Member Stories

The whole conversation, not the good bits

Most gyms show you a fifteen-second clip of somebody saying they love it. We sat down with our members and recorded the entire interview — the hesitations, the questions they asked back, the parts that are not flattering. Then we published all of it.

Everyone here trains at our Cedar Knolls studio. Nobody was given lines. If you want the short version, the clips are on our channel — but the long version is the honest one, and it is why it is the one on this page.

John Pilatos

“I want to train till I'm 80”

Full interview · 20:51

Fifty-two, two and a half years in, and down from 196 to 176. Talks about why he wants to still be training at 80.

What the interview covers

0:00 — Fifty-two, and two and a half years in
0:41 — Looking for a school near where he lives
1:07 — "Now I'm addicted"
1:43 — "I want to train till I'm 80"
2:20 — What he did before this — the gym, and never a jump rope
3:18 — 196 pounds down to 176
5:03 — Why Krav Maga, and not one single art
6:20 — The peace of coming here, and the patience it gave him
7:22 — Getting hit, and hitting back
8:03 — What a belt is actually worth to him
9:27 — A broken rib, plantar fasciitis, and coming back
10:44 — How he sees the world right now
12:06 — "Does it make me a more violent person? Not at all. Opposite."
13:34 — The black belt, however long it takes
15:24 — The parking spot at the Jersey shore
16:12 — The street fights he was in when he was young
17:25 — Not drinking any more, and eating differently
18:03 — What he would say to a man on the fence
18:50 — "I feel like we're family"

George Lioudis

“A little bit better each day”

Full interview · 17:05

Sixty-three, three months in, and a business to run. Came in as a gift for his daughter and stayed for himself.

What the interview covers

0:00 — Sixty-three, three months in
0:36 — The first ten pounds
1:07 — A little worse each day, or a little bit better each day
1:33 — Why he came — a holiday gift for his daughter
2:06 — "You have to have the action to learn"
2:35 — His first day, and not being partnered with the toughest guy in the room
4:00 — Sparring for the first time, after three months
4:58 — Safety at 63 — warm-ups, aches, and what does not stop him
5:35 — What actually changed — weight, muscle, cardio
6:20 — "No one's leaving you behind"
8:00 — What he is really training against
8:20 — Running a property management business
9:17 — Noticing more when he walks around the city
9:49 — What the knife training taught him about watching hands
12:13 — Why he wanted his daughter to have this
12:47 — "Just try it. What's one session?"
13:39 — "Get off the fence. That's not action. Take action."

Jadyn Maher

“I want to keep going with what I've started”

Full interview · 24:46

Twenty-two. Scrolled past the ads more than once before she walked in, then trained through to leaving for service abroad.

What the interview covers

0:00 — Twenty-two, from Morristown, four months in, and moving to Israel
1:10 — Scrolling past the ads on Instagram
1:37 — Her sister sending it to her
2:07 — Walking in rusty, and the first assessment
2:55 — Rating her own confidence "very average"
3:45 — The biology degree, and applying to medical school
4:58 — Deciding before she even walked out
5:14 — Listening to a gut feeling, and what she trusts
6:39 — Two days a week, scheduled like study
7:15 — "I'm surprised by how much I got out of this"
8:14 — Water, energy, and why she was gassing out
9:48 — The women who showed her around
10:11 — Training with men who are not training their ego
12:12 — The Thursday night she walked into by accident
14:28 — "I want to keep going with what I've started"
17:03 — Technique instead of brute force
17:55 — What changed in how she trains outside
19:35 — Why Krav Maga specifically — how she grew up hearing about it
20:27 — Where she tells a beginner to start
21:47 — Knowing what keeps you coming back

Karlon Simon

“So my daughter can defend herself”

Full interview · 9:19

Fifty-two, training alongside his daughter Kayla, and getting back to who he was.

What the interview covers

0:00 — Going back to who he was before the kids
0:29 — Martial arts and gymnastics, then the back burner
1:20 — The winter he stopped moving
1:55 — "I'm 52 years young"
2:10 — Nervous his body would not keep up
2:55 — Surprised he kept up in the first week
4:14 — The energy in the room
4:22 — The 73-year-old who out-moves him
5:21 — His daughter, and why she is the reason
6:15 — "You say Krav Maga is aggressive — what about the people attacking you?"
7:38 — What he would say to a man in his fifties on the fence
8:24 — Training with his daughter in the room

Andy

“I can handle anything”

Full interview · 13:49

Eight months in. Started stuck, and finished able to protect somebody else as well as herself.

What the interview covers

0:00 — Eight months in
0:38 — What her routine looked like before
0:53 — The karate class her mother made her take
1:15 — Hearing about Krav Maga from friends
1:50 — Why she went looking for this
3:19 — Training through a fractured foot
5:42 — The yellow belt, and taking on her instructor
6:44 — Feeling stuck, and what changed outside the studio
7:16 — A stick shift, a new job, and going back to school
8:13 — Showing up on the days she did not want to
9:23 — Who she has recommended it to
10:26 — "I feel like I can handle anything"
11:14 — What she says to a woman who is nervous about contact
12:46 — Why she wants to teach it

Damien

“This is chess”

Full interview · 4:21

Forty-eight. Calls it chess — the smaller person throwing the bigger one, if you learn the positioning.

What the interview covers

0:00 — Thinking about it outside class
0:53 — Finding a stance that works for him
1:35 — Body control, and the way he moves around the kitchen
2:19 — "This is chess"
2:57 — Everybody progresses differently
3:24 — Self-confidence
3:52 — What martial arts makes him feel
4:08 — "I'm so happy I found this place"

Farah Hussein

“I wasn't scared”

Full interview · 4:46

Fifty-one. A CVS at eight o'clock at night, her daughter watching, and the first time in her life she did not feel fear.

What the interview covers

0:00 — Training since mid-January
0:20 — A CVS at eight o'clock at night
0:43 — "For the first time in my life, I wasn't scared"
0:53 — Her daughter, watching
1:44 — How nervous she was walking in
2:18 — A room full of people, and nobody stepping in
3:21 — What she would say to a woman on the fence
3:53 — Living with fear, and the day it was not there
4:18 — What she is working on now

Andrew Michealson

“I made the right choice”

Full interview · 2:12

Sixty-one, a career as a police officer behind him, three classes in when we filmed.

What the interview covers

0:00 — Three classes in
0:11 — A career in police work, and the most practical training he has had
0:30 — Not recovering the way he did at 20
0:42 — The hardest part — getting back in shape
1:06 — Going home and running the drills in his head
1:21 — What he would say to a man his age on the fence
1:40 — Safety, and the people who taught him things
2:06 — "I made the right choice"

Why we publish the long version

A clip can be cut to say anything. A twenty-minute conversation cannot. If somebody is deciding whether to walk into a Krav Maga class for the first time at 52, or 61, or at 22 with no athletic background, the useful thing is not a testimonial — it is listening to a person like them think out loud about it for twenty minutes.

You can also read the written reviews — 4.9★ across 49 of them — or just come and see the room for yourself.