Krav Maga?

Question

I studied taekwondo for 5 years now and its fun but i dont think it will help me if i face a real life situation. E.G STREETFIGHT

i heard of this martial art called KRAV MAGA after me and my friend watched The Bourne Ultimatum (movie kicks ***)

they told me that it was the fighting style he used and it was for real life fights not tournaments or demos.

Do you recommend Krav Maga for streetfights? where i live is sometimes people get jumped so i better know how to protect myself and not just show flashy kicks.

And is krav maga all about defense or does it also teach you how to kick and KO your opponent?

Answer 1

the fighting style in the bourne movies is escrima(or at eleast heavily based off escrima), the way shown in the movies resembles krav maga though especially the knife and gun disarming and using anything as a weapon

but yea i recommend krav maga if its taught by a good instructor but some people are just trying to cash in on the krav maga/self defense phase.

krav maga will not just teach you how to "defend" it will teach you how to seriously damage possibly kill a person if you have to(this is a little extreme and can lead you to some serious time if you use excessive force)

krav maga has 4 main principles
1. Do as much damage in as little time as possible.
2. Change from defending to attacking as quickly possible (including simultaneously).
3. Use items around you as weapons.
4. Be aware of everything that is happening around you.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_maga

http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=55005&display_order=5&sub_display_order=9&mini_id=54986

Answer 2

Krav Maga is certainly an effective defensive system, depending of course on who is teaching it and the level of experience and training of the pratitioner.

As others noted however, it's limitation is that it was developed largely as a combat system for soldiers who would be looking to inflict grievous bodily harm or fatal harm on opposition soldiers. It often does not have the progressive force concept that most disciplines such as TaeKwon-Do should have taught you.

While Krav Maga can be effective, it is also not the holy grail that many believe it to be. It still takes time, practice, and a particular aggresive nature to make it work in reality.

I'm surprised you don't think your TaeKwon-Do training would not be effective however, though I have met a number of TaeKwon-Do students who unfortunatley only knew how to spar in the Olympic model, which is such a tiny part of what the entire TaeKwon-Do curriculum is.

If you're interested in Krav Maga, definately try it if you can find a quality instructor in your area, but be mindful that you still need to consider escalation of appropriate defensive techniques is a legal requirement, and many poor Krav Maga instructors do not cover this at all. You may also want to consider leveraging your TaeKwon-Do experience by finding another TaeKwon-Do instructor who may focus more on the depth and defensive concepts of that art.

Good luck

Ken C
9th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
8th Dan TaeKwon-Do
7th Dan YongChul-Do

Answer 3

Japanese or American Jujutsu can teach you how to defend yourself just as well as Krav Maga when learned properly. Probably because they include a lot of the same stuff (eye gouges and all that "by any means necessary" are part of real jujutsu of samurai origin); it seems Krav Maga just focuses on the immediate crippling without the "gentle" submission part of jujutsu. Which is fine.
Also, Bourne probably showed a lot of stuff. I know there was a frame that showed a near perfect kotegaeshi, a principal jujutsu technique. It was in Ultimatum where he made the assassin do a backflip by twisting his wrist. It's common for military systems to base off of, or at least take largely from jujutsu, because it doesn't depend on strength, and it better controls an attacker, among other things. And yes, this includes Krav Maga.

Answer 4

Yes Krav is a excellent form of self defense. you have to be care full though. Martial artist have been sued for one punch to the face followed by a knee to the groin and then leaving. imagine what would happen if you accidentally killed a guy or took out an eye. What style of TKD did you take. I have defended myself a few times using it. Just because one Martial art will beat the other does not mean one is less effective on the street.

Answer 5

To me it depends on where you take it, the level of experience of the instructor and how they train it.

If it is with someone with at least 5 or 6 years experience, A-C Certified, and a Black Belt. Then that is a good start, another would be if they train with active resistance, stress testing, and full contact.

If they are just showing you stuff, and having you go through a work out, but then never putting you in pads and actually attacking you, or having you spar, then it is not truly effective and is not real Krav.

Real Krav is trained a lot like MMA, with a lot of sparring, full contact drills, (wearing protective padding) full speed, full intensity resistance training. When they come at you with a fake knife, they are REALLY coming after you. They will use strobe lights, dental drills, loud noise, along with full speed, full intensity training. Their multiple attacker training consists of you in full pads, everyone of your attacks in full pads, and them actually trying to beat your heavily padded @ss.

The same with all their weapons training.

For gun disarms training, I learned a great tip at a Seminar. A few groups will actually use Air Soft guns, and with you wearing goggles and allow you to attempt to disarm. You learned real quick through pain how to clear a muzzle away from you.

Real Krav Maga, that is effective is trained at very high intensity, is very rough, and full of a lot of contact. Hard sparring, solid techniques, with emphasis on speed, awareness, and intuitive reactions. You only get that if you train under stress, and actually have full resistance in your training.

Unfortunately a lot of Krav stateside and elsewhere is really just turned into Mcdojo BS, where someone has done the bare minimum to get certified with the KMAA, and really have no real idea what they are doing. They use it as a Flavor of the Month type of art, while showing you a bunch of dirty tricks, and fluff and not getting to meat and potatoes of actually making it combat effective through intense sparring, and full resistance training.

Real Krav is brutal and tough, and it's training is equally so.

EDIT: Sorry for the book here is a paragraph from Bullshido that pretty much nails it. Found here: http://www.bullshido.com/articles/findin...



There is a conflict in the United States between the Krav Maga instructors like Rhon Mizrachi and Eyal Yanilov who learned the system in the Israeli army, and Darren Levine who learned Krav as a civilian through the Wingate Institute in Israel. We'll skip the politics, but needless to say, Levine typically licenses American Martial Arts studio owners to teach Krav after an abbreviated if intense series of week long courses in Los Angeles before they return to their home school. That being the case, the KMAA instructor in your hometown could have a decade in the art, or have just spent a week or two in LA. You want to avoid the latter. There also seems to be high turnover in the KMAA ranks with a number of schools joining and then dropping the Krav program. For that reason you also want to avoid the brand new Krav Schools.

Under Levine, Krav ranks people according to Belts and Phases. Belts indicate the instructors rank in the system but the Phase indicates what the individual is allowed to teach. Levine's Krav has five belts, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, and black. Phase A through C will allow an instructor to teach material through green belt, and he is allowed to award belt rank up to one step lower then himself. So if you have a Krav blue belt he can award a green belt as long as he's completed the courses that allow him to instruct green belt material. Its at Blue and Brown belt levels and their attendant phases that (KMAA) teaches its weapons disarms, and other material that most outsiders think of as Krav. These phases are typically called the 'Expert Series' with KMAA Krav black belts being quite rare. Now the KMAA is referring to ranks up to green belt as Level One, and Blue and Brown as Level Two. Labels aside, for actual information about the KMAA Krav Curriculum see this guide. http://www.kravmagadfw.com/curriculum.ht...

We would advise you to ask your potential instructor if 1) he is a certified instructor or an instructor trainee? 2) If they have completed Phase A through C, and whether they have completed any additional phases? 3) What belt they are? and 4) How many years have they studied Krav? 5) How long have they taught Krav at this location. (If they keep moving locations they may do so again shortly. They should be a certified instructor, have completed Phase C, and we recommend a Blue Belt with five or more years of experience in Krav. We would also suggest you write the KMAA http://www.kravmaga.com/laselfdefense.as... to confirm what this potential instructor tells you before you sign any paperwork. We've seen at least one example of someone licensed by the KMAA exaggerate their ranking authority, probably to the complete ignorance of this parent organization.