Krav Maga is not a martial art, it’s a fighting system designed to save lives.
In Martial arts, many of the techniques are choreographed to look nice, but in reality would never work.
Only in real Krav Maga, techniques are changed and adapted to the always changing battlefield.
Krav Maga is the Hebrew words for Contact Combat, simple as that.
Krav Maga was designed so that everyone could understand it, and actually be able to use it in real life situations. In Israel all the 18 year old boys and girls must serve for three years in the military. It’s the Krav Maga instructor’s job, in the short time that he has, to insure these young men and women will have what it takes to minimize the damage and survive in close combat battle. This is why more than the techniques, the work is on the mindset, and the principles of what it takes to stay alive.
Under pressure, a person’s capability of performing the technique he learned will go down by 50%. That’s why the emphasis of real Krav Maga training is on the mindset, and the principles, while keeping the techniques simple.
If it’s not simple, it’s not Krav Maga. Unfortunately, today there are many schools who claim to be teaching “self-defense”, but in reality their techniques are all choreographed and fancy. If it’s choreographed it can’t be reality based self-defense, and certainly not Krav Maga. It’s a Martial art. The question in a person’s mind when practicing Krav Maga should always be “can I really use this under the pressure of a real fight?
Train smart,
stay safe,
Sharir R, ICCS head instructor
