WHAT'S YOUR WORKOUT
A CEO’s Straight Line From Martial Arts to Leadership
PayPal chief executive Dan Schulman swears by Krav Maga, the intense Israeli self-defense practice
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman undertakes a Krav Maga self-defense workout with his coach, Danny Zelig, right, owner of Tactica Krav Maga Institute, in Santa Clara, Calif. Mr. Schulman says the fight training has helped hone his leadership skills. JASON HENRY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Jen Murphy
June 3, 2017 7:00 a.m. ET
Most CEOs start their day strategizing bottom lines or growth strategies over email. Dan Schulman starts his day at the gym, figuring out how to disarm someone with a knife. He credits his daily Krav Maga (pronounced krahv mah-GAH) training with developing leadership skills he has put to use in roles at American Express , Virgin Mobile, Priceline, AT&T and in his current position as president and CEO of PayPal Holdings Inc. “They say leadership is defined in times of stress, and I think Krav Maga trains you for those moments,” he says.
Krav Maga teaches students attack moves that quickly neutralize a threat. Here, Mr. Schulman, right, drills a situation when an attacker catches a kick and tries for a takedown with Mr. Zelig. PHOTO: JASON HENRY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Krav Maga, or “contact combat” in Hebrew, is a self-defense and fighting system that combines techniques from judo, boxing, wrestling and aikido. It was originally taught to the Israeli army. Today, the practice has been embraced by law-enforcement agencies, as well as gyms, where a faster-paced version has become an increasingly popular workout.
Mr. Schulman, 59, was introduced to the practice when he was 13 and visiting Israel. “I was living on a kibbutz and was put into youth military training,” he recalls. “I was a skinny little kid and it was incredibly intense, but also extraordinarily practical and useful in stressful situations involving conflict.”
In Krav Maga, all elements of the body—legs, knees, elbows, hands, feet—are used as tools to strike and defend. “People complain about having less resources, but having too many tools often starves you from being as creative as you might be,” Mr. Schulman says.
Mr. Schulman rediscovered Krav Maga after college and now practices daily. He splits his time with his wife between Silicon Valley and the New York City area. (The couple has two college-aged children.)
He trains at Tactica Krav Maga Institute in Santa Clara, Calif. At Gotham Gym in New York he boxes and slips in some Krav Maga kicks.
“Part of the Krav Maga philosophy is that the best way to win a fight is not to get into a fight. So we spend a lot of time figuring out how do you de-escalate situations and win through avoidance of conflict,” he says.
When conflict is unavoidable, Krav Maga teaches how to use everything at your disposal to neutralize a threat while remaining calm under pressure. “My teacher always says, ‘Standing still is asking to be hit.’ That’s a valuable lesson in business,” he says. “If you stand still as a business just because things are going well and you don’t challenge yourself, inevitably your competition catches up with you.”
Mr. Schulman gets an intense core workout by keeping steady on skateboards while he hits the heavy bags during a Krav Maga training session. PHOTO: JASON HENRY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Workout
Mr. Schulman trains for a minimum of one hour daily during the week and up to three hours on Saturdays and Sundays. He warms up on the speed bag or heavy bag, sometimes challenging his core by balancing each foot on a skateboard, and will then do footwork drills, like various kicks, to loosen up. The next phase involves working on technique, like a particular combination of kicking and striking, or escaping from a headlock, followed by 15 to 20 minutes of sparring. He might have to disarm someone with a knife, stick or gun.
Once he’s worn out from sparring, he finishes the workout with a set of drills. He might bear-crawl around the perimeter of the room, stopping in each corner to perform push-ups, then reverse and go the opposite direction. “I might end up doing 150 push-ups in that exercise,” he says. “It requires incredible focus to get through it when your body is already at its limit.”
Mr. Schulman typically works one-on-one with a coach or sparring partner, but says it’s also important to train with groups. “You don’t want to get too used to one fighting style,” he says. “Often in fights, there are multiple attackers.”
Mr. Schulman does more work with Mr. Zelig. The fighting system was originally introduced to the Israeli army. A faster-paced, less-combative version has become a popular workout. PHOTO: JASON HENRY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Diet
Mr. Schulman has half of a cup of coffee pre-workout. “That’s just enough to get the body going without having coffee sloshing around in my stomach during a workout,” he says. Post-workout he has yogurt and fruit. Lunch is light, usually a salad, and dinner is a protein, often steak or fish, with a vegetable or salad. Two to three times a week he must attend a work lunch or dinner. “I’ll have one or two sips of wine to be social, because people don’t want to drink alone,” he says.
The Gear & Cost
Mr. Schulman likes the minimalism of Krav Maga. He spars barefoot. His uniform consists of Nike Pro Combat compression shorts, a T-shirt, a mouth guard and Revgear MMA gloves, which retail between $30 and $60. “If we’re really going at it, I wear shin guards,” he says. “I have scars on my legs from not wearing them.”
Mr. Schulman hits the heavy bags to improve his striking power. He says the workouts have helped him learn to think clearly under pressure. PHOTO: JASON HENRY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
THE KRAV MAGA MENTALITY
Krav Maga might look like something out of “Fight Club,” but proponents say the philosophy of the fighting system develops skills that translate to the office.
“Krav Maga training develops an individual’s ability to effectively deal with confrontation,” says Danny Zelig, founder of the Tactica Krav Maga Institute, based in San Francisco. “People learn to maintain confidence and mental function without shying away from conflict due to fear of confrontation.”
“Making decisions under stress boosts mental strength and teaches students to focus their efforts and energy on the most important, immediate needs,” he says. Krav Maga develops heightened negotiation and improvisation skills through situational awareness, he says.
“An individual learns to take cues from others during their attempts to de-escalate and negotiate with an aggressor during dangerous situations,” Mr. Zelig says. “A heightened sense of awareness allows leaders to understand their peers, co-workers and upper management and to be in tune and aware of their co-workers’ current mental states by the cues they give.”
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