1. how and when did you start with martial arts?
2. The highlights of your career?
3. What are you most proud of?
4. When you teach, what is the most important message you want people to hear?
5. Who do you look up to?
6. When and how did Israel become such a big name for martial arts?
7. When did you meet Borut?
8. What do you think about him, his school and students?
9. In which direction will the world of martial arts go in the future?
10. If you think about your legacy, what do you wish it would be?
11. Message for our readers?
1. how and when did you start with martial arts?
I always joke with students as we all start from one Cell of sperm swimming faster than the others who pushes through with elbows kicking all others aside to be born…that’s when all of us begin our lives and Fight and survival in this world with the wish to born and to live , nine months later, with my mom having a hard time and almost loosing me too but I kept alive and was born and was rushed to the emergency room barely alive and had my entire blood supply replaced in a transfusion and my mom always joked that there were never more pipes and needles than a baby there…and for years I remember my childhood as a sick kid in hospitals and that whole start changing as I went to school and started training in Gymnastics as my father didn’t like martial arts at the time they started in Israel and since he had training as Judo and Jiujtsu and Krav he said he will teach me and it was not Fun as he was hardcore and I didn’t like the pain….at the same time I also looked at movies but the school janitor opened class being a former commando like my father and started teach us kids, a mix of Judo Karate Jiujutsu and Krav and we are talking at the late 60s so Martial arts haven’t been popular and established as today , even though it sounds funny but I think this was my main and paramount part for my martial art study building character to never give up and WIN and wish and love to martial arts that lead to the first “Enter the dragon” and Bruce Lee introducing martial arts as Magical and I run to study Judo and looked down at Karate thinking it looked ridiculous to me at the time with those strange non logical moves until I was faced a good friend Ofer Zaltsman ( a sad story as someone so talented ending bad ) who introduce me to Karate in the proper way and I started respecting and loving Karate and after my military service I went in Portugal to Gashuku with Morio Higahona and my eyes opened to see that I was right, got close to him and decide that If I wanted to study I must go to Japan , in Japan I studied under Tadano Tomiyaki who was seventh dan black belt under Morio Higahona , and from the second day in Japan I started Studing Kendo under Kubo Akira Sensei who was one of my best teachers ever and I remember myself becoming so exhausted in my private class and he would go have coffee and Sake while I had to take a nap. When he returned, he would wake me up and keep the class as it was too hard, one on one, while the public class looked better but I found Kendo to be very demanding and hard , when I got shodan in kendo, I had to travel time to time to more than a hundred other sensei to explore other styles by direction of Kubo Sensei and keep my class with him , he had in mind that I needed roots and than to explore more styles. I also started my Iaido and Jodo class and Jiujutsu Tai Ho Jutsu and Police Kendo at Shin Kiba and Kokoshikan university and Kyudo under Ono Sensei in ChiChibu it was an awesome period, very demanding with no time to breath and relax while starting improving and learning and planning for the World championship
When I returned to Israel I was ” Very Good ” at Israeli standards and funny as I moved to USA and been lucky to start studing under Professor John Machado I find out that there is so much more to study so the answer to when I started my study of martial art is TODAY and we are always students some time teachers agenda and the way and How are not important as we are always told its not the system name which counts, it is the teacher. Many times, students look at the name and not understand that one hundred teachers can name Krav to what they do but it is never similar
2. The highlights of your career?
The Highlights of my career changes with age. In my younger days, it was by winning and the ego took over as yes I’m the man, I’m strong and can defeat others , I’m the best and that is a segment changing fast as one understands that this kind of glory runs out fast and the champion of yesterday is forget in a few years and also it is not the way of martial art but still an important part of competition time
later as I had my own awesome dojo I had in mind I’m in my peak but after moving around and opening and closing so many dojo with my moving around the world, I also stopped seeing dojo as my peak and for me any field can be a dojo , my students winning competitions also looks at some high point and pride , and teaching special forces first in Israel and later worldwide also looks as a high career point but with time I have also grown from that phase and started teaching handicap kids and helped them change throughout, physically and mentally and see the change in them made me see it as highlight more than anything, then I started helping in Africa in poor slums and take kids into martial art study and keep them away from drugs and bad ways seemed as highlight and I think I’m still picking high ights and I’m not yet in my apex but its will come and only one day as I get too old and look back I can tell as which is my high lights
