Krav Maga - anybody have experience?

[GradeMaker]

I've been considering investing some time and money in order to begin to learn some form of martial art with my motivation being principally SD. I've stumbled upon Krav Maga and while I understand it is not a 'true' MA in the usual sense, I am somewhat intrigued. I've come to respect the opinions of a number of people here on the subject of SD and MA and so before I make a decision one way or the other I thought I'd seek the qualified counsel of anyone here who'd be so kind as to share his or her thoughts. I'd be much obliged.

[Lostification]

I have some experience in Krav Maga.



I watched some on Human Weapon on TV, haha! I'm an expert now!

[Piet.S]

My wife practices Krav Maga.
Indeed it is not an MA, it is based on reallife situations. (no pun intendet)
It is mean, lowdown, dirty and effective.

[Capt. Carl]

Seems to me like they just do slow simulated drills most of the time with no sparring, maybe some unrealistic scenario to practice the moves. If I were wanting to learn some self defense, I'd do something that gets you sparring and getting used to the pace of fighting and will build your skills, strength, and speed. I would consider something like Boxing or muay thai. I think most importantly is a a type of ground fighting like JiuJitsu or catch wrestling.

[Stenny]

Largely depends on the teacher... as always. KM in itself is a pretty good SD option, but it relies on closed fist striking a lot, you have to be comfortable with that - I am not, so I opted for PT Kali.

[Zozo*HC*]

I'm Doing krav maga more than 1.5 years ago. I'm practicing the original IKMF system, i mean its different from the U.S. version. As i know the 2 system broke off in the 70's and U.S KM continued in its own way. I tryed a lot of things before :Goju Ryu, Kyokushin, Aikido but KM is far the best of all. If u need self defense, its prepare you to life. Reality based, and its improoved year by year. If something is not working, they change it . Easy to learn and KM gives you the key to solve a lot fo problems with a single technique, for example: no problem if u stand sit on a chair or laid on the ground, cause you can use the same thing. Its a bit brutal sometimes, but effective. KM SAVES LIVES.

BTW Muay thai is great for street fightbut its does not preapre u to face with a knife a baton or with a simple problem that u have only one arm to use cause an injury. Wrestling and JiuJitsu are great sports, or call em wargames. But its a fast way to die.... u go down with one, and his friend will stab you from the back. KM dont use ground fights but using the best techniqes from wrestling and Jiu Jitsu, so you also can do this thing on the training just to feel how it works If u have any question feel free to ask

[KaliGman]

Krav Maga was created in the formative days of Israel as a quick and effective system for military use. Elements from judo, jujitsu, and karate were combined into a slimmed down and streamlined system. It can be effective for self defense. Having studied various Japanese martial arts for a lot of years, I never particularly cared for it. I preferred an in depth study of the root arts that were used to create the "new" art. This takes a lot more time than studying Krav Maga,though, and you have to be good enough and dedicated enough to be able to "blend" the arts yourself as required to meet your own needs. Most people lack the time or the talent (or both), which makes Krav Maga a very viable alternative.

For "one stop shopping" for an art that is effective in empty hand, stick, knife, and grappling environments, I prefer the Filipino Martial Arts (FMAs). There is no "one path" and every art has its strengths and weaknesses. If you find someone telling you "XYZ" is the ultimate or best art they are either a) trying to sell you something or b) ignorant. People have different goals and expectations of their martial arts training, different body types, different mindsets, and different amounts of time to train, etc. No one art is the best for everyone.

[Michael Cook]

Any martial art designed to fight nazi bastards is a good and noble thing.

[DRDOORKICKER]

Thats the Marines version of Krav Maga. Just a bunch of different techniques rolled into a system. the only thing is it is designed to be doable in full combat gear. so, sometimes something that seems to not be the best option is what is taught because normally you would have a rifle, pack, flak, etc. but, for the most part it is pretty effective. it also stresses escalation of force, something that is extremely important in today's lawsuit driven society.
Jason

[i.v]

Krav Maga the way I know (I'm from Israel) it is very quick, brutal and to the point, it's not meant to be pretty but to inflict maximum damage in as short a time span as possible to save your life.

While I find KM to be a great martial art, it is a young one and often lacking. For the past 2 and a half years I have been practicing Meijin-Kai which combines Muai Thai, KM, Karate and JiuJitsu. It's a great MMA and very effective.

KM really shines when combined with another martial art - worth a try.

[Kaizen]

I'm not a huge fan of Krav Maga (I've known several instructors), but I don't hate it. I REALLY don't like a lot of their firearm disarmament techniques.

[i.v]

I don't believe in firearm disarmament techniques at all for the most part (in any martial art), I think they're a good way of getting shot.
If ever facing a loaded barrel it's time to try and talk your way out of a situation. Only if everything fails and you're 100% sure you're gonna get shot then might as well try..

