Krav Maga Blog - Jan 2016

Krav Maga is a not a particular “style” of self-defense, but an approach/method of fighting based on certain principles and ideas. There are schools, systems and instructors that try and argue that only their interpretation of these concepts and principles, makes theirs the “true” and “authentic” Krav Maga, however this is simply not the case, and there are many instructors and Krav Maga systems that adhere to the principles laid down. However, a dogmatic, and rigid interpretation of Krav Maga principles, can be detrimental, when you take your Krav Maga out of the training arena and/or dojo, and try and...

On Thursday I was interviewed about certain personal safety issues, one of which were the potential risks and dangers of using car services, such as Uber and Lyft, as opposed to conventional taxi’s and limousine services etc. Although I’ve written a bit about this in a general sense, in this article I’m going to go into a bit more detail, and focus on the city of Boston, where my school is based. A major concern that many people have over using ride services, is that they are not sure that the interview process, and background checks that drivers have to go...

If time – as a concept – didn’t exist, everything would happen at once. Sometimes when people practice defenses and techniques against attacks, they try and do everything at once, and in one movement e.g. they try to clock a knife attack, and control the attacker’s weapon arm at the same time, rather than recognizing that what they are actually engaged in, is a process with identifiable steps; all of which are necessary if they are to be successful – the block needs to block the movement of the weapon, the control needs to restrict any further movement of the...

Anyone who lifts weights understands the concept of specificity; that is, if you want to get stronger arms, you don’t do squats e.g. exercise your legs. This seems a very obvious principle and one that should be applicable in everyday life, however when it comes to self-defense, specificity often gets lost or goes out of the window. A few weeks ago I happened to watch a Krav Maga/Self-Defense instructor, who had a free program teaching teenagers how to survive a school shooting. I’m not going to judge his program as a whole because I understand how the media can portray things...

Despite the way many people present and teach self-defense, surviving a real-life violent altercation, is less about physical techniques and more about effective decision making i.e. knowing when to act, and knowing when not to. It is an easy trap to fall into; equating technical ability with survivability. The techniques that you learn, are simply tools that you use as part of the solution, they are not the solution itself. Back in the day, when I practiced Judo within the BJA (British Judo Association), there were different types of Black Belt. As well as there being the standard Black Belt, that...