Krav Maga Quotes

Did you know that Gideon and I were trained in Krav Maga?" Charlotte took another step closer to me, and I automatically took one back. "No, but did /you/ know that at this moment you look like that crazy rodent in Ice Age?

Max’s childhood had been full of abuse and constant training since his father had been grooming him to take over as boss of the Melbourne Bratva from a young age. Max could shoot the wings off a fly from a hundred feet away. He was a black belt in several martial arts including Krav Maga and if his father knew what he’d done to his business he would have come back from the grave to haunt him and kill him.

Few people know this, but I am a trained assassin, skilled in jujitsu and krav maga. I can also, with a few folds, turn an ordinary piece of notebook paper into a lethal weapon. Or I can turn it into a butterfly, which is a great trick when I'm babysitting." I fought a smile. "A trained assassin who babysits." "Only the Greene twins and only because their family gets every premium channel on the planet.

There are many legal and psychological ramifications to using Krav Maga in the real world and nearly all of them are extremely unpleasant.

My meditation objective is to be calmer and to assist with my practice in aikido and krav maga. I generally sit between 10 and 20 minutes every day in the morning. What I have found is that if a meditation method works for you, then use it. I have seen some other styles of practice that I have initially thought nonsense, such as focusing on dolphin sounds, Indian shaman chanting, and so on. But if at the end of the day it works for you…then it works.

Luke pulled his shades off and stared at her in astonishment. Krav Maga was the deadliest form of martial art there was. “You’re kidding?” he choked.

Chances are, no one is trying to kill you at your current job. If they are, please read a book on Krav Maga, not this one.

Well, I like her. Who the fuck cares whether anyone else does, as long as they want to read about her?" "People also slow down to gawk at car wrecks, Charlie. Are you calling me a car wreck?" "I'm not talking about you at all," he says " I'm talking about Nadine Winters. My fictional crush." "Big fan of jet-black hair and Krav Maga, huh?" Charlie leans forward, face serious, voice low. "It's more about the blood dripping from her fangs.

Always defend and counterattack simultaneously.

Always assume your assailant is armed (even if you can’t see a weapon, or have disarmed them of one), always assume they are as good as you, and always assume that they have third parties nearby who can come to their assistance.

Then a low voice murmured in my ear. "Clea." I screamed and shot an immediate hammer punch to the side. "Whoa!" cried Ben. He reeled back to avoid my fist and tripped over the rug, tumbling to the ground and spilling a fresh mug of coffee over his gray shawl-neck sweater. "OH!" he gasped. "Hot. Very, very hot. Oh, not good." "Ben! Oh my God, wait-" I darted into the bathroom and grabbed a hand towel, then raced back to him, knelt down, and sopped the spilled coffee from his chest. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were there! You didn't say anything!" "I yelled from downstairs...I thought you'd heard me." A strange smell tickled my nose, and I bent closer to Ben, just inches from his face. "What's that smell?" I asked. "Cardamom clove coffee," he said, gesturing to the now empty mug on the floor beside us. "I thought you might like it." "I like the smell. Maybe you should wear it as a cologne." "Could work," he agreed. "You could give a testimonial that it makes women crazy." "Not crazy-nimble. Ten years of Krav Maga gives you catlike reflexes. If you'd been an intruder...

Krav Maga

Daniel, her Krav Maga instructor, had a mantra: Niceness isn’t a character trait. It’s a tool.

Dom knew very little about Arik Yacoby’s past: only that he was Israeli, an émigré to India, and he had once been a member of the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces. Dom had no trouble picturing Arik as an elite soldier; his fitness and discipline and the confident and determined glint in his steely eyes announced this fact to anyone who knew what to look for. Dom had come here to India to train with the man for six weeks. Yacoby held a fourth-degree black belt in Krav Maga, a martial art developed for the Israeli military. Dom’s hand-to-hand training with Arik had been intense in and of itself, but these additional nighttime PT sessions had added another facet to the grueling experience.

buttocks.

social convention was no friend to women. Krav Maga had taught her not to ignore her instincts out of some warped desire to be seen as polite or nice or feminine.

I was silent for a bit, absorbing that. Clancy and I had a distant, polite association. We saw each other quite a bit because he was responsible for getting me to and from my Krav Maga classes in Brooklyn. But I’d never really thought about him having any sort of personal stake in my safety, although it made sense. Clancy was a guy who took pride in his work.

Raúl parked outside the brick-faced converted warehouse that was Parker Smith’s Krav Maga studio and then escorted me inside, taking a seat on the bleachers. His presence threw me off a little bit. Clancy had always waited outside. Having Raúl watching made me a little self-conscious.

The checklist behind a Krav Maga first strike boils down to three basic elements: One, has someone violated your space? Two, is there a direct threat? And, three, get them before they get you. Sounds reasonable—right?

Excessively happy people signify cult activities,' I whispered to Joey.

I think David was the one who kicked ass today,” I say. “Literally and figuratively,” David says. “I’ve never seen anything like it. He was like a kung fu master.” “Krav maga, mostly. With a few traditional karate moves,” David says.

