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Hi all. :wav: New to the forums, and to krav maga. Sadly, I had a pretty horrible encounter with my estranged husband, and upon the recommendation of a dear cousin of mine, decided to look into taking some classes. I checked out a place last week that seems great, and am planning on taking my first class on Wednesday. I have some control of my body, as I’ve been a dancer since I was a little girl, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. The lack of experience, coupled with the fact that I’m a woman (and there aren’t many of them who train regularly at the school) have me feeling a wee bit intimidated.
Any advice for a newbie with absolutely no experience? Any advice for a woman in particular? Thanks in advance! :):
Re: Advice for a newbie?
Welcome to the forum!
While some come from other backgrounds and that’s fine, you just need fighting spirit and the will to train to me. I could spell Krav and that was it when I started over 7 years ago. I never thought in a million years I could do what I’ve learned over the years. I know some ‘little girls’ who could kick a guy’s a$$ in a heartbeat.
Don’t be discouraged when you start. When you’re training, don’t worry about who knows more than you, it doesn’t matter. Pay attention to what your instructor’s showing you and don’t be scared to ask questions. After a time, you’re gonna be surprised at what your body remembers.
Hubby and I trained with some friends a few weeks ago. We were doing defense against headlock from the side (Level 1). I hadn’t done that move in ages and the defense came out of me like I had done it yesterday.
Hope this helps you some:wav:
Re: Advice for a newbie?
quote sprightly:Any advice for a newbie with absolutely no experience? Any advice for a woman in particular? Thanks in advance! :):Don’t give up……this stuff is worth knowing. You will not learn it all at once but as you progress you will notice things will come more and more naturally to you as well as being more within your range pysically.
Your size and weight is NOT as important as your willingness to perfect your technique. With proper technique size and weight can be countered if not overcome.
Re: Advice for a newbie?
Thank you for the welcome and the advice. I had my first class today and it was great…so great that I’m taking another class tomorrow. If babysitting weren’t an issue, I’d go six days a week. :D: I did feel a little overwhelmed at times, but I’m pretty tenacious. Won’t catch me giving up anytime soon.
Re: Advice for a newbie?
quote sprightly:Hi all. :wav: New to the forums, and to krav maga. Sadly, I had a pretty horrible encounter with my estranged husband, and upon the recommendation of a dear cousin of mine, decided to look into taking some classes. I checked out a place last week that seems great, and am planning on taking my first class on Wednesday. I have some control of my body, as I’ve been a dancer since I was a little girl, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. The lack of experience, coupled with the fact that I’m a woman (and there aren’t many of them who train regularly at the school) have me feeling a wee bit intimidated.Any advice for a newbie with absolutely no experience? Any advice for a woman in particular? Thanks in advance! :):
Think about how nervous and intimidated you were during your encounter with your Ex….Your first krav class is like that but much safer, much more supportive and a hell of a lot more fun:woohoo: Not making light of your situation but pointing out that there are many things in life much more scary than trying something new and challenging yourself
Everybody..let me repeat that E-V-E-R-Y=B-O-D-Y is nervous taking their 1st martial art class. Some show it in timidness others in Arrogance but most simply show up and do the best they can. And thats what you should do. Work at your pace and just keep showing up
I remember a particular incident during my brief stay at KMSO. Steve Tuna who owns a school in Nantucket came in for some training and was kind enough to workout with me. Very cool. On this night there was a guy who wanted to take a trial class. He wanted to take a FIGHT class and had an attitude, BUT it felt wrong. I decided to keep me eye on him, which means he made a big enough scene that everubody was to know he was a tough guy. Anyway they made him take our L1 class. He did not last 15 minutes before walking out wheezing. Tough guy flat out QUIT
As the class was going on I saw 2 really cute girls doing lite body conditioning. hitting each other in the face and body…lightly..because everybody is afraid of contact.. I busted out laughing. not at them, but these 2 5ft nothing 100lb’ers had more heart and fighting spirit that both Mr AZZHAT and his buddy
There are a lot of women in Krav so they know how to bring you along but remember you have to decide WHY your doing this and decide How important that is to you. Because without that knowledge you’ll fail.
One myth we all have been brought up with is who is responsible for our safety. In the end we are responsible for everything in our lives but as a society we ( women in particular) are taught to look at outside sources. In this case 1st responders like cops. Truth is Cops are called after an attack has happened. too late
by taking control of your personal safety you are also becoming empowered to take control of your health and fitness which tranfers over to every area of your life
with empowerment comes a lack of intimidation. So Show up, suit up and play
Good luck
Re: Advice for a newbie?
Thank you so much for the words of wisdom. I really do feel that it’s incredibly important for me to do this. I was lucky to walk away from that incident with the ex alive, and I will do anything in my power to stick around for my children.
Re: Advice for a newbie?
To piggyback onto the good advice already given:
quote sprightly:Hi all. :wav: New to the forums, and to krav maga. Sadly, I had a pretty horrible encounter with my estranged husbandAssuming “horrible encounter” was domestic violence related, are you looking for any domestic violence type of advice? If you are only taking self-defense classes to address DV issues, that may or may not solve your problem(s).
