Krav Maga - The Only Fighting Sport You Need?

Krav Maga shares its techniques with many other martial arts, including karate, boxing, savate, muay thai, jujitsu, judo, kobudo and wrestling. However, the training is very different. It is a brutal game. There are no set rules, no specific uniforms or attires and no competitions. There is also no distinction between the training for men and the training for women. The only training rules that are emphasized, by the Krav Maga instructors, are that there are no rules, and there should be injury inflicted to oneself or one’s partner when in training. The game borders on savage, and centers on crippling attacks to vulnerable body parts.

It is designed for use in real-life, dangerous conditions, for example, from disadvantaged positions, or against armed opponents, when you are dizzy or when you are up against many different opponents and the techniques focus on the maximum efficiency, to cause the most damage in these worst case scenarios. The name generally translates as “close contact” and this is often misinterpreted to be “full contact” like martial arts such as karate. However, unlike karate and other martial arts, there are no predetermined sequences of events, no set moves and no choreographed styles. Krav Maga centers around effectiveness for either attack or defense situations, and the sport emphasizes rapid learning and the motion of continuous combat.

The way, in which Krav Maga works, is for the game player to attack and defend in potentially very lethal situations. The aim of this sport is to neutralize the threat (the attacker) and escape the situation by any means possible, normally by causing the maximum amount of pain and damage possible to all opponents, as quickly and as safely as possible. It very often involves incredibly crippling attacks to the most vulnerable body parts. This generally involves performing dangerous strikes and blows to the eyes and the groin area, head butting and other efficient and potentially brutal attacks.

It encourages the improvised use of any objects that may become available in the fight. Things that are lying around in the vicinity of the attacker and defender can be used to deal vicious blows and cause some serious damage! The key components are these vicious blows and they must be dealt whilst attempting to maximize personal safety within the fight.

When indulging in this brutal game, there are five main “forces” as it were to consider. These forces are thought of as guidelines for the fighters and although they are hugely generalized, they are highly encouraged by instructors.
The first force is Presence. This is where you use your presence to gain authority over a subject. The idea is to intimidate and demand respect. Secondly, after gaining attention and authority, you use Verbalization. Use your voice to command your subject. Then comes the Empty Hand Control. This is where you search your subject, and disarm him or her if necessary. Remove all objects that could be used as weapons against you and immobilize them. Lastly, comes Deadly Force. Krav Maga is generally known for heading straight for this last force, and it is where the player will use any force necessary to cause permanent injury to a subject, or even to go as far as to cause death to your opponent.

Krav Maga is not thought of as a sport, and after knowing all of this; it is easy to understand why. It cannot even be generalized as a form of self-defense, as deliberately causing any injury or death to an attacker is illegal. Admittedly, the art of Krav Maga, if it can be called an art at all, is designed to neutralize a threat in potentially lethal situations, but the way of escaping is by inflicting great pain.

It would be highly advisable to steer clear of using these methods if affronted by an attacker, and to try other, milder forms of self-defense and sports such as karate or judo. You should take up sports that encourage some form of self-control and do not allow for a game player to inflict as much pain and suffering as is humanly possible!