Simplicity is the key to Krav Maga.

Simplicity is the key to self-defense.  Violence is unpredictable, attackers are unpredictable; the only predictable actions are your own (given that you train of course).  So generally, the simpler the defensive actions, the easier they are to apply under the unpredictable and stressful environment of a violent attack.  Obviously as students train with us, they learn not only the basic techniques, striking and fighting methods, but also how to improvise, adapt and overcome unpredictable attacks.  But these skills come with time and are built from the methodical and progressive training we offer at our school.    

Our mission, however, is to ensure that all students, regardless of level and length of training, have a good chance of overcoming violent attacks.  Therefore, we first and foremost focus on simple, instinctive defensive actions and strong decisive counterstrikes as the essence of our Krav Maga training.  And as students progress and perfect these basic actions and learn how to become better fighters and how to adapt and overcome failures, they are taught more advanced techniques that are built upon the previous lessons to further develop and progress their self-defense skills.

In the video we posted below, we address a defense against a knife stab using the basic approach of 360 defense that we have worked in depth on in the last couple of weeks of our classes.  Although the video doesn’t go in detail about the technical nuances of the technique, it addresses the fundamental point of simplicity.  Whenever we are presented with a violent aggressor, especially one that is wielding a knife, we want to minimize our interaction with the aggressor, use basic defensive actions and strong overwhelming counterstrikes to create distance and escape with minimal sustained injuries.  Of course we have variations of the same technique where we can control and even disarm the attacker.  But these actions, as the video discusses, require a high level of technical proficiency and are highly dependent on the behavior of the aggressor and the circumstances surrounding the defense.  Remember, the attacker will not admire your defense and will not stop and wait for you to do whatever you want to them.  Instead they will be actively fighting back.  So the longer the interaction with the aggressor and the weapon, the more we put ourselves at risk of further harm.

By keeping it simple, and mastering the basic techniques, you greatly improve your chances of success when dealing with violent encounters.  And, once you have mastered the basics, we can build upon these skills to give you further options, such as proper control tactics, disarm options, etc.  But the key to advancement is not just the knowledge of the techniques.  Rather, it’s the ability to use the right technique at the correct time.  Or, the ability to instantaneously abandon one course of action and pick up the next, if the first met resistance or failed to accomplish the desired outcome.  This ability only comes with experience and constant training.  The more you train, the more you learn to adapt to the constantly changing behavior of the attacker, and improvise and overcome failures.  But until then, focusing students too soon in their development on advanced strategies such as controls and disarms, will cause more harm than good and places them at a greater risk of getting injured or killed.

Please enjoy the video below.  Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more interesting videos.  And please comment and let us know your thoughts on this and other topics.