Remember there are no rules in Krav Maga. Always defend and attack at the same time. Always fight with aggression. And never go down.

You must be able to go from a defensive to an offensive mindset.

In comparing karate and Krav Maga, we notice various differences. In traditional karate, the advance forward has the rear foot sliding forward from a low dip stance into a forward dip. When comparing straight punches in boxing and in Krav Maga, there are two major differences. First, take into account the limitations of reaction time. The punch is lunged into the opponent’s face as the gap is closed, before the front foot has landed. Second, training in Krav Maga separates the retraction of the hand and stresses that the body should never come to a centered position to help with a quick linear motion backwards. Instead, Krav Maga recommends staying in this newly angled stance until students recognize what needs to be done next to end the fight. Fortunately, this also helps finish the punch and ensure the full body weight has shifted to the desired direction before rushing to the next punch. If the speed is kept at its maximum at the time of the blow, this ensures a knockout! Closing the distance to reach an opponent, karate fighters are taught to lunge their rear leg for a kick as their upper bodies remain static. They are taught to contract their abdomen and hip muscles as they send their hands and legs for a blow. The way the foot or hand makes contact with the opponent’s pressure point depends on how it fits the targeted part of the body. For example, the shin or open hand for the groin, the ball of the foot or open hand to the chin, the heel or palm to the sternum, the knife side of the foot, or extended fingers for the throat. Krav Maga fighters close the gap by pushing their toes and shifting their weight forward. They are trained to pivot their torso for greater reach. Lunging forward, they kick with their front foot and land on their rear foot. The momentum of the kick is being generated with gravity as they throw the ball of the foot in their opponent’s groin or torso in an upward motion (depending on the availability). The speed is kept at its peak by swinging the leg to ninety degrees. The contact point of the foot should preferably be the heel or ball of the foot. The ankle should be kept in a neutral position upon contact, so the ligaments are not in an overstretched position. This is a safety feature that will minimize trauma upon contact with the opponent’s bones.

There are two methods of delivering a blow. First is a boxing-like movement, and the second is the traditional karate strike. While equal in force, the boxing-style strike has a greater range and is easier to execute. The boxing-style strike uses gravity and shift of weight to support the strike, while the traditional karate-style strike uses a sudden tightening of your body’s muscles to deliver a short blow. The longer range of the boxing blow facilitates greater acceleration to a higher speed and is more efficient in creating a knockout effect. The traditional karate-style strike is more suitable for breaking boards of wood, but the composition of wood fibers is quite different from the human body's protective tissues. The traditional straight karate strike takes longer to execute and requires slight preparation. Since even a split second is of the essence and the force used is more efficient with the boxing style, it has won popularity in the martial arts field. From the split second you decide to move your body and deliver the strike, all you need is to aim at the opponent’s chin. You then need to accelerate your arm to maximum speed, and maintain that speed as your fist lodges in your opponent’s face. The opponent’s skull will then shake the brain and nerves to a concussion. The ancient Olympics had fighting sports. Sparta is believed to have had boxing around 500 BC. Spartans used boxing to strengthen their fighters’ resilience. Boxing matches were not held since Spartans feared that it would lead to internal competitions, which could reduce the morale of the losers. Sparta did not want low morale on the battlefield. For many years the question of Bodhidharma’s existence has been a matter of controversy among historians. A legend prevails that the evolution of karate began around 5 BC when Bodhidharma arrived to the Shaolin temple in China from India, and taught Zen Buddhism. He introduced a set of exercises designed to strengthen the mind and body. This marked the roots of Shaolin-style temple boxing. This type of Chinese boxing, also called kung fu, concentrates on full-body energy blows and improving acrobatic level. Indian breathing techniques are incorporated, providing control of the muscles of the whole body while striking. This promotes self-resistance that helps achieve balance and force when striking and kicking. Krav Maga shows that it is not the most efficient approach. It is certainly forceful, but cannot be mastered quickly enough, and also does not promote a natural and fast reach to the opponent's pressure points, nor does it adhere to the principle of reaction time.

don’t worry about balance before you begin to execute your attack or defense. Once in motion, the balance needs to be continuously kept by coordinating and shifting the body. In a sports match, one can get comfortable in a planned stance before the referee gives the start signal. In reality, you never know what position you will find your body at when you’re being attacked. If you had advance notice, you would be balanced so you can react with quick motion in any direction. You should not, however, waste time thinking about it.

Vision To ensure you do not miss any attacks, you need to concentrate your vision on the center of the attacker. As you suddenly notice your opponent, look to the center of his body to assess the danger. Your vision should shift along the perpendicular line at the center of the opponent’s body. You would stay at eye level prior to lunging at him, to accurately measure the distance you need to cover as you plan. Keep your vision at eye level, but look to the center of his body. You will see his arms and legs in the corner of your eyes. This way, you avoid distraction. If you look away for even a second, you could have missed a motion that is coming from the opposite direction. Even if the opponent is looking at the sky, the floor, to his left, or to his right, or over your shoulder, do not follow his line of vision, unless you are standing far away from him. If you do change the direction of your vision, you will not be able to see an attack coming. The student learns to identify which part of the opponent’s body would be approaching the defender’s territory first. Territory pertains to a distance that is a few steps away from one’s body. When an opponent crosses that distance, the defender cannot afford to wait any longer. He must execute a defense and attack back.

