Krav Maga

I have had more fun (and felt more empowered) when training in krav maga classes than anything else. It can be hard to feel like a badass while throwing a knife hand block in the air during a kata (nothing against TKD or Karate, as I love it also); but this tough guy feeling comes up often when beating the snot out of pads krav-style. Krav Maga is a very simplified martial art. The overall premise is to do whatever it takes to save your life, be aggressive (proactive), and use your instinctive reactions. The goal of your Krav training should be to develop INSTINCTS. I really think that you can boil it all down to that. If you develop the instinct of automatically grabbing someone’s hand as they grab your hair, and thrust forward with strikes and knees that is an instinct. If someone puts you in a choke, and you immediately break free while adding combatives, this is an instinct. But, the truth is, in a fight or flight situation, your brain is not working, you cannot remember which move to do — you’ve gotta have instincts. Let’s get started, here are my top 4 tips for beginners in krav maga. There are a huge number of moves in this effective fighting system, but only a few are worth spending a lot of time on. I'll be covering the 5 techniques that I believe are the most powerful. But first, a bit of background. Krav Maga, as a fighting system, was started by Imi Lichtenfeld who later taught it to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Apparently, they worked with the ideas he passed on to them and made it into the fighting system they use in the Israeli military today. It's also used by the Israeli intelligence group called Mossad. I spent a short while learning some Krav Maga moves at a class in my area. It was held in the evenings and there were about 10 or 12 of us taking part. The instructor was a very fit and friendly fellow who was clearly highly capable of inflicting pain! The first class was an eye opener for me!