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I have taken KM for 6 months now at the boulder/broomfield schools, led by the Hermiosas. Last night I got into my first altercation since the beginning of my training. It happened to be with a friend of mine. I had company over at the tail end of the night for wine and bbq after a great concert. Everyone was having a good time, but this kid was drinking whiskey and was the only person that was getting too drunk and being innaporpriate, so I decided the responsible thing to do was cut him off from the whiskey(which was mine). He became very rude and ungrateful after this. He didnt listen and filled another cup up, which I took from him and poured out. Soon after I was kicking him out. He was being very loud and very rude, and I am currently a guest at my mothers place for the next few weeks, until I move to Portland. So I kick him out of the house and he starts to get real pushy. Hes saying innapropriate things and making a scene in my front yard. Next thing I know were squaring off in the streets. I get in my fighting position and am ready for the fight. I refused to throw the first punch, as he was a friend and was intoxicated. So I started off by defending his punchs. I landed a few defensive blows but kept myself completely under control. I didnt want to hurt the kid. 3 times we went to the ground, as I’m pretty strong and can subdue him. Every time I was in top or in side control, I only punched him from the top when he really stuggled( maybe 2 or 3 times). Every time I would let him back up after he said he was done and that the fight was over. He would come back at me and I would have to drop him again. It was interesting seeing KM in action… I was in no doubt in control the entire time. What you learn and train for definately prepares you for the real life situations. Thanks Krav, and thanks to James and all the teachers at the Broomfield and Boulder schools.
Yeah it was a shitty situation. He was completely out of control. Some people have to learn their lesson the hard way.
This is definettely an uncomfortable situation.
Was there an option to take him outside with more friends as a back up?
with 5 guys or so it’s easier to control him without having to punch (much).Sometimes it’s also wiser to let someone take over the de-escalation process whom your friend is not mad at.
If he was still pissed at you because of the drinks and kicking him out, obviously he’s not on speaking terms with you anymore.
Sometimes people are still willing to talk to other people they respect or at least are not pissed at.
ofcourse these things depend a lot on the context of the situation.these are just a couple of suggestions. I think you did a good job.
i’m glad you posted this because i’ve been thinking of asking members if they’ve had the chance to really use KM. i’ve asked my fellow students but i’ve yet to speak to someone who has.
it always worries me that in a real-life situation i’ll miss the groin, or head (during chokes/bear hugs, etc.) since we’re so used to not hitting one another in those areas. my instructor has assured me that wouldn’t happen because we go \”through\” the target instead of stopping short. we’re at least going through the motion. makes sense……and i certainly trust his word anyways.it’d be cool to hear if other members have had to use KM on the street, and what the outcome was.
me personally, i haven’t had to use it yet. i’ve found that since i began KM i tend to walk away from confrontations more than i used to. this past month i walked away from 2 possible fights because it was over stupid shit anyways (you know, that \”what are you looking at\” bull that happens in bars)…..plus, recovering from a serious knee injury also helps me control my temper. 😡
I love reading posts like this.
Nice work, Krav4life! You did a fine job, not only of controlling the situation but also exercising self control. Very nicely done!
I’m wondering if KM is really the most practical system for that type of situation. Most of the time, in training, we are assuming that we have to fight for our lives and thus have to move in to destroy the target. In this case, the guy is drunk, being a jerk, but not really a lethal danger. It might work to try and put him into some type of control hold until he calms down, possibly call the police if he doesn’t. You would want to avoid hurting him, so I think you did the right thing by taking him to the ground. It’s a bad situation, because you wouldn’t want to hurt a friend, but you couldn’t allow him to hurt you either. Anyway, I’m glad he apologized.
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GiantkillerGood job showing restraint.
Giantkiller, I couldn’t disagree more. Lethal danger or not, Krav Maga teaches self defense. Whether it’s some drunk at a bar, or someone with a gun in your gut, it is all self-defense. The key is applying your knowledge to the situation at hand with the force necessary to subdue your attacker. Neutralize the threat, but nothing more. Else you might wind up being the one prosecuted.
determined – \”me personally, i haven’t had to use it yet. i’ve found that since i began KM i tend to walk away from confrontations more than i used to. this past month i walked away from 2 possible fights because it was over stupid shit anyways (you know, that \”what are you looking at\” bull that happens in bars)…..plus, recovering from a serious knee injury also helps me control my temper.\”
Hey determined, sounds to me like you are using your Krav skills afterall! I’ve found myself in similar situations and have been able to avoid potential trouble. My awarness has increased since I’ve been training in Krav, so hopefully that in itself will help keep me out of physical confrontations, but if it comes down to it I know Krav has also provided me with the physical skills to survive as well…
Giantkiller, the outcome proved that Krav Maga was effective in the situation to use the appropriate amount of force. And there’s no way of knowing when or how a situation will escalate. I was in a similar situation, except the friend was high on some drugs (unknown to any of us in the situation at the time-most of us don’t even drink much). He seemed to be more of a danger to himself than anyone else, since he was trying to get his keys back when we took them. In his twisted mind, he ended up attacking me with scissors out of nowhere.
In other words, the similarities between the situations are quite numerous, even down to the apology call a few days later-this guy, being a jerk, being drunk, could have easily brought it to the next (lethal) level if krav4life hadn’t taken control of the situation the way he did.
p.s.-I didn’t get hurt in my situation, because I had worked some knife defenses in another martial art. They worked, but only because I was much stronger than my attacker.
In your situation, the guy definitely crossed the line if he was trying to stab you. Friend or not, a KM style defense and counter would have been justified.
I was thinking more about these in between situations, similar to what Krav4Life described. The guy is drunk, belligerent, but not really a lethal danger. In that particular situation, a system like Jiu Jitsu might give you more options to subdue him without using too much force than KM does. Of course, once he goes too far (as in your case) you could definitely use a stronger counter.
Just something that ran through my mind. I guess it goes back to the whole verbal de-escalation discussion we had, where it was determined that, while verbal de-escalation is very important, we don’t ususally spend much time on it in class. In training, it seems we tend to focus more on the most dangerous types of situations, where a stronger response becomes necessary.
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GiantkillerGiantkiller,
This was not an \”in between\” situation. This was an altercation that was handled the way it should have been handled. Krav is flexible. We are not \”Ninjas\” or \”Gladiators\”. The point here is that Krav4life handled the deal with efficiency and controlled aggresion. This was made possible by his training and understanding the level of the threat that existed during the fight.
Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Boxing etc… Who cares? The point here is that a skilled and trained individual was able to defend himself without having to destroy the other person who was in fact a friend. This is Krav Maga folks!
You are right, it doesn’t really matter much, it was just a thought, but thing is, what worked best for him here was to take the guy to the ground and pin him down until he pretty much lost his will to fight, thereby avoiding to hurt him more than necessary.
Technically though, that seems to go against KM principles. We tell people to never go to the ground and stay there for any length of time (assuming it to be a more dangerous situation). We don’t work much on control holds (which may be helpful in a situation like this, but much less useful in a life of death situation).
No criticism here, just an observation. Overall, I’d much rather train in KM than in anything else, because it covers more scenarios and also is the most effective system for the more dangerous ones.
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Giantkiller
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