, and upon the recommendation of a dear cousin of mine, decided to look into taking some classes. I checked out a place last week that seems great, and am planning on taking my first class on Wednesday. I have some control of my body, as I’ve been a dancer since I was a little girl, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.
Perfectly normal/natural – happens to everyone. Just picture everyone in the room as being naked… Oh wait, I think that’s for public speaking… :D:
The lack of experience, coupled with the fact that I’m a woman (and there aren’t many of them who train regularly at the school) have me feeling a wee bit intimidated.
Don’t let that feeling dissuade you – IMO it’s a worthwhile journey BUT, you’ll never get where you want to go (you’ll never even get started) unless you take that first step and keep on stepping…
Any advice for a newbie with absolutely no experience?
Be a sponge, get the movements/coordinations down before adding a lot of power and speed, train hard, have fun.
Any advice for a woman in particular?
Too much to write. Don’t trust guys – we are dogs. lol
Thanks in advance! :):
Re: Advice for a newbie?
As far as domestic violence issues are concerned, yes, the encounter was related to that. I’ve done everything in my power to protect myself and my children (without getting into detail). This is just another level of protection. Plus, I figured that learning krav maga could be rather empowering as a victim.
Lots of great advice. Much appreciated. :):
Re: Advice for a newbie?
I think you’re getting some great advice, but let’s take a step back for a moment. If you are being physically threatened by your ex, you need to call the police and get a restraining order. That’s step 1. Step 2 is possibly to get a gun and learn how to use it. That one is up to you.
I think taking Krav is a great idea, but it works best when it’s combined with common sense. If you have a child and someone is threatening you, you need to call the police. Period. I’ve seen these things end very badly.
Re: Advice for a newbie?
quote oldKMdude:I think you’re getting some great advice, but let’s take a step back for a moment. If you are being physically threatened by your ex, you need to call the police and get a restraining order. That’s step 1. Step 2 is possibly to get a gun and learn how to use it. That one is up to you.I think taking Krav is a great idea, but it works best when it’s combined with common sense. If you have a child and someone is threatening you, you need to call the police. Period. I’ve seen these things end very badly.
Dude. As I said in my last post, this is just another level of protection. I find it kind of insulting that you’re insinuating that I don’t have common sense. FYI I have a stay away order of prtotection for myself, and my children….but let’s face it, that’s just a piece of paper. I want to have a fighting chance if he doesn’t respect that paper. The police are very well aware of what happened, and as a matter of fact, I have a panic button that they installed that is linked directly to the local precinct. The ex is facing multiple felony charges. I have done my part in that department. And if you’re thinking that I’m some stupid dip**** who stuck around for years while my husband was beating the **** out of me, you’d be wrong. This was a one time event, but it was that bad that it caused me to file for divorce on the spot. Can’t go into detail as there is still a criminal case pending. Also, thanks for the reminder that these things can end badly. That should help my PTSD. I’m sure I’ll sleep much better tonight. thumbsup
Re: Advice for a newbie?
sprightly
I don’t think oldKMdude meant anything personal by his comment, in fact I think it was great advice. He wasn’t stating that you lacked common sense just that certain steps were sensible to take. As you stated you didn’t want to go in depth about your situation and he was just giving you his take on things, how was he supposed to know? As for your PTSD there are some great couselers out there if you can get one and Krav will give you a new confidence.Re: Advice for a newbie?
quote IdDropU:sprightly
I don’t think oldKMdude meant anything personal by his comment, in fact I think it was great advice. He wasn’t stating that you lacked common sense just that certain steps were sensible to take. As you stated you didn’t want to go in depth about your situation and he was just giving you his take on things, how was he supposed to know? As for your PTSD there are some great couselers out there if you can get one and Krav will give you a new confidence.I don’t know. I guess I found it kind of insulting that someone would state the obvious (call the police if someone is threatening you, which he hasn’t since the incident, btw). I’m not a moron, and I guess when I read that krav works best when combined with common sense, it rubbed me the wrong way. My apologies if I over reacted. I’m not really looking for advice as far as domestic violence is concerned. I’ve got a good head on my shoulders, and have done everything imaginable to protect myself. One of the reasons why I don’t want to post my “safety plan” online, is because you never know who’s reading, and I don’t want him to be able to eschew the safety measures that I’ve taken.
I have a great therapist that I started seeing after the attack that’s worked wonders for me. She actually also advised me to look into some kind of self defense, as well.
Re: Advice for a newbie?
Excellent! Therapy can work wonders, my wife was attacked and her training in Krav saved her life, but she still had to deal with the stress and fear that follows such a situation. Your therapist has given you good advice, people with some form of self defense carry themselves with much more confidence and are less likely to look like “victims”. I think you will learn some great techniques and some self confidence. Congrats
Re: Advice for a newbie?
quote IdDropU:Excellent! Therapy can work wonders, my wife was attacked and her training in Krav saved her life, but she still had to deal with the stress and fear that follows such a situation. Your therapist has given you good advice, people with some form of self defense carry themselves with much more confidence and are less likely to look like “victims”. I think you will learn some great techniques and some self confidence. CongratsSorry to hear about your wife, but happy to hear that her training saved her. That’s why I decided to start training. Size is not on my side when it comes to my soon to be ex, and I want to have a fighting chance, no pun intended. ;): I need to take back some of my power.
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