The Ultimate Stress Test: Founding the KMB Dojo (2020)
Up until 2020, I had been building Krav Maga Berlin alongside a demanding full-time career. It was my passion and my mission, but it was still a side endeavor. In early 2020, I decided it was time to go all-in. I fully transitioned into entrepreneurship and proudly opened the doors to the very first official KMB Dojo. This wasn't just a gym; it was designed as a comprehensive consulting space, featuring a professional training floor, a dedicated seminar room for corporate workshops, and premium amenities.
And then, the unpredictable happened. Almost immediately after taking the leap, the global COVID-19 pandemic hit. For a contact-based training and consulting business, a global lockdown was essentially the worst-case scenario.
However, resilience is not just a concept I teach - it is the operational foundation of this company. The core principles of Krav Maga are extreme adaptability, strategic problem-solving under pressure, and the absolute refusal to accept defeat. I had to apply the "Mental Pivot" to my own business reality. We adapted our methodologies, restructured our formats, and successfully weathered the storm.
This very first dojo served as our headquarters and a highly trusted safe space for our clients until January 2024. Surviving that initial crisis was the ultimate proof of concept: True resilience works not only in physical confrontations, but in navigating the most severe entrepreneurial challenges.