Your hand starts at zero and accelerates to maximum speed. To maintain maximum speed, your hand must not stop at contact. If it did stop, that means you slowed down a second before on the way to a complete stop. This means that you were not at full speed upon contact. To facilitate maximum speed when striking, we must not immediately stop when we reach the target since it could change positions an inch forward or an inch backward. We therefore estimate where the target is, and want to ensure we strike at maximum speed an inch before and an inch after. To maintain the speed when our body is completely stretched forward, and the hand is fully extended, we use a whip motion where the hand passes the target and returns to its initial position. The body must not attempt to shift its weight for a neutral position move before the hand completes the return. If it does, the first strike is a waste, since the weight has shifted to another direction before the strike was completed.

As you strike, you find a window of opportunity. You do not worry about being off balance nor do you worry about being thrown on the floor. You spring forward, taking advantage of the speed and range of motion to strike, letting your front foot land. As you retract, another reason why you wait a second before bringing your center of gravity back to the center of your body, is that you want to ensure your body weight was in motion during the strike. Since it is faster to move the hand than the body, the hand should be completely retracted before the body returns to a neutral position. If you did not have enough speed and mass in your strike you must conclude that your body was trying to keep up with your hand and therefore must have started its retraction before the hand finished the punch. Unfortunately, this causes your body to pull in the opposite direction of the strike. This does not achieve the right amount of body weight concentration to support the punch, and also works against you by pulling your hand back before you hit the target. A maximum body weight shift in the direction of the hand strike delivers a more powerful punch.

Understand that an attacker standing at a distance of about two steps can kick you faster than punch you, because to punch, he has to take two steps to reach you. As he executes the first step, he kicks and closes the gap of the second step. If an attacker is within one step of you, it is faster for you to punch him, or vice versa, than for him to kick you, or the other way around. Since you learn to attack simultaneously, you need not concern yourself with what the attacker is going to do. You block and attack according to the range. If your attacker is taking the slower course, you block the unexecuted fist in the short range, or the unexecuted kick in the long range, and attack simultaneously. The opposite limb is not going to reach you before your opponent has shifted his weight in the short distance, or before the two-step gap has closed.

Avec la généralisation dans la société civile israélienne du krav maga et de la théorie de la défense-offensive (...) se diffuse aussi par là une allégorie viriliste et agonistique de la citoyenneté qui tire du principe même de la défense de soi la légitimité de son droit à la violence et à la colonisation.

Enxergar o óbvio é privilégio de poucos. Em geral, as respostas para os problemas mais complexos estão à nossa frente, como que zombando do nosso desespero cego.

The opponent’s skull is sent backward, shaking the brain and nerves to a concussion. The key to devastating hand strikes is to maintain maximum speed and weight shift at the contact point. Before we learn defenses, we learn hand strikes since we need to know how to counterattack with our defenses. In addition, we want our training partners to challenge us with the most devastating attacks. At the end of the lesson, a student should be able to execute devastating knockout punches. Straight Hand Strikes Front (hand closer to the opponent) and Rear Straight hand strikes can be executed when your body is positioned facing directly at or up to a forty-five degree angle relative to your opponent. Although the effective range is the distance covered with one leap forward while pivoting your shoulders, you should allow enough room to accelerate your hand and pass the target you are trying to reach. 1. Standing position has your hands down to avoid projecting intentions. 2.     Lift your hands up. As your left hand moves forward, your torso is kept at about forty-five degrees toward the opponent. Roll your left knuckles into a tight fist. Keep your thumb bent forty-five degrees over your index finger. Tighten your forearm muscles to support its connection to the fist. Begin and end the punch with the back of the hand pointed to the sides of your body. Upon contact with the target, twist your fist to forty-five degrees where your two big knuckles stab your target. The knuckles should be positioned as a straight extension of your hand. Do not move your wrist once you have it ready for a punch. Keep your elbow pointed to the ground at all times to better deliver your body weight into the punch. The fist is moving toward the opponent’s face to hit his chin, and the body follows, pivoting right behind the hand. The key is to lunge forward and only twist your shoulders when your fist is close to the opponent's chin. This will propel the weight shift supporting the punch. If you do it too soon, you will not have your weight supporting the punch! 3.     Your left hand is passing the target at maximum speed as your right shoulder aligns your left shoulder. 4.     Left hand is retracted to about ninety degrees away from the body. At this point, the punch has ended. Your right shoulder is behind the left. Stay in this position until you notice your opponent’s next move. 5.     Throw your right hand forward and pivot your body directly behind it in the direction of your opponent’s chin. Note that when you execute a front hand strike your torso leans forward. Now you need to erect your torso, keeping your rear leg extended and your rear shoulder knee locked, pivoting the rear heel and shoulder forward. 6.     Your right hand fully extends in a strike with the seam of the pants facing the opponent.

