Does Krav Maga Training Really Make You Safer? 

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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.