[Zozo*HC*]

Only if everything fails and you're 100% sure you're gonna get shot then might as well try..

Here is the Point. Krav Maga techniques were made for this case, any other situation you better run away or save yourself any other way. I would hate if i have to face a gun, but its better to know how u can handle it if needed.

[Dr. Snubnose]

KM is quick study...can be effective for those who train in it...I, like KaliGman, like a more in-depth study of what he refered to as the root systems that newer systems have developed from. My Great Grandmaster use to say..."you could study one style of Martial arts for your entire lifetime and get very good at it, or you could study one form from one martial art your entire lifetime and get very good at it, or you could study one set from one form from one martial art for your entire lifetime and get very good at it, or you could study one movement from one set from one form from one martial art your entire lifetime and get very good at it." The point is whatever you study you have to get very good at it. Getting good at something takes time and energy, lots of it. I wish there was a magic pill that people could ingest and instantly have remarkable skills that would last a lifetime for them. But there are no magic pills, no magic martial styles, forms, sets or movements that will be of any benefit for you without years of hard work and constant training. Learn anything as a passing fancy or quick study of instant techniques without daily practice for your entire lifetime and what have you got when push comes to shove. I'll tell you what you have..you have a quick study system that will be ineffective. It's like the guy who buys a firearm and then puts it in his bedroom dresser draw without ever taking it to the range to practice and then feels well equipt to handle most situations and safe and secure because he now has a gun....Doesn't matter if it's a gun, knife or martial art, if you don't study, learn, practice and train on a continual basis you have nothing cept maybe a false sense of security. If this is your mindset don't waste your money or time studying anything....learn how to dial 911 quickly and learn how to pray.......Doc

[GradeMaker]

Thanks everybody for all the comments and insights - I appreciate you guys taking the time to share your thoughts.

[224477]

I havent tried KM out yet, but I can tell you that the founder of KM, Mr. Imi Sde Or /or Lichtenfeld/ grew up and spent a significant period of his life in Bratislava /Slovakia/ where he was involved in many street fights against at that time forming Nazi gangs here. /its was shortly before WW2/ Then he emigrated to a place where nowadays Israel is and started to create a men to men fighting system for IDF.

I even walk daily through the street where his family used to live, according to the facts known here.

[dete]

I've stumbled upon Krav Maga

Personally not a big fan of it. The class I took made me give it respect
because although the striking we did was laughable compared to
Thai boxing, the work out was hard. Just not my bag. At all.
I enjoy MMA training much more.

[Kaizen]

I don't believe in firearm disarmament techniques at all for the most part (in any martial art), I think they're a good way of getting shot.
If ever facing a loaded barrel it's time to try and talk your way out of a situation. Only if everything fails and you're 100% sure you're gonna get shot then might as well try..

And if you may have to "try", you might as well learn about them.

What I dislike about some of the system's firearm disarmament techniques is a tendency to do a certain movement. I discussed and showed this to 2 Krav Maga instructors and they agreed after I showed it to them that there is a serious flaw that needs to be recognized in the technique. I'm not sure if I can articulate it as clearly as it could be through typing. If anyone's interested I can explain it further. I'm just not in the mood to type it all right now.

[crunch716]

hi all!
i am not an expert, but i've been training in krav maga for about 6 months now and i feel that it should be looked into for SD. what i like most about it is the simple fact that it provides 'positive reinforcement' for hitting vital targets. while most MA's won't teach you to hit the groin, throat, occipital, eye, etc.. because it follows a set of 'rules'. of course, the MA practitioner can deviate from these rules come a real encounter, but it would be less instinctive. another thing worth mentioning is that KM is situational, which means that you train for more or less the same kinds of scenarios that you might come across in the street.

on the flipside, what you have to be cautious about with krav maga is the use of force. remember that it teaches techniques to end threats as quickly and as efficiently as possible. because of the nature of these techniques, it will most likely leave your attacker seriously injured, possibly even dead. make sure youre aware of the effect that every strike/technique can have on your opponent. also, KM teaches some pre-emptive strikes that i am not fond of. in some cases, it is necessary, just be sure to always apply your own moral judgement to what they teach.

[Mr Blonde]

From what I've read and heard about it, the system is effective enough and with plenty of attention to modern threats. Some stuff is a bit esoteric; how to evade a handgrenade blast.

I took one lesson. After seeing the instructor repeatedly demonstrate how to kick the living snot out of the attacker after the threat was dealt with, i.e. when the attacker was down and out, I decided never to return. It kind of soured my experience with Krav Maga. I just hope none of his students ever get attacked in real life, they'd survive the attack but not the courtroom.

Wouter