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Hi, everyone. Here is my situation.
-I am a young man, but I am in danger of being diagnosed with type II diabetes. My doctor’s giving me seven months to get my act together. I’m not in shape at all.
-At the same time, I have been wanting more and more to be able to defend my family.I am a reader, and everything I’ve read points to Krav Maga as the best self-defense system with enough of a following in the US to be practical. I’m to where I don’t even want to bother with a martial art like TKD, which is taught all over my city. But the closest Krav Maga school is about 90 minutes from me, though I expect one will open closer eventually.
I checked out the Complete Krav Maga. My question is this: since I need to start serious exercise, should I practice these KM moves from the book until a school opens and I can correct my form, or should I do something else to avoid ruining my ability to master KM or injuring myself?
Thanks.
Re: Should I start without a teacher?
Let me qualify my comments first by the fact that I am not an instructor. I have been training for about 2 years and my observations and opinions are based on my own experience.
I don’t think that trying to learn the techniques from the book is necessarily a bad idea, I myself own the book and use it as a refresher from time to time. It is an awesome resource and has helped me when I am preparing to test. The one thing that will not be captured by trying to learn the techniques from the book is the “mentality” of Krav. One of the main reasons (in my opinion) that Krav is so effective is, while the techniques are sound, it is the way in which they are taught. In a typical level 1 class, there is a 10-15 minute warm up which you could classify as an intense aerobic workout, followed by 15-30 minutes of agressive combative drills/exhaustion drills, then, when you are sufficiently exhausted, you work on a particular technique. The last 5-10 minutes of class will be another exhaustion or chaos drill which will focus on the practical application of that technique. The goal is to never stop fighting, never give up, no matter how tired you are, how heavy your arms feel, how rubbery your legs are, or how much your lungs are burning, etc.
That being said, I wouldn’t ever try and disuade you from reaching your goals. I know, if left to my own devices with the book, I would not make a home workout nearly as intense as the classes I have been to. You mentioned that your secondary goal is to get into better shape. The first thing you will need is a training partner, both to hold you accountable and to practice techniques with. I would invest in the Bas Rutten Workout Cds, each workout is like 27 minutes long and you will find that it might take you a few weeks to get through one completely (you could alternate rounds with your training partner until you can get through it yourself). Another option is Crossfit, you can look up http://www.crossfit.com or hit up Garddawg on the site here for more info, but they have a million ideas on their site that can help you reach your fitness goals. If you do a search on crossfit in these forums you will find all kinds of info and workouts, and there are many you don’t need a ton of equipment for. I use both Bas and the workouts I find on here when I am traveling on business and in a hotel room and cannot attend class.
Obviously the best option is to take Krav classes from a trained and certified instructor, however if you can’t due to geographical restraints, I would practice the techniques from the book with your training partner, after completing an intense 30-40 minute workout. Practicing the techniques when you are fatigued will help them to get burned into muscle memory and help you to react better under the duress of an attack.
Hopefully one of the instructors on here will chime in and be able to give you some good advice. Good luck and I hope you are able to reach your goals.
Re: Should I start without a teacher?
Triped,
At a minimum I would say to take one of the introductory seminars that are held. That way you can get a feel for some of the basic moves and have a starting point for your training. Having a partner is really going to help you. Maybe you could ask a friend and go to a seminar together and then follow up with the book at home.
Ditto to what Jon said about Crossfit. Garddawg’s scaled Crossfit workouts are designed for all levels of fitness and woud be a good place to start as well. Link to his site …. http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php/forums
Best wishes in what ever you decide.
Re: Should I start without a teacher?
Welcome to the forum!
I’ll put in my 2 cents for what its worth.
I highly recommend the KM Beginner book that came out recently – excellent material including workouts to get you in shape.
The books are KM DVDs are great but if at all possible, attend a few classes at the center periodically. They don’t replace being a real class getting your techniques tweaked. The earlier things you may be doing wrong are caught, the better for you. I have a wonderful center so I know how important getting your form checked is.
It’s great you’ve decided to get into Krav. The getting in shape and endurance will come – do what you can and give it your bestthumbsup
Re: Should I start without a teacher?
Don’t be afraid to do both. I trained in TKD for many years and loved it… but I was blessed and found a wonderful Master that not only gave me top notch training, but taught me Korean, the culture, how to be an instructor, self-confidence, made me a national level competitor, and made me the person I am today. But it all boils down to the instructor. I would rather take classes from an awesome instructor in a traditional system than a horrible instructor in KM (thank goodness KMWW manages the courses so those people don’t make it far). You have to watch classes, make sure he/she is who will be teaching you, take some classes, and make an informed decision. Work on the KM material best as you can and attend seminars as your schedule and finances allow. Don’t shy away from what may a great starting point… just because its a traditional system. The depth of understanding you gain when you have training in more than just KM or any one thing is something everyone should have. There is value in ALL training, it’s up to you to find it. Good Luck.
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