Wild

[bear34]

The other day in class, while doing some 4 on 1 drills, I was poked in the eye, sidekicked in the knee, and an attempt was made to throw me to the ground during a scoop defense of a groin kick. The kick to the knee was done blindly by a newer woman and could have been serious if I had all my weight on that leg. The poke to the eye and attempt to throw me to the gound was by an uncoordinated young man who seems to miss any pad or focus mitt that you hold in front of him, often glancing blows off of the side of your face or kneeing you in the thigh. After the kick in the knee I spoke to the instructor asking him to get these people under control. The instructor gave a little speech at the end of the class telling people to be carefull. After class a very heated discussion broke out and while I understood that being aggresive is big in Krav Maga, I also know flailing wildly isn't really going to help you much in an attack. I think there were some hard feelings in the room when I left.
Was I out of line?

[JewishFitness1976]

No you were not out of line. Some people need to learn how to hit targets correctly. Some people are so un-coordinated at fighting, At first ...

It may seem like extra work but when their life is on the line ( hopefully never ) then they will be thankful the Krav Maga lessons paid off.

[oglenewinkel]

Remember the number one principle is to not get hurt. On the street and in the training hall.

I asked a student to leave the other night because she was more interested in checking her phone then learning or training. I could almost guarantee we prevented her partner from getting injured.

[BradM]

bear34,
NO way were you out of line -- coming from a guy who has experienced several unnecessary injuries caused by careless, overzealous partners. Including being poked in the eye, a broken ankle and a type-2 AC separation of my left shoulder, to name a couple.

[bear34]

Originally Posted by BradM

bear34,
NO way were you out of line -- coming from a guy who has experienced several unnecessary injuries caused by careless, overzealous partners. Including being poked in the eye, a broken ankle and a type-2 AC separation of my left shoulder, to name a couple.

I appreciate the support from all of you folks. Let me say that I am just back from 6 months of injury recovery. I'm pushing 50 and don't know if I could come back from another injury. I won't appologize for anything I said, but looking back, I feel I could have handled the situation with a bit more restraint. I was pretty animated after class and it got to the point I was yelling at one of the perpetrators in front of others.

[Don]

A couple of pesos:

IME, all else being equal, the more realistic your training is, the greater the chance of suffering significant injury. Can we prevent all accidents/injuries, no. Can we reduce accidents/injuries, yes.

Do you have valid concerns, absolutely.

Without having been there and seeing/knowing everything you're talking about, however, IMO no way to say if you were out of line or not. If you were yelling at someone in front of others (which is slightly different than saying a very heated discussion broke out) you May have become too emotional in expressing your opinions.

The lead instructor of the class sets the tone. He/she should be trying to ensure that students have a controlled learning environment. If people are running amok and doing things unsupervised or unchecked and the instructor knows about it, then that's an instructor or school issue/problem. Sometimes the instructor(s) are aware of those types of problems and sometimes they aren't.

IMO, people should try to resolve the situation at the lowest level first - i.e. talking to your training partners about your expectations and, in a constructive way, their areas which need attention or improvement. If that doesn't solve the issue(s), then you can choose not to work out with that person and/or make the instructor(s) aware of the problem and potential risks. If that doesn't solve the issue(s) and there are more problem training partners than good, it may be time to switch classes or even schools.

Btw, I have suffered quite a few injuries over the years too - from as minor I'll be all right as soon as the room stops spinning, this stops bleeding, I'm able to walk this off, or the boys drop down again to as serious as requiring surgery, being unable to work, and being light duty for an extended period of time. I do share your pain and echo your sentiments.