Category Archives: Krav Maga for Beginners

 

How to Stay Safe in the Modern World

Krav Maga training claims to make you safer, but does it really work?

Imagine parking your car at night in a dimly lit street or car park. As you get out of the car and turn to face the door as you close it, a figure appears behind you. Many people who are not trained in Krav Maga, believe that the training kicks-in at this point and the combat skills learned are used to overpower the aggressor.

If you think that’s how learning Krav Maga works, then you would be right to question its effectiveness. Let me give you some insights into the real world of Krav Maga training. Let’s explore how this practical, real-life self-defence system will keep you safe.

Krav Maga Training is About Much More Than Physical Combat – The AAEC™ System

You may be surprised to hear that we train in Krav Maga in order to not fight. In other words, Krav Maga combat skills are a kind of insurance policy – just in case – but only used when absolutely necessary. What makes Krav Maga training so effective at keeping you safe is in fact its emphasis on awareness and avoidance of potentially dangerous situations. By learning how to develop and maintain a level of awareness and presence you will have at your disposal the proven 4 tier self-defence system of self-defence:

1. Awareness
2. Avoidance
3. Escape or De-escalate
4. Combat

The above skill sets are the foundation of Krav Maga training and you’ll see that they make far more sense than simply training to fight with your attacker.

Awareness – The First And Most Important Step To Staying Safe

You will be trained to be present, mindful and aware of your surroundings as a natural every-day habit. You will also be trained to know what behavioural patterns to look for and so you will become alert to potential threats often before they develop. That certainly doesn’t mean walking around in a constant state of Red-Alert! It means you train to get into a normal routine of assessing your surroundings and the situations you are entering. You begin making conscious choices to avoid putting yourself at unnecessary risk. Awareness is absolutely key to effective self-defence.

Avoidance – The Second Step To Staying Safe

Awareness then naturally increases the chance of simply avoiding many situations that can threaten your safety. This happens in two ways.

• Firstly, by you not putting yourself in unnecessary danger
• Secondly, your own state of confident alertness will make you a far less desirable target

Going back to our earlier car example, after a short time training in Krav Maga you would instinctively look for a different, well-lit parking spot. And if that was not possible you would certainly assess the immediate environment before stepping out of the car.

With Krav Maga training you will learn and become aware of actions that make you vulnerable to would be attackers. For example, wearing headphones while jogging alone, walking along with your head buried in a phone as you send messages or getting into your car without glancing at the back seat first.

Escape or De-Escalation – Plan to Be Safe

Having a plan to escape or de-escalate a threatening situation will save you valuable seconds and make your actions fast and deliberate.

Let’s go back to our car parking example. Think of somewhere you regularly park your car. If you saw what you thought may be an aggressor and you had already stepped out of the car what would be your first action? What do you do if they demand your keys or wallet? What do you do if they demand you get back in the car? What do you do if they have a weapon?

Most people can’t immediately answer these questions – and if a potential threat occurs they would have the same dangerous hesitation. By training with Eitan Krav Maga you will train in and develop appropriate escape measures for the common situations and environments you enter such as public transport, walking along the street, arriving home alone, using cash points and attending crowded evening venues.

Combat – Effective Self-Defence

Sometimes in life of-course, no amount of avoidance can help you and escape is simply not possible. Dangerous situations can occur suddenly and very unexpectedly. Assailants are not novices – they have done this before. If you have not become aware of a potential threat and not been able to avoid it and there is simply no time or space for an escape you can certainly rely on Krav Maga self-defence and combative techniques to end the threat quickly and decisively.

Krav Maga is not an ancient martial art, it’s a modern form of combat training specifically developed by the Israeli military for dealing with the threats of the modern, real world. There are no elaborate movements, nor hundreds of katas and forms to learn and little by way of high-flying kicks for people who are are gymnasts.

Krav Maga training uses practical combat moves that are short and sharp, and very effective. You’ll learn how to attack vital pressure points, disable your attacker quickly and simply and apply techniques that are used by law enforcement, security and military forces around the world.

Krav Maga doesn’t look pretty. It’s not flamboyant or dance like and you don’t have to be an athlete or gymnast to learn this Israeli martial art. If you would like to learn more about Krav Maga you can view our website at eitankravmaga.com and our Facebook page at facebook.com/EitanKravMaga.

How to get started?

The single best way to learn about Krav Maga is to experience it for yourself! And you can do that by contacting us at team@eitankravmaga.com or on +44 (0)7976 294 825 and come and join us for a training session.

