The Krav Zone

A comprehensive blog devoted to Krav Maga from the perspective of a practitioner. http://www.thekravzone.com

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No video can save your life. Only training can.

One thing that I find truly infuriating is the amount of videos available on YouTube and other platforms claiming to impart quick tips and tricks that will supposedly save your life during a violent attack. These videos get thousands and thousands of views, likes and shares, further spreading the idea that self defense is something that can be learnt by sitting comfortably on your ass and watching a crappy tutorial you will forget in the span of 10 minutes. Let me state this as clearly as possible: self defense - i.e. fighting - is a physical ability that requires a considerable amount of repetitions in order to be acquired in an even remotely efficient way. And if you are a complete beginner to the world of fighting, meaning you have no decent striking and/or grappling skills, you are going to need the constant supervision of a certified instructor, so that they can spot the many mistakes you are bound to make and help you correct them. There is no way around these facts. You are going to have to get your ass to a gym. You are going to have to struggle with new stuff your body has never done, to sweat, to get bruises and scratches, and to feel totally useless until the moment when you start getting it kinda right. Training will (possibly) save your life. Not videos.

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Yet another training session centered around striking techniques for our intermediate and advanced students. Last night we worked on uppercuts and defenses against high front kick.

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How to choose a Krav Maga school

One of the top asked questions I read online about Krav Maga is: how can I tell if this school is legit? How do I choose between these schools in my area, which one is better? For people with no experience in combat sports or self defense, it can be very difficult to distinguish the good from the bad, to know for sure if their hard-earned money will be well spent or if they’re being scammed in a McDojo whose instructor shouldn’t be teaching Zumba classes, let alone fighting. So here’s a long but hopefully useful post about the three main criteria I’d use to determine the quality of a school. Affiliation It’s easy to find out whether the school in question is part of a reputable Krav Maga organization. Most gyms’ websites will state the instructor’s affiliation. If not, well, that’s not a good sign… Now, in my experience, I have seen bad instructors who were certified by legitimate organizations. And occasionally, I have also witnessed rare cases of capable teachers who belonged to crappy organizations or even worked as “lone wolves.” So one shouldn’t choose a school based on this one element only. But it’s definitely something you’ll want to investigate and consider. The instructor’s background in combat sports It’s preferable for your instructor to have experience in more than just Krav Maga. Someone who trained extensively in a full-contact combat sport (boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, MMA or BJJ) will be able to teach striking and grappling skills much more effectively than a person who only trained in Krav Maga, a system designed to be jack of all trades, master of none. The reason why so many Krav Maga schools are not very good places to train at is exactly this: the instructor has no fighting experience.

Training must include sparring Lots of Krav Maga schools don’t have their students spar. Why? Well, sparring is, in the beginning, an uncomfortable experience, both physically and emotionally. Most casual practitioners don’t enjoy it. They want to learn techniques and do drills with cooperative partners and no actual contact, because it feels good and empowering. Moreover, gyms want to retain their customers, so they will adapt their training programs according to what keeps people (and their money) coming back. Problem is, those students, the non-sparrers, are extremely likely to fail in a real-life scenario. In our school, all students who successfully entered the intermediate level classes gain access to light-contact sparring classes. We want them to know what it feels like to deal with someone who tries to hit back and who tries their best not to be hit.

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Does krav maga teach you how to get out of a fireman's carry if someone is carrying you over their shoulder?

Our school’s curricula do not include a technique for that specific situation, but we train defenses for similar scenarios - bear hugs with a lift - and I think the same principles can apply to the fireman carry.Needless to say, the best defense is always not to get caught in a takedown, so be mindful of level changes and be ready to sprawl. If you are unable to prevent the carry, once you have been lifted you should be aware of two immediate dangers: your attacker can now throw you to the ground or he could try and move you to a vehicle or another location.In both cases, you should immediately strike as hard as you can with downward elbows and hammerfists to the attacker’s head. Whether your combatives are successful or your attacker manages to throw you, be ready to fall to the ground as safely as possible. Obviously landing on your feet would be the best thing, as you will avoid taking damage on impact and you will be capable of running or continue fighting straight away. Unfortunately that is not always possible, especially when the attacker is able to finish the throw. Should you fall on your back or side, try to do so as safely as possible (train your break falls and rolls!). From there, kick as hard as you can to gain the chance to get up asap.

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[thekravzone]

[watdabook-blog]

REVIEW: 'My Fight Your Fight', by Ronda Rousey

Had this post been written a couple of years ago, I know most people reading would have been like "Ronda who?!". But 2015 was - for good and for worse - Rousey's year. She took the world by storm, ...