The opponent’s skull is sent backward, shaking the brain and nerves to a concussion. The key to devastating hand strikes is to maintain maximum speed and weight shift at the contact point. Before we learn defenses, we learn hand strikes since we need to know how to counterattack with our defenses. In addition, we want our training partners to challenge us with the most devastating attacks. At the end of the lesson, a student should be able to execute devastating knockout punches. Straight Hand Strikes Front (hand closer to the opponent) and Rear Straight hand strikes can be executed when your body is positioned facing directly at or up to a forty-five degree angle relative to your opponent. Although the effective range is the distance covered with one leap forward while pivoting your shoulders, you should allow enough room to accelerate your hand and pass the target you are trying to reach. 1. Standing position has your hands down to avoid projecting intentions. 2.     Lift your hands up. As your left hand moves forward, your torso is kept at about forty-five degrees toward the opponent. Roll your left knuckles into a tight fist. Keep your thumb bent forty-five degrees over your index finger. Tighten your forearm muscles to support its connection to the fist. Begin and end the punch with the back of the hand pointed to the sides of your body. Upon contact with the target, twist your fist to forty-five degrees where your two big knuckles stab your target. The knuckles should be positioned as a straight extension of your hand. Do not move your wrist once you have it ready for a punch. Keep your elbow pointed to the ground at all times to better deliver your body weight into the punch. The fist is moving toward the opponent’s face to hit his chin, and the body follows, pivoting right behind the hand. The key is to lunge forward and only twist your shoulders when your fist is close to the opponent's chin. This will propel the weight shift supporting the punch. If you do it too soon, you will not have your weight supporting the punch! 3.     Your left hand is passing the target at maximum speed as your right shoulder aligns your left shoulder. 4.     Left hand is retracted to about ninety degrees away from the body. At this point, the punch has ended. Your right shoulder is behind the left. Stay in this position until you notice your opponent’s next move. 5.     Throw your right hand forward and pivot your body directly behind it in the direction of your opponent’s chin. Note that when you execute a front hand strike your torso leans forward. Now you need to erect your torso, keeping your rear leg extended and your rear shoulder knee locked, pivoting the rear heel and shoulder forward. 6.     Your right hand fully extends in a strike with the seam of the pants facing the opponent. 7.     Your right hand retracts, while your body is still in a forward motion.

After you practice punching standing up, you need to practice lunging with your front punch and a follow-up punch with the rear hand. A full motion punch would have the body at an angle and the rear leg extended to help keep balance while your weight would be directed behind the striking hand. Generally after you punch you land and retract your hand. Then you retract your rear leg closer, erecting your previously forward-leaning torso. You can then follow with a rear hand strike with the same motion. Once you have learned these striking techniques, you need to practice them on punching mitts. Following the correct sequential execution will make the mitts fly far backwards.

After you practice punching standing up, you need to practice lunging with your front punch and a follow-up punch with the rear hand. A full motion punch would have the body at an angle and the rear leg extended to help keep balance while your weight would be directed behind the striking hand. Generally after you punch you land and retract your hand. Then you retract your rear leg closer, erecting your previously forward-leaning torso. You can then follow with a rear hand strike with the same motion. Once you have learned these striking techniques, you need to practice them on punching mitts. Following the correct sequential execution will make the mitts fly far backwards. Your training partner should be holding the mitts in front of his face with his elbows locked, using them as shock absorbers. After you practice each hand, execute a combination of three strikes ensuring you finish each one of them. Remember, your first strike ends when your arm has retracted, but your shoulder was kept forward in the direction of the strike.

You need to learn to identify the danger and move fast, taking advantage of the short window of opportunity. Note that you have to do it while training your body in quick chain reactions. Consider your opponent’s capability in using straight attacks from a greater distance and circular attacks from a shorter distance. If the starting point is from a greater distance, and your opponent has paused for a moment, you might have time to move your whole body and meet him halfway either with a kick or a hand defense. If the attacker is lunging forward with a straight stab, start with throwing your forearm toward his wrist and pulling the rest of your body away. Land forward as you counterattack and then try to grab his wrist for further control and safety. At this point, you control his arm and he cannot use the blade against you. If your opponent is attacking with a straight stab, it would be faster for him to lunge with the blade forward than for you to move your body out of the way. Yet remember that with a straight stab stance, he can lunge and stab you from two to three steps away in a split second. Stand still and just deflect his knife-holding wrist with the inside of your forearm by spinning it inward. Your arm motion will pull your torso at a horizontal forty-five degree pivot. Immediately after, deflect your opponent’s wrist, and fall forward as you can plan your landing position while in motion. You can also grab his retracting hand at its exit point, not giving him the freedom of movement. Remember that you are looking to strike him with your free hand at the same time. If, during training, your opponent or training partner knows what to expect from you, he will pull his arm behind his back so you cannot grab his wrist. Punching his face will foil any attempts to bring his arm back and try to poke you anywhere in your body. Obviously you can hit him lightly to buy yourself a second or two and then grab his arm. Or, you can hit him lightly again until you get control over the knife. If you are caught by surprise from a short distance and you manage to see the motion of a hand, but you don't have time to determine whether the hand has a blade or not, your blocks should be instinctively directed to your opponent’s wrists. You should counterattack with your free hand immediately after. If you see that your opponent is or might be holding a knife, you can kick and stop him before he plans to stab.

