were at that seminar, I have thicker skin than you think! So in your ear!
The one thing that did strike me hard was once again something that had deeper meaning and understanding. Everyone knows I am super sensitive about revealing my age for a multitude of reasons. I have always felt it to be my prerogative to withhold my age from people and I expect that to be respected. Mike Lee asked me many times, and I at first joked, then quietly and respectfully said it for me to know.
But what I forgot was this is a militant man. When you're in combat, and you need information. You will get it. He asked my mentor to come over and said "Is he with you?" Master DeJesus said yes and then Mike slapped him across the face because I didn't tell him. Then he asked Master DeJesus what my age was and he told him. That struck me hard. This is where I did get oversensitive. Someone got hurt because of me. That devastated me in my heart. It was not a serious manner, but that hit a huge chord.
When in combat, you do what you must. When you don't get info, and you see what happens to someone else because of you, someone is telling somebody something. In a way it was a powerful lesson, but a deep one for me nonetheless.
The seminar itself was fantastic! I truly enjoyed the seminar and have a great deal of respect for Mike Lee. It was an honor to attend and he really has a brilliant mind and phenomenal experience that one should listen. I would love to sit down and interview him, pick his brain a little. I didn't have the chance, but he's got a few more years before retiring. Masters can always learn from different masters, and especially from ones that have been there. Mike Lee is one of those masters. Thank you sir for your insights and experience in this wonderful seminar, and thank you Master DeJesus for giving us the opportunity to be a part of this event!
MASTER TRENTO
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