Calling all Krav Maga enthusiasts: we have the Krav Maga book for you. The new e-book from UCLA lecturer Lauri Mattenson, Backbone, offers a gripping tale of one woman’s journey into Krav Maga. When we start as beginners, we often don’t know what we’ve signed up for. Backbone takes readers through that familiar feeling and provides one woman’s perspective on what it is like to train in Krav Maga.
A Krav Maga Book with a Candid Perspective
For those considering Krav Maga classes or for those who are not aware, Krav Maga is a fighting system for the streets. It was developed in Israel and is an intense, hardcore self defense and hand-to-hand combat system that has been primarily used by military and police units around the world.
In the book, Mattenson is candid and raw, letting readers know some of her innermost thoughts. She asks herself truly thought provoking questions, like:
- “Would the practice of punching and kicking inspire a more resilient mind?”
- “How could I use my body to retrain my brain and awaken a fighting spirit?”
- “Can we change our nature by changing our behavior?”
The answers to her questions begin to materialize as she progresses through her training.
Delve Into the World of Krav Maga
The reader follows Mattenson as she bravely steps outside of her comfort zone and learns the most effective way for a women to defend herself from a violent assault. As Krav Maga Worldwide Chief Instructor Darren Levine notes, “Growth is achieved when you leave your comfort zone. This is a story about a woman's desire to learn a tangible physical skill, Krav Maga, but her journey empowers her in ways she never could have imagined.” As she trains, readers get the true sense of Mattenson’s tremendous growth. The training that she endures replicates real life situations to ensure that she and the other students are prepared for any situation.
Darren Levine notes that, “This book is truly about empowerment. Sometimes you take a journey in life you never expect to take. You take a chance and try to do what you never thought you could do.” For Mattenson, the learning experience and journey leaves her exposed to pain and exhaustion, but a tremendous amount of growth begins to bloom in the form of inner and outer strength. Her thoughts and feelings are those experienced by many of the students who take Krav Maga.
Find a Shared Experience
If you have been thinking about signing up for classes, or are already a regular participant, this Krav Maga book is truly a must read. You will delve into Mattenson’s journey to build her physical, mental, and spiritual strength through Krav Maga training. You will feel her failures and eventual triumphs as if you were training alongside her.
As Darren Levine explains, “If you want to read a book that about a woman's journey to developing herself physically, mentally and spiritually, read this book. It is not a martial arts book. It's a book about all the unanticipated benefits a woman gleans from taking a chance, a risk, to learn to defend herself, but she learns so much more than that about herself and about life.”
images © 2015 Lauri Mattenson; image provided by Lauri Mattenson at [www.laurimattenson.com].
