The Evolution of "The Street Fight" & Krav Maga

Street Fights and real world violence are continually evolving. When I first worked in London (late 90’s), confronting an armed assailant was the exception rather than the norm. Ten years later that situation changed and it seemed that every one under the age of 25 was carrying a knife, and was more than ready to pull it if provoked or “disrespected”. Many security professionals who had been working the door successfully up until this point found that what they’d relied on to work for them in the past was failing to do the job now. If you don’t evolve with the times you soon find yourself on the receiving rather than the giving end of the relationship – I ended up having to change much of my approach to throwing; something that I’d been very successful with over my past experiences but that brought me much too close to any potential weapon/blade that may have figured into my assailant’s thought process (I still have a scar across my top and bottom lip to remind me of my mistakes regarding this).                              

 Those of you who have studied Krav Maga with me for over 12 months have probably seen subtle changes I have made to techniques based on my own experiences, my conversations with friends and security professionals (who are still in the thick of it), along with my continued training in Israel and with Israeli trained operatives who find themselves in the hottest and most intense crucible on the planet – it doesn’t really get any more real than in Israel. When I first visited in Israel in 1990, Krav Maga looked a certain way, today it looks significantly different. If you read a Krav Maga book from the 1980’s e.g. Col David Ben Asher’s 1984 look at Krav Maga, and compare it with David Kahn’s books and DVD’s you will see an art/style/system that is more basic, less evolved and much less relevant to our ideas of what violence today looks like.

I remember quite vividly the time I was told that it was necessary to pull the body back from a Knife Threat to the body before you moved the knife, because muggers in South Africa were starting to push the blade into a victim’s body rather than simply holding the knife in front of/or against them: a trend that started to be followed by predators in other countries. The lesson: get as many or as much experience(s) as you can and evolve your system as necessary. It is important to recognize that experience is limited in its range and scope, which is why it’s Important to make sure you’re part of something larger than yourself – one of the reasons I continue to go back to Israel to train, to consult with fellow professionals and friends who work and live dealing with violence.

This week we looked at going to ground from a street/reality perspective e.g. one where your attacker is unlikely to pull guard, attempt side-control or execute a Kimura but instead try to punch you as you fall and kick/stomp you when you’re down (things that  become more common in multiple attackers scenarios). However you have to remember that violence evolves – there’s a generation of Kids being brought up on the UFC and Cage Fighting. Are “Rear Naked Chokes” and fight where both parties start rolling on the floor going to start to become more common? Probably. I’ve always said to people, “when I want to see the type of violence I’ll be dealing with in the future I watch how 10 and 12 year olds fight and play.” Six years down the line, this is what you’ll be dealing with.

Has/Is Krav Maga evolving to deal with these new forms of violence? Absolutely. This is why we moved defenses against Rear Naked Chokes into the Yellow Belt Syllabus. If you’re not moving, you’re not fighting. I’m always thankful that I belong to a community who updates me, educates me and adds to my own experience(s) of what the face of real world violence REALLY looks like. This means I can change/alter what we do on the mats.

I hope to see you all tomorrow, when we continue to train with one goal in mind: reality.