Krav Maga pays attention to the need to close the gap quickly when attacking an opponent. The advance, while kicking or punching, is made with a forward leap. Using gravity to initiate the move, push forward with the toes in an attempt to lodge one of your limbs in the opponent’s body as quickly as possible. Krav Maga training calls for a maximum range of the body’s limbs when practicing attacks, and the use of folded limbs to attack in the closer range. The idea is to gain the maximum acceleration possible with the limb used and to keep the speed at its max when in contact with the opponent’s pressure points. Remember that when the motion comes to a complete stop, it must have started to slow down a split second before. Once a strike is executed we need to maintain full speed if we want to incur maximum damage or if we want to stun him. Therefore we cannot afford to lower the speed of our motion a split second before the strike or a split second after. Aim at the pressure point you want to strike, make sure you use maximum speed, and make sure you do not stop when you reach the range where your target is or will be in the next second. Take into account that your opponent might start to move forward or backwards, which means he won’t stay still exactly where you were aiming for. If your arm or leg comes to a complete stop upon contact with the opponent, it indicates you must have slowed down a second before and the speed was not fast enough to create the desired momentum. To maintain maximum speed at the contact point with the targeted pressure point, the striking limb should be immediately retracted back. This helps keep up the speed while accelerating. It is faster to retract the hand without the body. We then let the body continue its motion forward while the hand is retracted backward. This sequence ensures that the body weight supports our punch without letting us lose speed.

The nature of being at the correct distance from the opponent and of understanding the principle of reaction time does not give the attacker the luxury of completing more than one strike before being counterattacked by a skilled defender. Once you have created the distraction with your first strike, you need to continue and attack appropriately. Therefore, when you train, students need to gain a complete understanding of what they are drilling and the training drill should be designed accordingly. Be aware that the human mind is constantly trying to create imaginary connections between motion possibilities without always seeing the whole picture. Shortening the range from a kick to a hand strike cuts down on time between the first and subsequent attacks. Such an attempt does not recognize that a good defense against a kick eliminates the option for a continuous hand attack since that was already taken into account. Executing multiple attacks on the defense however would break the opponent’s train of thought and give the initiator another second to hit again. If you have reached the target through the first strike, with no obstacles, you are buying time for a more devastating attack. You must recognize that with less devastating strikes, you buy less time, and in a real fight it is measured in splits of a second. It should only take a few seconds to finish the opponent. Krav Maga principles dictate a perfect relationship in which a counterattack requires the same speed as the block, but sometimes the distance can be too close to accelerate the hand to a maximum speed—and then you are just buying another second and must follow up with a more devastating attack. If you deliver attacks of medium strength, your opponent might get the message and stop attacking you. However, while it is a good practice to change an attacker’s mind and habits, you may not want to risk your own life protecting your attacker from extensive harm. Finally, when executing a counterattack, please be as precise as possible, so you do not need to rework. I personally would not spend more than two seconds on one opponent, since it would occupy and distract me from other dangerous changes that might occur in the environment. If you break glass in a store, you would want to get out of there as quickly as possible instead of waiting around in the same spot. I’d like to remind the reader that the above paragraphs elaborate the dangers and safety in both training and in reality. By understanding safe training, you need to understand the dangers of reality. To master the process, you need to train in simulated scenarios that are as close as possible to a realistic fight for survival. Keep in mind that when you identify a threat, you should set your boundaries, and decide that if the opponent gets too close to you, you should attack him by kicking or punching according to the distance between you two. If however the attacker attacks you by surprise, not giving you enough time to think, your body instinctively defends itself. This means that if you are at the point where you notice an attack coming at you, your primary instinct is to defend as opposed to attack.

Repetition creates habits. If we start repeating something before we learn the right technique, we’re not only wasting our time but also creating a bad habit. That takes up further time. A better idea is to get it right the first time before repeating it again and again.