[eldarpengril-deactivated2016051]

I love how I’m nearly 22 years old and my parents STILL refuse to let me carry around a pocket knife for protection. They don’t want me to take Krav Maga or defense classes, yet are afraid I’m going to be attacked. They’re afraid I’m going to hurt myself carrying around a pocket knife. So what do they do? They give me a fucking whistle. A fucking. Whistle.

I’m fucking 22! Stop fucking taking the gifts I get from others away! Give me fucking fighting lessons. Let me fucking defend myself if I need to! Let me use any means necessary to protect myself from an attacker!

[thekravzone]

Out of pure curiosity, why would they be against you taking Krav Maga classes?

[eldarpengril-deactivated2016051]

I took it before for a few weeks because they had a 75% discount on classes if you went to one of their seminars and I did and I honestly love it. It makes me feel strong and empowered, but it’s WICKED expensive and we can’t afford it

[thekravzone]

I understand. Well, if you are interested in learning how to fight, there are other disciplines and combat sports (MMA or Brazilian Jiujitsu, for example) you could consider. I don’t know if those classes are going to be any cheaper in your area. And combat sports are not street self defence, stricly speaking, but you will still be able to acquire some useful skills that could help you protect yourself.

Carrying a pocket knife is not necessarily a great idea. One thing is carrying a blade, another is being mentally ready to stick it in another human being. Besides, you should make sure it’s legal to carry a knife according to your local laws (where I live, in Italy, it’s not, and if the police caught me with a knife on my person, I’d get in some serious trouble).

[eldarpengril-deactivated2016051]

I love how I’m nearly 22 years old and my parents STILL refuse to let me carry around a pocket knife for protection. They don’t want me to take Krav Maga or defense classes, yet are afraid I’m going to be attacked. They’re afraid I’m going to hurt myself carrying around a pocket knife. So what do they do? They give me a fucking whistle. A fucking. Whistle.

I’m fucking 22! Stop fucking taking the gifts I get from others away! Give me fucking fighting lessons. Let me fucking defend myself if I need to! Let me use any means necessary to protect myself from an attacker!

[thekravzone]

Out of pure curiosity, why would they be against you taking Krav Maga classes?

[mybodymystory-deactivated201809]

I’m halfway through Jessica Jones and I noticed something odd. She’s super strong, right? And the idea is she’s super strong because of powers and not because of working out. So…in theory…that could be why she has no muscle tone. But Luke Cage is also super strong and he has muscle tone. Theoretically, he works out. Somehow. (Because how can you work out if you can lift cars? By lifting cars? On a daily basis? Where?)

My real theory is that she’s skinny because it’s still not acceptable for women to be shown with muscles. (And he has muscles because he’s supposed to be Sexy Dude but also because he’s fitting into a male power fantasy.)

(Even Trish should have more muscles, if she’s supposedly doing Krav Maga multiple times a week. Any Krav people want to weigh in on that?)

On the other hand, I love how the women aren’t wearing heels all the time. That they’re wearing practical shoes when they’re doing practical things. Finally.

[thekravzone]

Actually Krav Maga (like most striking-based combat disciplines) will not give you muscle mass. There is a huge cardio component in Krav Maga training, that is more likely to make people’s physique more lean and defined, rather than “bulky”.

[imnotreallyonit-deactivated2023]

Trish also seems to not use much in the way of Krav Maga in her fight scenes.

[thekravzone]

Yeah, it’s television. People in charge of choreographing fights need action sequences to look cool, not to be a realistic representation of a certain fighting style. Even the way Trish is taught how to defend against a gun threat is not really Krav Maga, but... whatever, I guess :D The show is still pretty cool.

[mybodymystory-deactivated201809]

I’m halfway through Jessica Jones and I noticed something odd. She’s super strong, right? And the idea is she’s super strong because of powers and not because of working out. So…in theory…that could be why she has no muscle tone. But Luke Cage is also super strong and he has muscle tone. Theoretically, he works out. Somehow. (Because how can you work out if you can lift cars? By lifting cars? On a daily basis? Where?)

My real theory is that she’s skinny because it’s still not acceptable for women to be shown with muscles. (And he has muscles because he’s supposed to be Sexy Dude but also because he’s fitting into a male power fantasy.)

(Even Trish should have more muscles, if she’s supposedly doing Krav Maga multiple times a week. Any Krav people want to weigh in on that?)

On the other hand, I love how the women aren’t wearing heels all the time. That they’re wearing practical shoes when they’re doing practical things. Finally.

[thekravzone]

Actually Krav Maga (like most striking-based combat disciplines) will not give you muscle mass. There is a huge cardio component in Krav Maga training, that is more likely to make people’s physique more lean and defined, rather than “bulky”.