Still not sure whether Krav Maga is right for you? Look out for our next article: Is Krav Maga Training Right for Me? We’ll be discussing what you need to become competent at this modern Israeli martial art that offers unrivalled self-defence training for everyone.

 

The Reality – Benefits of Krav Maga Training

When you think about the benefits of Krav Maga training that you might gain, you probably first think of learning self-defence skills. Wanting to learn how to defend yourself may of-course lead you to try a training session. But if that is the only benefit you think you will gain, you may not be motivated enough to consider creating time for Krav Maga training in your life and turning up regularly for training.

Attending too few training sessions to experience the true benefits of Krav Maga is why some people give up – sometimes after just one or two sessions – and often after using a free class offer or other marketing coupon.

Learning any martial art can be challenging. It requires some of your time, physical effort and a commitment to learning something completely new. As instructors, it’s our responsibility to motivate you to train long enough for you to personally discover and experience all the benefits of Krav Maga training that you will gain! So, in this article as a first step to motivation boost we share with you some of the key benefits of Krav Maga training.

If you’re thinking of joining us at Eitan Krav Maga, or if you’ve tried the training before but not continued with it, we strongly recommend that you commit to train for at least 6-8 weeks and ideally training twice a week. In that time, you will start to see and feel the benefits for yourself and you can then make an informed decision on whether you want to continue.

Improve Your Physical Fitness with Krav Maga Training

If you find pushing weights or hitting the treadmill boring and spending hours on gym machines lacking stimulation, then you really should try Krav Maga. The varied ‘fight’ fitness exercises, learning and practicing combat techniques, development of balance, co-ordination and fight movement, shadow fighting and partner sparring will provide a workout that challenges you both mentally and physically. 90 minutes will fly by and you’ll be surprised to hear your instructor calling, “OK, shin guards and groin guards off. Time for cool-down stretch.”

There are so many physical benefits of Krav Maga training. With stretching to increase flexibility and strength, stamina and cardiovascular exercises built into the 90-minute training sessions, you’ll get a challenging healthy workout that improves your all-round fitness level rapidly.

There’s also a real benefit for your important core muscle groups that protect your spine and are used for posture and balance. Many fitness regimes don’t develop these important muscle groups. Krav Maga self-defence training works your inner core muscles and quickly works to improve your balance and posture.

Physical Fitness and Self Defence Training Lead to Confidence

Your first task towards gaining real confidence is to contact us at Eitan Krav Maga London and then turn up for your first training session.

We understand that you might be worried about being the only newcomer. Or perhaps you’re wondering what the other members are like and whether you will you fit in. Your instructors are trained to support new students and will look after you and help you to gradually build your confidence and your fitness. They went through the same process when they were Krav Maga beginners.

After just a few weeks’ training you’ll know a number of simple, practical and effective ways to defend yourself in real-life situations. You’ll also start to learn what it means to be aware of and present to your surroundings – the first and most important step for effective self-defence. Your strength and stamina levels will improve and you’ll begin to feel confident about your ability to deal with, avoid, or safely escape from, whatever life throws at you. And these changes will start to show up in other areas of your life including work and home. You’ll find that other people will begin to notice and comment on the changes they see in you.

The Unexpected Mental Benefits of Krav Maga Training

There are some surprising additional benefits of Krav Maga training that you may not have considered. For example, with regular training you will find that your mental agility, sharpness and focus increases. You may find that you are sleeping more deeply and waking up feeling good. You will start to feel ‘at one’ with your body or, in other words, a sense of body and mind working together. In time, the principles of simplicity and efficiency that are so central to Krav Maga training and practice will begin to show up in other areas of your life and work.

The Self-Defence Benefits of Krav Maga Training

If you’ve ever thought about self-defence training, or had some lessons, you are probably wondering whether Krav Maga will actually work if you are threatened or attacked.  Maybe you also doubt your own ability to use combat techniques even if you learn them.

So, how can you be certain the techniques will work for you or that you will even be able to use them? Read the next article from Eitan Krav Maga where we discuss: Does Krav Maga Training Really Make You Safer?

If you would like to learn more about Krav Maga you can view our website at eitankravmaga.com. We also use our Facebook page for great combat fitness ideas, training events, technique videos and latest information on what we and our students are up to. You can find us at facebook.com/EitanKravMaga.

But the single best way to learn about Krav Maga is to experience it for yourself! And you can do that by contacting us at team@eitankravmaga.com or on +44 (0)7976 294 825 and come and join us for a training session.