In Krav Maga if you are using kicks vs. a knife, always use a side kick to the knee when the attacker approaches the defender from the side. If the attacker approaches the defender from the front, then kick him either in the groin, or on his chest or chin. You could also roundhouse kick his groin and follow it with a side kick to the knee after the initial advance and reposition to the side of the opponent. The most dangerous knife attack is the straight stab with the front hand. The second most dangerous is the slash, which has almost the same reach. The straight stab provides an immediate contact with the tip of the blade. The slash would involve whipping the blade into the side of the throat. We can see the intention of the attacker by the type of hold. The range of the slash is almost as much as the range of the straight stab. The third most dangerous is the circular attack from the bottom up, and the fourth is from the top down. A straight stab with the rear hand can be countered with a roundhouse kick to the opposite direction, or a jumping scissors kick to the chin like a bottom-up stab. If you notice the attacker on time, position your body in neutral position so you can have a peripheral view and also be able to control the timing. If you do not have the time, you will probably have to resort to defending with your hands. There are three considerations to identifying and choosing the best option using these three methods of preemptive attacks with kicks. First, look at your opponent’s knife grip. Second, which hand is he holding it in? Third, your options are either kicking the head or the groin area—whichever is farther from the knife in order to avoid a counterattack and a stab in the leg. Straight stabs are generally at the center but you should only kick below it and not above, as it would take longer for you to kick than for the opponent to stab. Remember also that a direct kick to the center of the body, be it chest or crossed arms, stops the opponent with its initial impact. Remember: the three frontal maneuvers are a front kick to the groin, a scissors kick to the chest or chin, and a defensive front roundhouse kick. Each one has a tactical component. For example, the front kick is tactically executed with the defender’s leg across the hand holding the knife and not the one in front. This forces the defender to move his body slightly to the opponent’s side, away from the slightly angular top-down direction of the knife. If the attacker chooses a top-down stab with the knife in his front hand, you could use the time the attacker takes to stab, executing a roundhouse kick to his groin with the leg opposite his front leg. You might also choose to do the second part of the roundhouse kick and not a straight stab, and execute only a side kick to the opponent's knee. You need to practice all aforementioned options until you are comfortable with them.

Never wait to figure out which hand he is going to use. Deflect the hand that is the easiest for him to use in the fastest manner to reach you. You should execute your defense on his front hand and simultaneously execute a counterattack. To make your life easier, consider the following scenarios and their solutions: Consider you are standing where your left leg and left shoulder are closer to the opponent, and your opponent is standing with his left leg and left shoulder forward. You should always block or deflect his front hand, which is his left hand in this scenario, and simultaneously counterattack with your free hand. To block his hand, use your right hand, your back hand, to block while you counter strike with your front hand. 1.     The attacker and defender are standing in front of each other with the left sides of the body in front. 2.     As the attacker lunges with a left punch, defender deflects it with his right palm and counterattacks with a left punch. If, however, he is standing with his right leg and shoulder in front while you stand with your left leg and shoulder in front, you should block his right hand with your front hand (left hand), and counterattack with your back hand (right hand). In this scenario, you would need to cover the additional gap as you are using your rear hand to attack. From that distance, it would be more comfortable to attack the opponent’s rib area first. A second attack might be needed to finish the defense. Common sense should tell you to follow reversed instructions for reversed scenarios. 1.     The attacker is standing with his right side in front, while the defender remains in his previous position with left leg in front. 2. The attacker throws a right hand punch with his front hand. 3.     The defender blocks with his left hand and delivers a right punch to the opponent’s floating ribs.

Defense when attacker is sitting on top of defender, striking defender's face and punching him 1. The attacker is sitting on top attempting to strike the defender. 2.     The defender is blocking the attacker, simultaneously executing a bridge move, throwing the attacker on to his face while the defender parallels his forearm to his face to block him. He uses his other arm to punch the attacker in the groin. The punch should come immediately after the bridge, before the opponent has the opportunity to fall back down. 3.     The defender keeps striking the attacker’s groin as he turns out and gets up ready to kick and walk away. Note: In this technique, throwing the attacker out of balance diverts his first attempted strike while forcing him to use his hands for balance and prepare for his fall. Therefore, he cannot think about striking again. In addition, the defender delivers a series of blows to the attacker’s groin, forcing him to roll over due to a combination of pain and force directed toward his center of gravity. Defense against an attacker sitting on top of defender, choking him 1. The attacker sits on top of the defender and chokes him. 2.     The defender releases himself from the opponent’s chokehold by using a spoon grip with all five fingers on the same side of the opponent’s wrist. At the same time, the defender creates a bridge by lifting his waist up, keeping heels close to the butt, throwing the opponent off his stomach. The defender extends his forearm parallel to his face to block the opponent’s fall, punching the opponent’s groin with his other hand. 3.     The defender keeps striking the attacker’s groin as he turns to the side, getting up ready to kick and walk away. Note: Follow the steps in the previous drill for escape and counter attack! Attacker is positioned to the side of the defender while choking or striking him 1.     The attacker stands on his knees, next to defender, choking or striking him. The defender pushes off the attacker’s thumbs away from his throat. 2.     The defender uses his right knee to push the attacker away from his ribs, enabling him to smash the attacker’s head to the ground with his left leg. The defender keeps holding the attacker’s right arm to prevent him from escaping his fate. 3. Alas. The attacker meets his fate.

