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What Makes a Martial Art Effective?

Krav Maga is not like most martial arts, in that it is a system of fighting principles and concepts, rather than that of physical techniques. Its techniques are expressions of these ideas and principles and may change overtime e.g., a more effective way of dealing with a threat or attack is found, and/or a threat/attack changes – long-barrel weapons such as rifles and carbines start to have higher capacity magazines, and higher rates of fire, meaning that the barrel of the weapon quickly becomes too hot to grab, handle and manipulate etc. The Israeli martial art of Krav Maga is adaptable and has evolved and changed over time however the fundamental concepts and principles that define its approach have stayed the same. In these short clips you will see why the system is such an effective martial art for dealing with real-world violence.

(Israeli Martial Arts Principle One) The Use of Natural & Instinctive Movements

Using Instinctive Movements As Part Of A Defense

The way that martial arts style fight scenes are portrayed in the movies may lead us to believe that we can easily train ourselves to fight in a particular style or way etc. This idea may be reinforced when we watch combat sports such as the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). However, the truth is that Hollywood fight scenes are choreographed for entertainment purposes, and combatants in an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) contest are both trained, prepared, and expecting to fight. None of these things exist or are present in real-life confrontations. If somebody attacks you in real life, they are most likely to do it when you are unprepared and least expecting it because that gives them the greatest advantage and chance of success i.e., nobody will offer you a fair fight. This means that any “formal” martial arts or fighting training you have is unlikely to form part of your initial response/reaction. The Israeli martial art of Krav Maga recognizes this and bases its responses to attacks, to instinctive and reflexive reactions.

(Israeli Martial Arts Principle Two) Unarmed & Armed Attacks Are Treated In The Same Way

All Attacks Are Dealt With In The Same Way

In reality, if we are attacked, it is more likely that we will perform at our lowest competency rate, rather than suddenly find new skills and performance levels. It would be incorrect to compare real life violent confrontations to sports matches. In sporting contests athletes often rise to a challenge and we see “under dogs” beating favorites etc. When you are attacked in a real-life confrontation you move out of one world and into another. A world which is unfamiliar and doesn’t conform to normal rules and expectations. In this unknown world it is extremely unlikely that you will find yourself suddenly raising your game, as most of your effort and energy will be spent just managing to cope with it. It will be extremely difficult for you to distinguish a knife slash from a swinging punch as both will look almost the same. This is one of the reasons why the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga uses the same method of blocking for both unarmed and armed attacks.

(Israeli Martial Arts Principle Three) Techniques Will Work When Performed Sub-Optimally

Techniques Performed Sub-Optimally Are Still Effective

The Uzi SMG (sub-machine gun) is designed with one thing in mind: for an exhausted infantry man to be able to change the magazine whilst running i.e., when a soldier is unable to perform at their best. The Israeli martial art of Krav Maga, taught in Woburn, works from the same position: techniques must be effective when performed sub-optimally. One of the principles the system uses when defending an attack is to have techniques comprise of two components – a “hand-defense” part, and a “body-defense” part – each of which will make an effective defense on its own e.g., if a person makes only the hand-defense, or the body defense they will still be making an effective defense. The idea of this is that if a person only does each component 50% well, combined this will equal a 100% defense.

(Israeli Martial Arts Principle Four) Dealing With Life-Threatening Attacks

Life Threatening Attacks

Perhaps one of the most important fighting and martial arts skills to develop in order to be able to deal with real-life violence is that of threat recognition and appropriate response i.e., understanding what an attack is and how to respond. The Israeli martial art of Krav Maga does this by categorizing attacks as either being “life-threatening” or “non-life-threatening”. A life-threatening attack would be one that if not dealt with would be potentially fatal e.g., if somebody choked or strangled you, if you didn’t clear their hands or arms from your throat/neck, you would eventually die. When attacked in this way the first priority is to “attack the attack” i.e., clear the hands/arm from the throat. Only when this has been accomplished can any thought be given to attacking the attacker.

(Israeli Martial Arts Principle Five) Dealing With Non-Life-Threatening Attacks

Non Life Threatening Attacks

A non-life-threatening attack is one where the “attack” doesn’t put you in immediate danger e.g., if somebody grabs your wrist, although uncomfortable, the “grab” itself doesn’t cause you harm, and certainly doesn’t threaten your life. The problem/issue is what comes next e.g., is your attacker grabbing your wrist to hold you in place because they are about to stab or punch you etc. That is the real danger. When confronted with a non-life-threatening threat/attack it is necessary to interrupt this process i.e., prevent the attacker from making the punch or knife attack, to this end when dealing with non-life-threatening attacks, the heuristic, is to attack the attacker.

(Israeli Martial Arts Principle Six) "Families" Of Techniques

"Families" Of Techniques

One of the fundamental ideas behind the Israeli Martial Art of Krav Maga is to have as few techniques as possible to deal with a large number of different threats and attacks. The way the system accomplishes this is to reuse common movements e.g., the defense to a knife threat against the throat, is virtually identical to that of a gun threat to the head etc. This grouping of techniques into families means fewer solutions need to be learned, and the decision-making process when facing an attack/threat is sped up, because there are fewer techniques to select from.

(Israeli Martial Arts Principle Seven) Engaging To Disengage

Survival versus Winning

In real-life violent incidents there aren’t winners and losers, there are those who survive and those who don’t. The Israeli martial art of Krav Maga, that is taught in Woburn, teaches practitioners of the system that any physical solution employed is used ultimately to create a disengagement opportunity i.e., to remove oneself from imminent danger and to get to safety. This reduces the risk of injuries that are more likely to be incurred during a pro-longed encounter and means that the individual employing this strategy is unlikely to find themselves using excessive force which could compromise any claim of self-defense they make if the encounter has a legal element to it.