Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The 411 on Hand-to-Hand Combat.

Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse; I personally love this song. It's very low key, which tends to be the pattern with the songs I share. The reason for that though, is that I write at night--late at night. So I'm not going to be playing too much rap/hip-hop. I prefer something I can play quietly in the background of my doings. Hope you like it. 

(SIDENOTE: Absinthe NOT necessary to enjoy song. No fairies, but a good listen nonetheless.)


So as the title has stated, I'll be talking about fighting. But to specify, I'll be focusing mostly on my style of choice: Krav Maga.

For a really quick lesson on Krav Maga= developed around WWII as a means for people to defend themselves against Nazis(yes, it's primarily a self-defense style) and evolved into one of the most effective, brutal, and practical systems to date. Krav Maga is more a MMA(mixed martial art) than TMA(traditional martial art). Realizing the potential and advantages that different styles bring to the table, KM takes moves and such from a variety of different arts including Muay Thai and JKD(which is actually very, very similar to KM). 

If there was every a class I'd advise anyone to take, it's KM. I loved it because of the basic principles it teaches and the very efficient methods used to neutralize any threats that you may be faced with.



This is a clip from ABC's Good Morning America. It features the Krav Maga Federation, the one in which I trained, doing a demo along with some commentary.


As you can see, the goal of each move that a Kravist executes, is entirely purposeful. The intent of everything is to stop the "attacker" as quickly as possibly, regardless of what that takes. Now I'm not suggesting that you should straight up kill someone. We don't condone excessive force, rather we believe that the harder someone gets put down, the less likely they'll jump back up ready to go for Round 2. Secondly, being that it's a self defense system doesn't mean that we have to sit around waiting for someone to hit us. In actuality, prevention is key. Let's be real: if posed with the threat of four, potentially armed guys, should you try to run or fight them all? In all honesty, one potentially armed guy is a serious threat regardless of your fighting experience, four is just downright dangerous. Anyone who thinks otherwise is stupid. Now that you tried to run and you find yourself trapped, you go to Option B, fall back on your KM training to survive this encounter.

In this day and age, it'd be highly foolish to presume anything about anyone. That's why I find it dumb when people assume whether or not they can beat someone based strictly on exterior qualities. You can never know fully, unless something happens. You don't know if they have a knife on them...


That's my friend. Usually have it on me at all times unless in a secured environment.

And to be truthful, a knife entered into the equation is an automatic added danger sans any knife fighting experience. We're talking about sharpened metal being flailed about in a high stress environment. Let's not even get started on a gun...

So yeah, one thing Krav Maga stresses is to NOT get hurt. There are no rules or honor when your life is on the line. When I say that, I mean anything goes between you and the aggressor. Groin, eyes, soft tissue, etc. If you have a metal pipe and they don't, use it. Although I'd think anyone who is unarmed that is faced with someone toting a metal pipe would surrender. Or if you don't have a weapon, higher level material goes over disarms and removing weapons from your opponent's hands. Even the blocks include a strike so that you can take control of the situation immediately and lead the fight.

When I talk about KM to people, they always pose these ridiculously, impossible scenarios; "wat if sum1 had a baz00ka 2 ur face nd sum1 else had a tank behind u?" C'mon, guys. No one is saying it is the solution to everything. But what it does do is prepare you for as many situations as you can. There's a saying, "No battleplan survives contact with the enemy." I think it goes with this 100%. Nothing can assure you that you will be ready for every single scenario, but a well-rounded system like KM can try and cover as many bases as possible. 

If there was ever a fighting system I'd declare supreme for real-life encounters, it's Krav Maga. Cracked agrees. And they can't be wrong. But seriously, look into it. One thing that has been a thorn in KM's flourishing is the multitude of McDojo versions of Krav offered. A lot of places that claim to teach it aren't actually authentic and only provide a very watered down, ineffective version. Do your research, please!

If you want more information, let me know.

I'm going to steal a quote from my instructor that embodies the essence of Krav Maga--

"If you don't like that I don't fight fair, don't f*ck with me."

It's as simple as that, ladies and gentlemen. Night.

No comments:

Post a Comment