KRAV MAGA 
What is Krav Maga?
Krav Maga is a defensive tactics system taught to Israel's
security and military units. It is not a martial art. Its
roots were in the formative days of the Israel Defence Forces
in 1948, but it has now been expanded to include civilians.
Krav Maga is probably the most widely practised defensive
tactics system in the world today, being particularly strong
in northern Europe and the west coast of the US. In those
regions it is part of the defensive tactics syllabus for many
police, security and specialist military units. Krav has three
streams, one for civilians and two specialist streams, one
for security and another for military personnel.
SDT's Connection to Krav Maga
We practice under the guidance of Eyal Yanilov, Chief Instructor
for the International Krav Maga Federation (IKMF) based in
Netanya Israel. Instructor Graham is a qualified Krav Maga
instructor trained and graded by Eyal. Krav Maga is SDT's
core system and all SDT students are taught Krav and if they
choose to grade, grade through the Krav grading structure
administered out of Israel by the IKMF.
Why Do We Train in Krav Maga?
SDT started prior to our connection to Krav Maga. We had
our own internal syllabus based on our extensive martial arts
and street experiences. Graham came across Krav Maga prior
to Eyal's first trip to Australia in September 2000 and by
the time of that visit started to realize the extensive overlap
between SDT's syllabus and that of Krav Maga. Rather than
reinvent the wheel, the decision was made to align with Krav.
Horizontal system
From SDT's perspective, Krav's strength is that it is a 'horizontal'
or integrated system, that is, it covers the full spectrum
of confrontational situations from standing striking, groundfighting,
control and restraint, empty hands versus weapons and use
of weapons such as knives, sticks and everyday items.
Deals with the Multiple Opponent Problem
It is one of the few systems to specifically and methodically
address the multiple opponent problem as part of the syllabus.
In our opinion the majority of martial art systems inadequately
address this issue in a formal and structured way and in a
way that reflects what truly happens out there. Based on direct
experience, the 2 or 3 versus one sparring that is sometimes
practised in the martial arts is simplistic and unrealistic
in our view.
The Weapon Problem
In comparison with other systems it is very strong in empty
hand versus weapons, a reflection of the sad fact that it
is based in a region of everyday violence. All weapons are
dealt with, from knives and clubs, to handguns, automatic
weapons and even hand grenades. In our opinion its method
in this area is clearly superior and it has answers for weapon
threat situations for which other systems would have no answer.
Psychology of Combat
Krav betrays its roots in the military and security forces
by the way it deal with the impact of heightened emotional
states during conflict on the ability of a person to function
effectively. As a formal part of the training method it has
a devious array of structured drills for putting the student
under psychological pressure during training to simulate anxiety
levels during a confrontation. Safety is a prime concern of
Krav Maga, so exercises that are used by the military and
security forces are toned down for civilians.
Environmental Training
Environmental training is a key part of the system with training
conducted in all manner of places, from stairs and hallways,
in rain (snow and ice in Europe), in the dark while possibly
wearing restrictive clothing or uniforms etc. We think this
is important as the student must be able to quickly adapt
their technique to the environment. This is not a go down
to the beach to train for variety scenario.
Rapid Learning and Short Reaction Times
Krav Maga is a good example of a what could be termed a 'root
movement' system. It's approach is to take one action and
use it to solve as many self defence problems as possible
rather than attempting to find an optimum (and hence unique)
solution for every situation. Given the number of physical
variables involved in a confrontation, the optimum but unique
approach results in too many techniques to remember.
Under pressure and possibly in less than optimum environmental
circumstances (that is outside the training hall) the ability
to recall and correctly perform that unique solution is very
problematic. The killer is that having greater choice increases
reaction time. Vital fractions of a second are lost.
Moreover, more techniques means training time has to be spread
more thinly over the greater number of movements. Better to
have fewer movements and movements that are adapted to new
situations meaning the student learns more rapidly and hence
under pressure will react in less time.
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