Tactical Consideration in Strikes and Kicks Used in Attack and Defense When you have enough time to identify a dangerous scenario before it starts, the primary attacks are kicks and secondary attacks are punches. In the short range it is faster to reach with a punch than to shift the body’s weight up for a kick. In the long range it is faster to leap one step and lift the leg for a kick instead of leaping two steps. Therefore in the long range, kicks are considered to be primary attacks. If you block a fake kick, attack at the same time. If your opponent tries to punch you, he would not succeed since he would have closed a two-step gap before reaching you while you were moving to block his kick as he started to move. Since he initially planned to lunge two steps forward to close the gap, he would not expect you to meet him halfway and it would break his train of thought. Another tactical move would be to move forward and close the gap without immediately attacking, and waiting for the opponent to attack first so that you could follow with a block and counterattack. However, your opponent could preemptively kick as you try to move in. Krav Maga defense techniques are designed to automatically counter a kick with a follow-up hand strike. First, the right hand goes to the left shoulder before it strikes, therefore catching the outside of the forearm in any such possible attack. During training and practice of that particular defense, the student should practice the defense with all the possible follow-up scenarios as well. Reaction Time Consideration Remember that you are a human being and your skeleton is designed for use in a unique way. If you try to crawl like a snake, or walk like a monkey, you will never reach the speed and balance of your natural movement. Therefore as a Krav Maga fighter you have the upper hand. If a martial artist attempts to get into a particular stance, or makes an opening statement with a few threatening moves and screams, or tries to fake an attack, you should know by now that he is wasting his energy and attacks and you should really react to his initial standing position when he is about to close the range, or preemptively attack if you think he is serious about hurting you. At times ignoring a person at the right time but yet being ready to counter him with the right timing will discourage a bully through the messages your body and actions deliver. From a distance, you can see that his closest limb, according to the striking distance, is what you should be concerned about. Follow your training and counterattack by blocking only the closest limb. If he fakes his first move, it should not be a great concern. While he is doing this, you should block the fake attack and counterattack him at the same time. He should never be able to get to his second planned attack.

The hanging technique 1.     Approach and strike to the opponent’s kidney and wrap your other forearm around his neck. 2.     Pivot your hips back and bend your knees, joining your hands and locking them together. 3.     Roll your opponent on to his back, to the opposite hip, lifting his feet off the ground. In this position it is very hard for your opponent to escape. 4.     Look at his heels and wait for them to drop. When they drop, he has probably fainted. Note: This is a favorite skilled technique. While there are easier, more effective, and less risky techniques, I wanted to use this technique to stress the importance of a quick reaction. Many times, this hold can end on the ground, or be accompanied by a knife threat. However, anything less conclusive would make it easier to escape. Keep in mind that if your opponent is grabbing you with one hand while holding a weapon with the other, he cannot strangle you, and you should concentrate your efforts on preventing injury before thinking of escaping the hold. Release from neck hold from the rear 1.     First move both hands towards the opponent’s eyes in an attempt to poke them. 2.     Land your hands on the opponent’s wrists, pulling them down as you gain your breath. If the grip is too forceful to pull down, use your hands to attach the attacker's hands to your chest and lean your head backward to release the pressure on your neck. 3.     Pivot your body and your chin to the direction of the opponent’s hands, easing your head out. 4. Push with both shoulders, making room for your head to exit. 5.     Let go of your right hand and use it to grab the attacker’s elbow before standing up. That would surely keep him down. Hold the opponent at the wrist and elbow and kick to his face. 6.     You can kick his coccyx bone or the groin according to his position.

Release from a Mouth Cover and a Wrist Grab Hand grabs can be used with a mouth grab to keep a person quiet. This could be done with chloroform as well. You may need to hold your breath while getting out of this hold quickly. Note that in this scenario, the attacker’s wrist grab is ignored as we do not want to waste time wrestling out of it. 1. The attacker grabs the defender’s hand and mouth, pulling him backwards. 2.     The defender scoops the attacker’s wrist, pulling it down while the defender twists his chin away from the attacker’s palm. 3.     The defender steps away from the direction of the pull to avoid ending up on the ground. 4. The defender stomps on top of the attacker’s foot. 5.     The defender releases the attacker’s wrist and quickly punches him in the groin. 6.     As the attacker bends, the defender hits him with a hammer punch or elbow on his head.

Release from Wrists Pinned Behind the Back with Side Pivot 1.     The attacker grabs both the defender’s hands behind his back (demonstrated in the previous technique). 2.     The defender turns his right palm to face the side of his body as he pivots his left hand while simultaneously attaching its forearm to his back, aligning it to his belt. The defender pivots his body to the right. This can be done with a small jump turn to the side. 3.     The defender brings his right elbow over his head as he turns his torso to the left, letting his left wrist get out of the grip. 4.     The defender grabs the attacker’s wrist with his left hand, sliding his right hand to pressure the attacker’s elbow or shoulder, bringing him down to the ground in the style of a carousel.

