About Me
Krav Maga is the official self defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces, and has been taught to hundreds of law enforcement agencies and thousands of civilians in the United States.Krav Maga is a simple, effective self defense system that emphasizes instinctive movements, practical techniques, and realistic training scenarios.
In Krav Maga, there are no hard-and-fast rules. It is not a sport and there is no competitive component. All the techniques focus on maximum efficiency in real-life conditions. Krav Maga generally assumes a no-quarter situation; the attacks and defenses are intended to inflict or divert the most pain possible on the opponent. The basic idea is to first deal with the immediate threat, prevent the attacker from re-attacking, then neutralize the opponent, proceeding through all the steps in a very straightforward manner. The emphasis is put on taking the initiative from the attacker as soon as possible.
Although Krav Maga shares many techniques with other martial arts, the training is quite different. It stresses fighting under worst-case circumstances (against several opponents, back to the wall, when protecting someone else, with one arm unusable, when dizzy, against armed opponents, etc). It may also employ a speaker system blasting loud music, meant to teach the student to ignore peripheral distractions and focus on causing as much damage as possible when fighting. Training relies heavily on pads. Students take turn holding pads and doing combatives (punches, elbows, knees, headbutts, etc.) against the pads. This is important because it allows the student to practice the technique at full strength, and the student holding the pad learns a little of what it feels like to get hit. It can be almost as taxing to hold a pad as to practice against one. Training might also contain ways to deal with situations which could end in fights. Physical and verbal methods to avoid violence whenever possible are taught.