3. What are you most proud of ?
I think it’s hard to say and easier to state I’m not proud of as doing so many things I have also done so many mistakes and I can say I wish I could have fixed them but at the same time, it is better making mistakes and being sorry than feeling remorse later you didn’t do it…we study by making mistakes and that’s also my way to teach I don’t think students can perform all perfect from the beginning and they need do it even with mistakes with patient correction and each time you do more it gets better and by doing it for ever you will perfect the mistakes or if now teachers step in and get you direction you can clean mistakes but in end we are all teachers of ourselves and it depends what we look for, if we seek titles and ego, we will find that and if we look for what is true it is great but even than some small white lies are needed as truth can be also dangerous. I say we are here to be a light in the dark but not set fire consuming all, I’m mostly proud on successes to open and bring light to eyes who were cast in the dark and bring back light into eyes sunk in the abys , that is what I can say I am most proud of , many people with harsh experience in life lost the light and hope and you can see how the eyes turn dark and the ability to light the eyes again is within Martial art and in being a good Sensei
4. When you teach, what is the most important message you want people to hear?
It may sound bad and I smile for this question but first message is have the students paid ? many times students forget that teachers are just senior students and we have obligation to pay rent make sure to keep training safe and in good spirits and in Covid times I see many good teachers close the door as no training take place with no students paying and they cannot keep the doors open so when the students will want training the teacher will not be there anymore, the Relationship between teacher to student is very important message and also there is a difference between Sensei and Coach , there are many coaches, mostly in sports but to be a Sensei is much more than a Coach
Sensei is obligated to also teach Moral Ethics, Friendship becomes like Family ,we need to remember that education sans morality and ethic is without value and worthless. During the. holocaust we faced war that was orchestrated by evil who were at the same time very smart and educated. They were psychologists and therapists with high university ranks as MD doctors , important lawyers engineers and scientists and these top people were highly educated and thinkers yet evil at same time by missing the study of moral and ethics and they knew what will break us and that’s terror – fear , hide the truth and real information to control the media using propaganda and news which lead into depths of terror and evil , many coaches teach only the knowledge using good marketing in news but those miss the moral values and ethics and by that we create strong evil people yet again.
5. Who do you look up to?
unfortunately I don’t look up to anyone , I try studying and correcting my mistakes by looking into myself and work on my own ways and fix my evil and correct my wrongs , we are all human and to admire another person is only because we not know them well , we all have parts we want to hide and change and if someone put on himself a dress and special cloth and now is a Bishop or Rabbi it does not mean they are better than anyone else and I prefer to look on the way I need to walk on than look onto a person as you may be disappointed that this Bishop is a rapist or a Pedophile and this can is true for a Sensei we admire. So that is why I advise not to look up to anyone just seek the truth and way inside to become a self-sensai, I had many teachers that I have criticized and I study the movement but not the attitude and wrong way they follow and it is important to walk on the right way even when teachers we know choose the wrong ways. look inside and up into yourself to climb as high up as only you can from self-knowledge ,unless you also have the Dunning-Kruger effect, in psychology, a cognitive bias whereby people with limited knowledge or competence in a given intellectual or social domain greatly overestimate their own knowledge or competence in that domain relative to objective criteria or to the performance of their peers or of people in general.
