Legacy of Readiness: A Story from KMMD’s Founder

Written By: Dave Buscher

It was dusk and there was an intense explosion and a bright flash seemingly only a few feet away from where I was standing. Fight or flight was an instant decision as I dove into a nearby bunker and immediately had someone land on top of me as I was sprawled at the bottom of the bunker, face planted in the dirt. I quickly learned that the guy on top of me was also newly in country and we were on the same chopper that had just landed at Bandit Hill, a Fire Support Base located near the Parrots Beak in Nam.

I had been in the country about 10 hours as a civilian non-combatant, tech support for the Science Advisor to the Army. Lying in the bunker, the non-combatant credentials in my pocket didn’t seem to matter much. When there were no more explosions, I started looking around and observed a number of soldiers walking by the bunker and looking down. One was especially helpful when he said one word –

OUTGOING!

I resumed my mission to fix the Camp Sentinel radar that protected the base from intruders. I had never heard of the radar, but my 2 vast years of experience as an Electrical Engineer did the trick, and somehow, I got it working. So, you might be asking yourself what has this got to do with Krav Maga? Well, maybe you weren’t there as I started my journey into self-preservation and reactive situational awareness. At Krav Maga Maryland, we do reality-based training, often from a position of disadvantage. We train to go from mild-mannered Clark Kent to self-preservation without going through a phone booth – if you missed that reference, watch some original TV versions of Superman.

Vietnam was a long time ago, but this explosive adventure was part of a legacy of potential fight or flight response that is hard to come by. We have lots of student stories about how their Krav Maga training saved them or a loved one from harm. Come visit us at kravmd.com and start your story.