I've written about "Combatives" before however having just run a Krav Maga Yashir Combatives Instructor Program, I think it's worthwhile taking a moment to explain how this program fits into the Krav Maga Yashir system as a whole and explain the differences between martial arts, self-defense and combatives as I see them.
If there is one skill/attribute that is essential for surviving a real-life assault it is decisiveness. It is also the one key element that can make the difference when you are dealing with someone athletically superior to you. Many people wonder how out-of-shape, older cops and law enforcement operatives are able to overcome, faster, younger, stronger and more athletically gifted criminals. The answer is decisiveness; they don't wait to act - they act before the other person, or at the very first movement, behavior or action a person makes, that indicates that...
Read MoreThere are a lot of martial arts myths and folklore that get taken as facts e.g. 95% of fights go to the ground, high kicks don’t work on the street etc. I’m not sure who comes up with these facts and statistics but they soon get treated as facts without questioning. Do 95% of fights go to the ground? I’m not actually in a statistical position to refute it, but neither are the persons/individuals who blithely make such statements. If you are a BJJ/Judoka who is skilled on the ground, it may be that you choose to take 95% of...
Read MoreWhen practicing gun disarming, students often back away from their "aggressor", holding/aiming the gun at them as if the roles have been reversed - strangely this rarely happens with knife disarms i.e. there seems to be an assumption with firearm disarms that the defender is prepared to use this weapon, but not prepared to use a knife, and that the assailant will "respect" the gun but possibly not respect the knife.
There are basically three ways a...
Read MoreThis week's blog is the product of a discussion that was had in a women's self-defense class I was teaching yesterday. This particular discussion, although it ends up happening most times in women's classes - maybe because they're not scared to start it - is really a non-gender specific one i.e. when do you become physical/violent in a situation that is progressing in its level and the intensity of its aggressiveness?
The first thing I...
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