@kravgeezer
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Talking with the lead instructor is a good place to start. Ask about his/her background and where they were certified. I am not familiar with the KM Alliance. I know that KM Worldwide is held in high regard and their instructors have to pass rigorous tests. Beyond that, give them a try for a few classes and see how you feel about the quality of instruction and the general attitude in the class. Some information might be available on Yelp and Google reviews too.
I am 66 and started Krav last year. I love it. I had to have shoulder surgery and took a break from it and it’s good to be back but I am more careful as it easier for us mature folks to injure ourselves and it takes longer to heal than it used to. My shoulder was damaged from many years of sports and krav just put the finishing touch on it. All of the instructors in my gym urge us to not do anything that we feel might hurt us. I have learned to train smart, no less intense but smart.
Re: Need some feedback before my first class please.
Carlo;
I started krav last year at age 65. I had two suspect shoulders but wanted to try. After four months at 2-3 classes/week, I tore my rotator cuff in the right shoulder, which was in pretty bad shape to begin with. After recovering I went back and developed three small tears in my left cuff. Again, I had injured shoulders to begin with but the stress of Krav put the finishing touches on them. I will have surgery shortly, have been training Krav with a bag at home and plan to return to classes after surgery.
My advice: There is no substitute for being in a good gym. The instructors want to know what limitations students have and encourage me to work around them, e.g. instead of doing burpees, I can do knee bends or lunges. When taking classes after surgery, I told my partners to take it easy on my right shoulder. All did but one and I just changed partners because he couldn’t seem to control himself. I am careful when doing strikes as they put stress on the shoulder. I don’t always go full power when doing hook punches or hammerfist strikes, rather, I’ll go full power for a portion of the training, then back off to 50% and concentrate on form. If my training is causing my shoulders to ache, it is a sign that I am doing something wrong and I will adjust.
Finally, there is no pat answer to your question. You won’t know until you try and be careful if you do.
