Krav Maga taught as a system – the most efficient path to self protection

Every beginner Krav Maga practitioner finds himself a bit overwhelmed with the amount of new material he/she is learning in class.  Inevitably to a beginner the task of remembering the large amount of techniques and movements that we cover in class may seem like an impossible task.  And often you may find yourself asking the questions: Is it really feasible for me to learn all this self-defense material and will I be able to use it effectively if presented with a real life altercation?

The truth is that Krav Maga is one of the easiest systems to learn and execute under conditions of severe stress.  What makes it easy to learn is that Krav Maga is not just a collection of unconnected vast amounts of techniques, but rather a system of interconnected and interdependent principles and movements that if taught correctly build upon each other.  This systematic view of Krav Maga allows students the ability to better understand and internalize the techniques and the nuances behind them, rather then simply relying on rote memorization.

Think of the time you were cramming for an exam, relying simply on memorization to get you through the test and get you on your way.  Although you may have done well on the initial test, how much of the material have you actually retained a few weeks later?  What about a few months, or a year?  Now think back to a subject you really enjoyed, where the teacher and you took the time to understand and discuss the subject, build connections within topics and take the time to think through the curriculum.  Were you able to retain more knowledge and information over time?

When we teach Krav Maga we take the latter approach.  We take the time to explain the reason behind each technique, discuss the nuances behind it, open up the floor to questions, etc.  In each class we take the time to understand not only the technique but the reasoning behind it.  This includes spending time on understanding the attack from the attacker’s perspective; their mindset, their actions, etc.  Then understanding your body’s natural response to the problem at hand.  And finally understanding how the solution, the technique, is build off that natural response.  Furthermore we relate the movements and the principles of each technique to the previous techniques learned in past classes.  This ensures that you start building a systematic view of Krav Maga; seeing the connections between all the learned material.  Additionally individual class structure is set up in such a way that even the movements learned within the hour long lesson are progressive, and build off one another to give you a better understanding of the technique you are learning.

Of course being able to understand the system is important at the learning stage.  But when faced with a life or death struggle on a street you have very little time, if any, to think about your response.  When quick action is required, your training needs to kick in automatically.  To ensure that it does, the last 10 minutes of each class is spent on stress drills.  During this time you are facing continuous random attacks allowing your learned reflexes to take over without time for reflection or thought.  This type of training has proved to be very successful, and some of our students have used their learned skills effectively on the street even when facing dangerous circumstances, including armed attackers.

So the question is how long will it take you to be able to use Krav Maga effectively if faced with a dangerous situation?  Basic proficiency in Krav Maga can be achieved in as little as several months.  Simply because we teach Krav Maga as a system containing a small set of similar, familiar, related movements and principles that are recycled from one problem to the other making the system easy to learn and even easier to execute.  Of course achieving basic proficiency is only the beginning for some, and many students have been continuously training with us for years.  As with everything else in life, the more time you devote to learning a skill the better you will get at it, but only if the training environment provides you with the right conditions for efficient learning.