Krav Maga, awareness, and history

I walked around my area today – virtually deserted. It’s nice to walk around with so few people around. Pine trees swaying in the wind. Yes, Poland, or Warsaw area in my case, is beautiful. Flat like a table, but beautiful. It’s not because I live here – I’ve seen places around the world – it’s just that I like it here (minus the smog on occasion and annoying people here and there).

But these Polish woods around Warsaw aren’t without dangers and mysteries. Humans, most of the time, aren’t a problem – a drunk came up to me and I wasn’t sure what his intentions were; he waved, and mumbling, wished me all the best in 2025 and then was on his merry way.

But just like Krav Maga tells us, awareness is a critical part of effective self-defense. Indeed, awareness of our surroundings helps in life, Krav Maga, or no Krav Maga. I’m always on the lookout for dangerous dogs and their idiot owners. When I see a dog running around (no leash) and it’s clear to me the owner barely controls that dog, I’m getting the hell out of there, all the while clutching the pepper spray in my pocket just in case. Yeah, maybe I’m a bit paraonoid but better safe than sorry. Confronting the owner is rather pointless, as you’re going to hear, ”Don’t lecture me,” or similar such nonsense. Polish people think their dogs are the center of the universe and don’t you dare criticize them, but that’s not only the Polish problem, of course.

You never know who you’re going to come across in these mysterious Polish woods. What kind of a strange person you’re going to meet. What kind of a building you’re going to stumble upon. Or a monument, for that matter. A century-old statue? The remnants of a world war 2-era bunker, even?

The Nazis and the Soviets sure made their mark on this land, digging, shooting, killing, and what have you. The land that saw some of the biggest battles in world history. In fact, on August 15, 1944, a South African plane went down not that far from my area. It was delivering supplies for the Warsaw Uprising. Some say Manila, on the other side of the world, suffered a similar fate. Manila, too, was leveled to the ground during World War 2, although part of Warsaw wasn’t touched (where the Soviets were stationed, ironically).

Then again, so were Dresden, or Berlin, or Hiroshima/Nagasaki – albeit for dramatically different reasons. Hitler wanted to destroy Paris, but, with the approaching Allies, his order was ignored. It’s also a mystery why the painter didn’t use chemical weapons – Third Reich had huge stockpiles. Adolf Hitler, in his ideological zeal, ordered the trains to Auschwitz (mainly with Hungarian Jews) to be given priority over weapons sent to the front. So, when someone says ”Putin wouldn’t do this and that – that’s irrational,” as Yuri Felshtinsky points out – look at Hitler.

You never know. One time, I see a car, a black Jeep, in the distance, speeding toward me. And running right next to it – a big, black dog. Needless to say, I was furious and scared as heck. I just stood there, making sure not to look in the dog’s direction. The whole thing was happening too fast to hide or do anything, really. Luckily for me, nothing happened.

Wild boars, too, are many, too many. Some are the size of a small bear. Not cool. Luckily, we have tall fences in Poland. No fence, or a tiny tiny fence like in the UK or the US? Sucks. Maybe it’s just my cultural bias, but I don’t like being exposed like I’m on some house catwalk. Anyway, I don’t need to tell you about fences, cause if anyone knows a lot about them and why they are vital – it’s you, over there in Israel.