3 Reasons Krav Maga Is The Most Effective Self-Defense System.
The Krav Maga Worldwide® self-defense system was developed in Israel in the late 1940’s by a man named Imi Lichtenfeld. Israel was a newly formed nation to which people from all over the world were immigrating.
There was no standing military in Israel so the new, rapidly growing, population was tapped to serve in defense of the nation. Imi was asked to come up with a system for training people with little to no hand-to-hand combat experience to become proficient in hand-to-hand combat in a very short period of time. The system that Imi developed was Krav Maga.
Imi was an accomplished boxer and grappler who fought in Nazi resistance groups all over Europe during WWII. His experience gave him insight into what the most practical and effective fighting skills are…and how to teach these skills to people in a way that is both easy to learn and easy to remember.
This is the really the backbone of Krav Maga and Krav Maga Worldwide® self-defense. There are a number of reasons that Krav Maga is the most effective self-defense system and three of these reasons really stand out.
Simple
Krav Maga, and Krav Maga Worldwide® self-defense are based in simplicity. It’s not really a martial art it is a self-defense system. That is to say there are no ceremonial or traditional elements involved in Krav Maga Worldwide® self-defense training. There’s no traditional uniform, no ceremonial movement practices or “katas”, no demonstration or choreography elements.
In Krav Maga Worldwide self-defense you are going to learn to fight, and you are going to fight in a very short period of time.
For example, two of the first striking techniques that students learn in Krav Maga Worldwide® self-defense Level 1 are the straight punch and the front kick to the groin. Being proficient in just these two striking techniques gives students a solid foundation for self-defense.
The philosophy in Krav Maga Worldwide® self-defense is to fight back in a way that causes sufficient damage to an attacker or opponent for escaping the situation all together. Krav Maga is simple. It’s not about a long, prolonged, technical fight. It’s about fighting back aggressively and getting away from danger.
No holds barred
The reason Krav Maga Worldwide® self-defense teaches striking techniques like front kick to the groin, and others like eye strikes, throat strikes, and strikes to the back of an opponent’s head is because these techniques are effective.
Striking at targets like the eyes, the groin, and the throat, not only causes pain but it also causes an involuntary functional response. If a person is poked in the eyes, they won’t be able too see as well. If a person is kicked in the groin, they might not be able to stand upright. A person who gets hit with a strike to the throat is going to have trouble breathing.
Krav Maga Worldwide self-defense is a system that analyzes a fight from the perspective of a defender, in other words, from the vantage point of the person who didn’t START the fight.
In that way of thinking, the defender is always one step behind in the encounter…so they have to find a way to make, and take, any advantage possible. Aggressive striking that targets vulnerable areas is one way that Krav Maga gives people the skills to gain advantage in a fight, another way is using your body’s natural reaction as part of any defense.
For example, if someone is grabbed by the neck and choked, their natural reaction is going to bring their hands toward their throat…that’s where the pressure and pain are occurring. Krav Maga training teaches people to use that reaction as part of the overall self-defense technique for neutralizing and overcoming the choke.
This goes back to the principal of simplicity. Natural reactions don’t really have to be taught…students already know them, and Krav Maga teaches students how to use them.
Consistent
Krav Maga is a system that builds students along a consistent progression. The principles of Krav Maga don’t change from one level to the next. The situations and the techniques do become more advanced but the fundamentals don’t change.
Students are always taught to identify and address the immediate danger in any give situation, to use their body’s natural reaction to initiate a defense, to defend and counterattack simultaneously, and to continue fighting as aggressively as possible until they can get away. Our self-defense classes teach this at every level. Students learn the skills needed to address increasingly complex situations and scenarios as their level of training gets higher.
Then they train on applying these skills under various levels of stress. It’s the most effective way to learn to fight and to learn to be effective at fighting in a short period of time.
Krav Maga maintains consistency in teaching and training throughout all of the Krav Maga levels because this sort of consistency makes learning easier and faster. A student becomes accustomed to this systematic way of building skills in Level 1 and there’s no need to reteach the way in which training will be applied and tested.
Instructors
Another reason that Krav Maga Worldwide® self-defense training is the best way to learn to fight and develop the most effective self-defense skills is that Krav Maga Worldwide has the best instructors in the world.
Krav Maga Worldwide certified Instructors really do dedicate their lives to learning Krav Maga and to passing their skills and knowledge on to their students. The process for becoming a Krav Maga Worldwide certified Instructor is rigorous. It’s a physical and mental challenge that pushes Instructor candidates and brings out the best in them.
If you are wondering “where can I find the best self-defense training near me” or “where can I find Krav Maga near me”, make sure to look for a Krav Maga Worldwide® certified training center. Many of our certified training centers will let you take a trial or intro class for free. You can search for a location near you by clicking here or you can give us a call at 800-572-8624 and we’ll help you.