You are pushed into falling backwards. You need to keep important information on your mind. First, you want to avoid sending your hand backward, since you can easily dislocate your shoulders doing this. Second, you do not want your head to hit the ground as it may cause a concussion or smash your skull. Third, you do not want to fall on your ass, breaking your coccyx bone. In Krav Maga, students learn to fall on concrete floors while avoiding damage to their bodies. 1.     Lying on the ground, keep your hands at thirty degrees to the sides of the body. Lift your head and look at your belt. Apply pressure to the ground with your palms, leaving elbows locked and lifted off. Lift one leg off the ground, bringing your knee to your chest. In this position, your head and shoulders are not touching the ground. In addition, your coccyx bone is not touching the ground. The only contact you have with the ground at this point is the large muscles in your lower back. This is the position you will end up in when you finish softening your fall. Relax and put your head, shoulders and leg back on to the ground. Repeat this step about ten times. You are getting accustomed to instantly reaching the desired position. Keep one heel on the ground to prevent anyone from kicking your groin. 2.     From a squatting position, cross your hands over your knees. Sit backwards, close to your heels, and lift one leg. Continue to the position described in step one. As you sit and roll your body backwards, keep your torso leaning forward. Release your hands only after completing the fall. Repeat this step about ten times. 3.     From a standing position, step backwards on one foot, and squat on it close to the heel. Keep your hands crossed over your chest, lifting one leg as you come down. Continue to get through all prior steps until you come to a complete stop on the ground. All through your fall, you need to shift your weight forward as you roll your torso forward to soften your fall. Avoid reaching your hands backwards since you could dislocate your shoulders this way. 4. Your training partner is pushing you and making you lose your balance. 5. Step backwards, as you lower your center of gravity forward while falling. 6.     Land close to your heel, keeping one knee up to avoid the coccyx contacting the ground. 7. Keep your head forward by looking at your belt. 8.     Your elbows should be locked if your hands are touching the ground, and your shoulders lifted up. 9. Kick up from the floor. Keep in mind that the only contact with the ground should be your heel, and your wide lower back without the coccyx bone. You are now in a perfect position to kick your opponent upwards, if needed.

Your job is to first move the barrel away from your body. You need to train your body to make the minimum movement with only your hand reaching the barrel and deflect it before you do anything else. You may swivel your body to point the barrel away from you if the gun is pointed at your back. You definitely do not want to stare at the gun, showing your intention to reach for it. That might make your attacker shoot you, being afraid that you will try to take it. Take into account that your attacker is not going to give up his weapon. You will move in the direction of your attacker. If he tries to pull his hand back and aim again, you should have already gotten a grip on his weapon. Consider that he can use his free hand or his legs to strike or kick you as well. Once the barrel is not pointing at your body, follow immediately with a simultaneous counterattack. Finish by acquiring the weapon. I will show you gunpoints at various angles with their respective defenses. However, if the angle and body position is slightly different, keep in mind the following advice where order of priority is concerned. First, your mindset should be to use the short time you have without thinking too much about the dangers. If you do, you may be dead mid-thought. Second, you need to move the barrel away from your body without projecting your intention. If the barrel is poking your body, you may need to use your body to swivel away, or deflect the opponent’s wrist instead. Third, you need to attack your opponent to buy time and gain control of the hand holding the weapon. I will show you a technique that will combine all your needs into continuous motions. You need to attack your opponent until you feel he loosens his grip and resistance. You can then extract the weapon out of his hand. Fourth, you need to be conscious that the barrel is not pointed at any innocent bystanders if possible. And you need to be ready to use his weapon immediately, or use your body to handle additional attackers. If you do not, you may have wasted your time and your life. And finally, after you have extracted the pistol, move away from the opponent so he will not be able to reverse your fortune again. Do not hesitate to shoot him if he tries to reach you. If his weapon does not function, you can still kick. Your attacker may have other weapons in his possession. Be alert!

Krav Maga

Defense against Gunpoint from the Front with the Barrel Pushed into the Forehead From this position, you should hope your opponent will tell you to raise your hands up, since it takes longer to bring them from your waist to the opponent’s wrist. Do not complain if you are not asked to raise your hands up. Start your motion by violently tilting your neck away from the barrel. Never move both hands toward the barrel at once, since you are making your intentions obvious to your attacker, slowing down your motion and your ability to move your body away. 1. The attacker points a pistol at the defender’s forehead. 2. The defender violently tilts his neck towards his left shoulder. 3.     The defender raises his left hand and taps the attacker’s wrist. At the same time, the defender’s head leans to the left, followed by his body moving forward. (This is preferable and more comfortable than grabbing the barrel and having to lean backwards). 4.     The defender slides his left hand along the attacker’s wrist and forearm, moving his head with it. This will also ensure a less loud noise if a shot is dispensed. The defender is hooking the weapon with his right arm, by tapping the attacker's shoulder and then sliding his hand on the attacker's arm, until his wrist gets hooked to the defender's chest. Executing a simultaneous strike to the opponent’s groin is a matter of judgment in this scenario. You want to buy time and ensure he would not attack you with his free hand, but at the same time you want to immediately hook the weapon. 5. The defender executes a counterattack with his left hand. 6.     The defender’s left arm, fingers pointed down, hand turned clockwise reaches for the weapon’s barrel. The defender extracts the weapon by breaking the barrel down. 7.     The defender proceeds to strike the opponent’s temple with the barrel of the pistol.

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She underestimated Jace. As the man moved in to pursue his advantage, Jace sidestepped him, put his arm round his neck and pushed him off balance. This happened so fast Floss couldn’t follow the moves, even though she’d now done a bit of Krav Maga herself. Standing behind him, Jace tightened his grip, squeezing the man’s neck between his upper and lower arm. It took four seconds for the man’s eyes to close and his body to sag.

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