6. When and how did Israel become such a big name for martial arts?
its start around the nineties as big paid marketing advertisement campaign as Magazines presented Israeli Martial art as great while using also the war cloud of Israel victories and none stop terror fights on create a good image for Israeli Martial art that perhaps presented as more reality based , I think its only Marketing as no martial art is greater than another and it is more about the teacher always. In all honesty. if Israel had such great level in martial art, pioneers who left to find better martial arts would never have traveled out of the country and would have studied only in Israel and honestly, I can’t even see most Israeli Martial art get close to many teachers and schools I have met on my travels but again media and marketing can sell anything but it’s not mean if it is true.
there are many good martial arts and the study from all good creates a mix and that is possibly where Israeli Martial art going also these days
7. When did you meet Borut?
we met more than eighteen years ago I believe. Sensei Borut used to teach regularly in Israel and by this he was also exposed to Kapap and afterwards he invited friends from my Organization to teach in Slovenia for a seminar. He told me he understands there is a different and asked me to visit and give a workshop , we met in Italy’s Terieste airport and drove to see Venice as he used to teach over there to many Krav schools and for me it was first time seeing Venice, then we kept Flying , I smile as in some part just before cross from Italy to Slovenia we were stopped by traffic police and he had lost his fly permit …and to return me had to drive by another student and again traffic and we were late to our flight back to Slovenia and stayed for a few days of fun and a great family dojo he created ,I see Borut Sensei as I see Carlos Newton a UFC and MMA champion as both of them were wild and I was already a senior and old and I can see the big changes in both of them and they both evolved from Sport and being a coach into amazing Sensei’s
8. What do you think about him, his school and students?
I have always said Sensei Borut is a young lion. He still hunts but the more years pass, Sensei Borut is a Lion with an amazing tribe of wonderful students and teachers and organization he runs at the higher level and brings the students the best of the best with seminars but most by himself as he is a workaholic and study addict and he keeps students and involved more and more into Kenpo and Arnis and exposed students and teachers into much more studies following Great teachers as Hanshi Patrick McCarthy , many Escrima and arnis styles , Krav , and BJJ Machado , Ill say that Slovenia is very Lucky to have him as a higher caliber martial artist and teacher and also teaching different units as tactical and combative
Sensei. Borut is a high-level Martial artist himself but as a teacher if anyone look at these awesome students growing in his dojo and how high a level they are and how they follow the right way in Martial art, we all can agree he is a great teacher
9. In which direction will the world of martial arts go in the future?
the world is during strange and critical times, we cannot be only a man or woman and now it is also unclear if someone decides in the morning to be a woman we all need to agree and a transgender who is a low ranked swimmer as man turns into woman swimming and becomes a champion , we are not allowed to voice ourselves much unless we repeat the voice media transmites constantly for all to hear. we can’t have opinions unless they are what those behind Facebook decide are right with media is all but paid and sold , we see a world that is confusing and we can’t even witness the face of those we talk with as all are vailed with masks that may protect from Bacteria but not virus and , we are on very critics times in world direction and with load voice I can say we see more evil these days while the good stay seated and avoid taking sides. that also effects the martial art world as we see how combative are slowly taken out and governments want citizens that hold guns and know how to use and not want citizens that can fight which in one way is logical that only army and police to pursue but then we may be unable to defend our freedom again. and at the same time we loss combatives we see the world of MMA taking over and again neglect the teachings of the right way by not seeing any need to share values and ethics and morals as part of education and see only the Fight skills
this is why only by the right teachers such as Borut Sensei we will keep the martial art way and the martial arts at all , we need to fight to keep the martial arts as part of education
10. If you think about your legacy, what do you wish it would be?
Well I hope to live long and keep directing my Legacy myself , and I think my legacy is to create better people better character , good people and push the evil to hide again as it was done after the second world war because too many evils pop up again and begat power and if we refrain from chaining the veil down first in ourselves and as a society, then we face again many years of being controlled by evil…it is better to stop it even before it get power and if not we all loss our legacy
11. Message for our readers?
my message is simple training – training – training , avoid letting any virus or anything stop us from training , we want to disarm a gun or knife and fight against three attackers and we let fear defeat us , we say that fear cuts deeper than a sword and I say don’t fear go train , I never stopped teaching during Covid times and traveled all over the world and most of Africa and more people die in car accident and from bad habits being overweight or badly conditioned and fed, people die in Africa from Malaria Ebola and starving and hunger , get back in the dojo that is my message