[jpazzz]

Re: Is Krav Maga loosing its reputation?

Hello,
As you can see, I’m new to the forum. I answered RPM RMKM, but apparently I mistakenly sent the answer only to him.

Yes, it is JKD I was thinking of, although in my case, it is specifically Paul Vunak’s version of it. I don’t think the trapping of JKD/FMA will work in a real situation for anyone who is not practicing regularly in a studio. But the system in general is very good.

I believe that in my inadvertently private reply to RPM RMKM, I mentioned that I am an old man now, rather crippled by ski racing injuries in the 1950s. Hence, my most reliable Self Defense techniques have to include weapons. I add this so that anyone who disagrees or takes umbrage at anything I’ve written can feel free to write me off as ignorant and useless (both probably true!).

One thing I especially admire about Krav Maga is that it fundamentally assumes self defense rather than fighting. Certainly striking the first blow in a conflict has advantages, but it also is apt to get you arrested as the bad guy in modern scenarios. For me, there is another advantage to what some conceive of as passivity. Just the other day, D, my good lady, and I were shopping when a huge and rather angry man confronted me. I still don’t know what his problem was — I gather he thought I had somehow insulted him or the people he was with…which is interesting given that I have no idea where he came from. The guy was scary. I was able, without even compromising my dignity — although dignity is in the end a silly thing to worry about — to defuse the situation. I believe such behavior rests at the heart of Krav Maga. It’s one of its genuine goodnesses.

Golly I’ve gone on!

Anyway, I retain an interest and privately work out utilizing Krav and PFS techniques.

Cheers,

Dr. John

[jpazzz]

Re: Is Krav Maga loosing its reputation?

Hello, I’m intrigued by this thread. There seem to be a good many thoughtful responses and a few rude and/or defensive ones. It seems to me that at the core of the original post is a concern about the complicating of the gross motor skill based techniques which, if I understand things correctly, were at the heart of the original Krav techniques. To partially support that view, one need only go through this forum to see the large number of “what if” questions. Such questions, which concern themselves with ever increasingly complicated and/or difficult scenarios, appear to be inextricably tied up with the martial arts (and, yes, Krav is a martial art) where people spend time day-dreaming about their hobby. Contrast that with people who actually and brutally use their techniques on a frequent basis. I suppose you might call such people professionals.

The original post included a reference to Royal Marine training. That reminds me of the old IDF training joke which most of you have probably heard in ad nauseum. Question to IDF trainee: What did you learn today in Krav Maga? Answer (every day): We did pushups. One of the other posters noted that military people don’t train H2H very much. This is true, but on the other hand, if one loses the use of one’s weapon, one’s limited H2H skills had darned well better work!

Another element — not mentioned in the original post — which does tend to lessen the seriousness with which people view Krav , is the approach to advertising Krav by an appeal to losing weight, body sculpting the Krav way, giving you kid a sense of self reliance, etc. etc. Martial Arts schools have to pay the bills and maybe leave a little for the instructors, so all of the above are understandable and do no real harm, but they do
tend to make thoughtful people give pause.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I think Krav is one of the two (equally) best SD systems currently out there. I also find fascinating the fact that Imi and Bruce Lee, working quite independently, seem to reached essentially the same conclusions as to which of the world’s approaches to punching, kicking, elbowing, etc are best. But that is a subject for another post.

Cheers,
Dr. John

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