The Usefulness Of Judo & Krav Maga

There are some who paint a very simple story, concerning the evolution of Krav Maga, tying everything to one single lineage, without acknowledging the others who have played and continue to play their part in the evolution of the approach; to be fair to all those who have had a hand in guiding and influencing the development of the IDF’s fighting systems, it is more accurate to talk about Krav Maga as a common approach, that has borne certain distinct systems, or “types” of Krav Maga, rather than as a distinct or singular system. In the early development of the IDF’s fighting systems or “Krav Maga”, Judo was an integral part, along with traditional Ju-Jitsu, and there are instructors both within and outside of the IDF, who still teach and incorporate a lot of Judo/Ju-Jitsu, into their “Krav Maga”. This is something I continue to do, with the Krav Maga I teach. This is not for traditional reasons, or to pay homage, etc., but because Judo is an extremely efficient and effective system of self-defense, that can be used with devastating consequences. Unfortunately, the use of Judo as a self-defense system has fallen out of favor, and it is now commonly practiced as a sport – BJJ/Brazilian Ju-Jitsu is following a similar path – with Randori (the competitive practice), becoming the focus rather than as a tool/means of developing real-world fighting abilities. 

Being able to throw and takedown an assailant is an extremely important skill to have. A large part of the Krav Maga approach is to deliver as much concussive force to an assailant as is necessary to cause them to either emotionally and/or physically crumble; to take the fight out of them. One of the ways you can deliver an extreme amount of concussive force is to throw somebody on the ground, or against another hard surface. This creates full body trauma, and also puts your assailant in an extremely disadvantaged position, giving you attacking opportunities, as well as possibly the time and distance to disengage to safety. It is also an important skill, for dealing with much larger opponents, where you might not be able to generate sufficient striking force, to have a devastating effect on them; the old adage about the bigger they are, the harder they fall, is certainly true. In saying all of this, it is important to know when to throw, how to throw, and also when not to throw. To understand all of this, we need to understand the three components of a throw, and how these relate to real-life altercations.

The first thing that needs to happen when throwing somebody is their balance needs to be broken (Kuzushi), without this, you will have to throw the person, rather than having them throw themselves – the aim of a good throw. The second phase is the “fitting in” (Tsukuri), or getting yourself into a good throwing position, with the last phase being the actual execution (or Kake) of the throw.For balance to be broken, the head must be past the shoulders, and the shoulders past the hips – this is why it is impossible to throw somebody who is striking with good form, or who is delivering tight strikes that doesn’t see them overreach. Also, when a strike has recoil (and we should assume that all punches are recoiled, rather than left out there) any forward movement that could possibly have been exploited, is being re-centered. This doesn’t mean you can’t use throws against someone who is moving/barreling forward, and throwing punches as they come in. If there is forward momentum, with bodyweight being committed, this movement can be used to break their balance; especially if you move back with them, forcing them to extend their reach in order to hit you. This is very, very different, however, to trying to throw off a punch, itself.

The rookie mistake in throwing people is to confusion of the balance break and fitting in phases i.e. I will often see people move towards their opponent, rather than pulling their opponent into them, whilst releasing the pressure of the initial pull, which had caused the Kuzushi e.g. you will see the person pulled forward, and their balance taken, only for the person attempting the throw, to release the pressure as they try to “fit in” to execute it. For the throw to be effective, the balance needs to continue to be taken, as the thrower, gets into position – if the person being thrown can recover, so that their head remains over their shoulders, and their shoulders over their hips, the throw will have effectively been lost.

Many people will dismiss the usefulness of Judo, because it is practiced in a GI (the traditional white jacket and pants), and oftentimes – especially during the summer months - people who may assault you won’t be wearing a coat or jacket. I have successfully thrown people using their t-shirt. The best place to grab to accomplish this, is the material over the shoulders; when you pull the clothing this way, you put stress on the material under the armpits and across the back, which is in fact quite strong; or at least strong enough to move/pull the person towards you, and break their balance. There are also ways to throw without the use of clothing e.g. an arm around the waist or head of an assailant can often be substituted for a grip on the clothing, etc.      

When fights close distance, you will want to be able to exploit both the movement of the attacker, and their close proximity. Judo teaches you to do this. I remember a class at Dennis Hanover’s Israeli Martial Arts Center in Herzliya, Israel, when I first trained with his students. I was totally overwhelmed by their striking, and was finding it difficult to keep up. Fortunately, there came a stage in the fighting where we were allowed to throw, and this became my default way of dealing with the onslaughts that I faced. After the class, in a very understated way, Dennis said to me that knowing Judo is extremely useful when the pressure is really on i.e. when you’re unable to control range and distance, and when your attacker is right on top of you, etc. From my personal perspective, that sounded like every fight I’d ever been involved in.