Today we’d like to introduce you to Bob Schreck.
Hi Bob, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in the Bronx, NY- basically street fighting, As an adult, I became a police officer and later a criminal investigator. In law enforcement, we use primarily Police Defensive Tactics (DT), which is based on Aikido- lots of wrist locks, arms bars, pressure points, etc- which are all based on pain compliance. DT works absolutely fantastic- on the mat- when you are working with your partner and friends, you are not trying to hurt them, they are not trying to hurt you, and you are all compliant and susceptible to pain. On the streets, however, not so much. When you are dealing with drunks, drugs, extreme belligerence, or someone otherwise not so susceptible to pain, you quickly find yourself in trouble. Who hasn’t see videos of people ripping taser barbs out their chests and attacking police or the people who pepper spray has no effect on?
So, I say all that to say this- I know what works and what is nonsense. In 2011, when my children were beginning to experience some bullying in school, I started looking around for something more effective than anything I already knew. I saw some police departments and military units were training in something called “Krav Maga”, and since I love looking things up, I did. I was immediately impressed. I knew what worked in real life. This was real-life stuff.
Krav Maga is a particularly brutal and extremely fast Israeli self-defense system well known for its nonsense, no-mercy, no-rules style of self-defense. Actually, it is not true there a no rules- there is one rule- go home safe in under 10 seconds. Krav Maga, in my estimation, is not a martial art. It is all martial and no art. It is not pretty to watch, There are no fancy moves. There is no kata. While we would prefer avoidance and de-escalation, if that is not as effective as we would like, we also do not care what happens to our attacker. Someone has brought violence upon us. We do not know with what intent. It may be your drunk belligerent uncle at a family reunion- and we have softer defenses for that, or it may be someone intending far more harm. We also specifically train for multiple attackers because as sure as you engage with one person intending on doing you harm, his buddies are going to join in too.
Krav Maga was developed by Imi Lichtenfeld, who in the 1930s was a Jew in Bratislava, Czechoslovakian Republic. His father was a chief of Detectives and was a boxer and wrestler. Imi was also a boxer and wrestler who at a young age actually ran away and joined the circus. But in the mid to late 1930’s he saw the Nazi Brown Shirts, a paramilitary wing of the Nazi party, begin the terrorize the Jews in his neighborhood by destroying businesses, beating Jews up in the streets, rape gangs, etc. Imi organized some friends and began fighting back. He started adapting the most effective techniques from other systems such as Judo and Karate and combined them with Boxing and Wrestling. In 1940, when the Nazis reached Bratislava, Imi fled to the British Mandate of Palestine.
It took him two years to get there, but once he did he started teaching his techniques to the Haganah, a Zionist paramilitary group fighting the Arabs- and even sometimes the British for their right to a homeland. He also worked with the Palmach, an elite group within the Haganah. In 1948, when Israel became a nation-state, the Haganah and the Palmach were rolled into Israel’s first army- the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Imi was made the Chief Instructor of the IDF teaching self-defense and the name Krav Maga, meaning Contact Combat, was born. It was brought to the US in about 1980. Krav Maga has been battle-testing since the 1930s fighting Nazis and continues to be battle-tested around the world by the IDF and many elite military units from many countries, including the US.
So, my family and I began our Krav Maga journey. We began training at Pinellas Krav Maga, in Palm Harbor, FL, a Krav Maga Worldwide (KMW) affiliate. My children were ages 11, 13, and 15. I was… er… a bit older. Within a few months, we were learning a front choke defense- for when someone is choking you- and my then 15-years-old daughter broke my nose by accident. When Mr. Elbow was going to meet Mr. Nose, she was supposed to miss. She didn’t. The blood flowed heavily that evening. I could swear I heard a little “mwahaha” coming from my daughter, but she denies it to this day. But, she did learn a little 120lb 5’3” girl can take down a full-grown man even if by accident. What do you think THAT does for a 15-years-old girl’s self-esteem? Within about six to eight months, we tested did Level 1 testing. Testing is brutal and runs 4-6 hours long. But when you are done, you really have a sense of accomplishment.
So, after a couple of years, Pinellas Krav Maga eventually moved to a location much further away from us so we relocated to another school, Krav Maga Martial Arts in Land o Lakes, FL. So we trained there from about 2013 until 2017 when my son and I were awarded our black belts and my youngest daughter earned her Level 5 (Brown Belt). I attained my instructor rating in 2016 and had been teaching.
But in 2015, my oldest daughter, who only trained for a couple of years was attacked in real life. There is more to the story, but the short version is some drunk decided it would be a good time to beat on some women and my daughter was one of them. He straight punched her dead in the mouth loosening her teeth. I was going to “have a discussion” with him for touching my daughter, but I didn’t have to. I made a meme out of his booking photo, “He Hit Her- She Knew Krav Maga”. THAT is Krav Maga. Makes a daddy proud- almost brings a tear to the eye.
