Krav Maga

[Liam McKarry]

Thinking of starting a new martial art.

A Krav Maga class has recently started in Colchester, I'm wondering if anyone out there has any experience in it?

My history is in Traditional JuJitsu but i'm looking for something a bit more 'reality based'

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Chris Santilllo]

My crossfit affiliate has Krav Maga classes. And its a great combo in my opinion, and Krav is no joke. Its a realistic street fighting tactics in realistic scenarios. But I still wouldnt mind mabye takin a jiu jitsu class as well.

[Stephen Wakefoose]

I know its a little far but if you want something reality based you have a level 1 PDR coach a measley 73 miles from you in Kent. His Name is Keith Butchard. I don't have any contact info handy as I am at work. he teaches the PDR program based on the SPEAR system. The same as on the CF main site exercises&demo link under combatives. Worth a look-see!

Foose

[Joshua Murphy]

Steve (or anyone else), do you have any insight into how Krav compares to PDT? Have you tried them both? Just curious as I am looking for something to supplement my Muay Thai...

[Stephen Wakefoose]

I am unfamilliar with PDT. unless you mean PDR? I'm assuming it was a typo.

The Personal Defense Readiness Program is unlike any other 'Reality Based' training system which is sort of a buzz word in martial arts / combatives circles.

It is the only behavioraly based system meaning it incorporates a response to what 'real' bad guy behavior is. To compare most systems are attack specific meaning bad guy does a and you do b contradicts what are brain wants to do in survival situations and puts us way behind the curve in regards to action vs. reaction.

All the drills are modeled around bad guy behavior and so many people will witness that when confronted with violence they report it was just like 'doing the drill'.

COmplex motor skill vs. complex motor skill leaves for zero margin of error you can reference this in the Blauer CF videos.

Watch a style or systems video and watch only the bad guy; is he /she reacting like a real bad guy? What you will tend to see is the bad guy thorugh a MA type attack and then freeze while the good guy aplies his technique, aggression stops as does resistance etc... Plainly it looks fake.

Watch a SPEAR system video and watch the 2 role players. It looks like a street brawl but once you can indentify the principles and tactics used you will see the system applied.

There is so much more that makes it different. My first advice is too watch all the Blauer CF videos in no special order and you will have a better grasp of things. Next you can go to www.tonybluaer.com they have a world wide coaches map and I know of at least two in the VOorhees, NJ area. Carlo and Aka and they are great guys.

[Augustine Castronovo]

out of curiousisty, why not try bjj?

[Joshua Murphy]

Originally Posted by Stephen Wakefoose

I am unfamilliar with PDT. unless you mean PDR? I'm assuming it was a typo.

Typo it was. Got your PM and will be in touch...

[Ryan Webernick]

Krav is cool. Just keep in mind the purpose of Krav is to teach a 100 pound woman how to defend herself. If you are already trained in jiujitsu, you may find yourself frustrated at times. A lot of it may seem very basic to you.

Be prepared to train kicking the groin extensively. The other thing I didn't like about krav, is that there are a lot of "punch out" type agression drills, where you punch a pad as hard and as fast as possible for a certain time. A lot of people developed shoulder issues. The idea behind these was that in order to simulate the stress in an actual attack, you would practice the drills under states of extreme exhaustion.

The weapon-based defense training is pretty cool. If you can stick with it for a while and get into an advanced class things will get pretty interesting.

[Darrell E. White]

PM Jeff Martin at Brand X. Master at Krav as well as at least one other traditional style. Jeff is over-endowed with common sense--a good resource.

--bingo

[David Barrington]

Give Krav a go, you'll almost certainly find it great fun and probbaly pretty informative. I came to it from judo and while the throws in the early stages are a bit bone if you already know something about it all the striking stuff I found fascinating.

While what Stephen Wakefoose said is true about martial arts the corrolation between krav and what I've seen of the blauer videos is very close. If anything krav benefirts from having been around for longer and having been used by more people. It's a great system that works with your natural reactions (do a search on youtube and see what I mean, or just go to an intro class; almost the first thing they teach you is breaking a choke that builds entirely on your reaction to grab for the wrists). Plus if you can do krav on your doorstep why go all the way to kent for spear?