Overcoming Setbacks in Your Krav Maga Training

In the last month’s article we discussed how to stay focused and motivated in your Krav Maga training (click here to read Motivation: A Key to Your Success in Krav Maga).  We mentioned that the key is to be self-critical of your performance, pay attention to details and the feedback we provide you, and most importantly have the will to improve upon the techniques you already know rather than always be looking to learn a new technique in every class.  Remember the analogy to a boxer that can devote a whole career to perfecting just the three punches that make up the sport in order to be the best he can be.   Of course striving for perfection can be very frustrating, especially when you have “off-days” in your training and are not up to par with your own expectations.  So as promised we wanted to address how to handle these setbacks and overcome frustration and continue in your Krav Maga journey.

The article below, titled “Dealing with Failure” was written by us a few years ago, and it addresses the issue of off-days, frustration, and more. Enjoy and feel free to add your comments below.

Becoming proficient at Krav Maga requires, among many other things, a certain level of confidence that comes from experience, repetition, training and a positive learning environment.  Unfortunately, as with any other activity, we cannot expect to be on top of our game 100% of the time.  Everyone has an off-day or two from time to time.  Maybe we didn’t get enough sleep the night(s) before, maybe we had a bad day at work, an argument at home, some bad news, or maybe we are fatigued because we didn’t get a good meal before training.  Whatever the reason is, these days happen.  And learning how to cope with them is important for overall development as a Krav Maga fighter.

The first rule is to not take out your frustrations on your training partner(s).  Your discontent is not their fault.  Speeding up, going harder and being careless is not the way to fix the issue, not to mention it is also dangerous.  If your training is not going as well as you hoped, do not spoil it for your partner.  If anything, you can alleviate some of your frustration by taking on the role of the attacker more often, thus allowing your partner to get more training.

Secondly do not get too fixated on your mistakes.  No one is flawless.  We all make mistakes from time to time.  But if you are screwing up more than usual, don’t let that shake your confidence.  Try to fix your mistakes to the best of your ability; but if this is one of those days when the mistakes are piling up, don’t let it frustrate you too much.  Simply finish the class, go home, relax, rest and take your mind of your training.  When you return refreshed, you will see that you have miraculously “fixed” the majority of the flaws you were experiencing previously.

It’s good to strive for perfection, and being aware of your mistakes is important for your continued success and development in Krav Maga.  But Krav Maga is not a martial art where form is the crux of the system.  Rather it is a system of survival, where success is measured in your ability to overcome adversity. Think of your off-day as just another challenge that you must learn to overcome.  It will better prepare you for the real world, where you may have to rely on your training at any moment, regardless of how good or bad your day has been going so far.

Train hard. Stay safe.