I moved to Tennessee, and all during the dreaming, planning, and pre-moving time, I was thinking about opening up my own Krav Maga school. So here I am, a retired law enforcement officer and 100% disabled military veteran with his own Krav Maga school in Rogersville, TN, newly opened in August of 2021. Now, to train in Krav Maga, you must be in shape. Thankfully, the round is a shape. Krav Maga is designed for virtually anyone to train in and learn. If you are broken (like me now), we try to find a way for you to accomplish the defense. We teach, “do what you can, don’t do what you cannot”.
We teach self-defense. But along with that self-defense comes a host of other additional benefits. Fitness, of course, is one of them. I lost 40 pounds in my first year of training (5-days-a-week), and I never went on any kind of diet. I am Italian, after all, and I eat what I want. But on top of that students gain self-confidence. Self-accomplishment is the only thing that builds true self-esteem. My daughter accomplished a lot when she broke my nose. The value of self-worth cannot be understated here, either. We teach the dignity of self nobody has a right to lay hands on you.
By the time you reach Level 2- in about eight months, you can have the confidence that in almost any room you go into, you can look around and be fairly sure no matter what, you are going home safe. In level 2, you are just beginning to learn everything you learned in Level 1 was just kindergarten. There are 5 levels in Krav Maga, plus a black belt. We do not use belts like traditional martial art, but each level has an equivalent belt color; white (not really an actual level), yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, and then black belt.
I am a firm believer ALL women should train in Krav Maga.
My school, Tennessee Krav Maga, is located in beautiful, historic, downtown Rogersville, TN at 200 E Main St. My school is completely digital, meaning everything from signing up, checking in to class, ordering supplies, and even paying your bill is done online from your phone, tablet, or computer.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
A smooth road? What the heck is that? I wouldn’t know a smooth road if I were on one. No, it was never a smooth road. What made it worse was in 2013, while performing back surgery, my surgeon hit both bi-lateral sciatic nerves running down my legs and paralyzed me.
It took me a year and a half of intensive in-patient, in-home, and out-patient therapy, and three more surgeries- from a much better surgeon- to learn how to walk again. I walk stupidly now, but at least I can walk. II still have the residual effects such as oftentimes severe nerve pain, numbness, lack of range of motion, strength, and speed in my legs. My legs often just refuse to obey my commands, leading to some amusing-looking balance-checks.
Now, being in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee in a town of 4,500, in rural Hawkins County of 57,000, has its own challenges. While Tennessee has what I consider to be the absolute friendliest people in the country (and I have been to almost every state), and Rogersville, which was founded in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett, is still rural with a low population density. It is mostly farming and factory work so, like all similar areas, the affluence was not overly generous to us. So my prices are lower than the nationwide average and my school is literally in its 5th week of operation as I write this so membership is low, but slowly growing.
We’ve been impressed with Tennessee Krav Maga, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Well, I really enjoy the fact I am very much a smart-ass and I love smartassery back. It makes the days so much more enjoyable.
My classes are informal and fun. We do not wear a gi and are not barefoot. We wear plain street clothes or workout clothes. Occasionally, I will have dress-up daywear your suits, high heels, and dresses- just not all at the same time on the same person- not that I am judging. We might have a Krav in the Park day. I have done Krav the beach days. Even Krav in the Parking Lot. You never know where one might get attacked and wearing what. So we like to train for it all. We haven’t yet done a Krav on the Moon day, perhaps at a higher level, but who knows? Ooh, maybe a Krav in the Vomit-Rocket day!
I am a closet class-clown I think so I like to cut up a lot. We do a lot of fitness in class and you get a really good workout. When you leave class, you feel like you had fun and accomplished a lot.
Most typically, any kind of self-defense or martial art class is an hour long. Some instructors watch that clock like a hawk- 59 minutes and out the door, you go. That is not my way. I plan on my classes during the week to be an hour and a half, and the Saturday classes to go two hours. But, if the class energy is there, I will keep going as long as the class wants to.
I have gone three hours on some days. What the heck do I care, I am a (retired) bum. I have nothing to do after class. Actually, I really believe in giving my students their money’s worth. I want to train people to defend themselves. Along the way, I would like to make a little pocket change, but the objective it to train others.
How do you think about happiness?
Many things make me happy. I have a very wide interest.
But, in class, it does not get much better than watching a shy young girl and often bullied boy, previously abused women or just a man who has never done anything like this light-up and blossom each time they learn a new technique or discover they have the power to hit harder than they ever thought they could.
I currently have an 11 years old girl and her mom in my class. The girl is shy, very slight, and is being bullied. They have been in class for a couple of weeks now. The girl never wanted to hit the bag, or me. She didn’t know how to make a fist or punch. She was very shy. The last class was on elbows and knees. She lit up. This little girl, who was afraid to hit, was now knee-ing and elbowing me with power. I was like, “WOW! Where did THAT come from” and she beamed from ear to ear.
Pricing:
- $20/class
- $125/month
- $250/month for the entire family to train
- 10% off for first responders, military, and veterans.
Contact Info:
- Email: TennesseeKravMaga@gmail.com
- Website: https://tennessee-krav-maga.maonrails.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tennesseekravmaga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tennessee-Krav-Maga-105913351791811/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC28ogQBYsuayS3CbMOh40CA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tennessee-krav-maga-rogersville?osq=krav+maga
