Krav Maga Kata

After an apprentice instructor warmed us up, our instructor for this particular class began to take us through our paces.

Our first drill had us standing stationary in a fighting stance; our partner threw left jabs to vulnerable targets on our body while moving around us. Next, our partner, in a right-hand lead fighting stance, threw right jabs to vulnerable targets on our body while moving around us. As always in these drills, at some point there is a role reversal.

Next, our partner threw one straight punch at us. We had to defend and counterattack with a minimum of three combatives preferably mixing them up with upper and lower strikes.

The next drill resembled the former drill with the exception of our partner throwing a kick instead of a punch. Once again, we had to defend and counterattack with a minimum of three combatives preferably mixing them up with upper and lower strikes.

Now it’s time to mix it up a little. Our partner has the option of punching or kicking and we counterattack as mentioned previously.

Okay... now we’re in groups of three... one person takes center stage, another holds focus mitts while the other holds a tombstone pad. The person in the center punches and kicks their way toward the person holding the tombstone pad.

Once she’s in range, she delivers a knee strike to the pad. After the knee strike is delivered, the person holding the tombstone pad moves the pad into a position that enables the center person to deliver a downward hammerfist strike.

At about this time, the person holding the focus mitts slaps the center person to get her attention. The focus mitts person calls out punching combinations.

The center person responds by throwing the required punching combinations. Now the person holding the tombstone pad bumps the center person to get her attention and the cycle starts again.

Our next drill involved an attack by our partner and us defending and delivering a knee strike to the midsection causing our partner to bend over. Cupping our hands, we deliver a downward strike to the base of our partner’s skull (nose to toes) driving our partner down to the ground.

Our final drill was like a two-person kata... Krav Maga style. As our partner engaged us with combatives, he delivered a knee strike to our midsection causing us to bend over. Our partner applied a standing reverse headlock (guillotine) and we defended and counterattacked.

If a knee strike was not delivered, our partner moved around to our dead side and applied a headlock from behind (bar arm) and we defended and counterattacked. Essentially, it was as if going through the stages of a prearranged quasi-fight.

Recognizing Punches

We started Monday’s 7:30pm class off by doing Bas Rutten punch combinations. We used our boxing gloves like focus mitts to practice the combinations. When we called out a number from 1 - 4, our partner threw the appropriate combination. The number 4 four-punch combination could end with a cross or an uppercut. Partners were rotated during this drill.

Once we were finished with the Bas Rutten combinations, we practiced targeting. While our partner stood stationary in a fighting stance, we threw punching combinations to available targets. We were allowed to make hard contact to the body targets.

Next, we practiced the various defenses for straight punches, hooks and uppercuts. First, we practiced all the defenses for straight punches, all the defenses for hooks and then the uppercut defenses.

Now, back to holding the gloves like focus mitts for your partner and calling out numbers for punch combinations. But this time, after a combination is thrown, you throw a punch and your partner defends appropriately.

In order to work on our recognition of the punches we did a drill with our partner standing in front of us and out of punching range. With our hands up and in a fighting stance, we watched our partner throw various punch combinations. We were looking for the “tell”, the signs of body movement by our partner that indicates a particular punch is about to be thrown.

In our final drill, we added headgear and ended the class by sparring. Essentially, the class dealt with upper body strikes, recognition of those strikes and defenses against those strikes.

I’d like to mention that any time that I am sparring; I never in my wildest dreams imagine that what is going on during my sparring is what is going to be going on during a streetfight. In a streetfight, I won’t be wearing protective gear, there won’t be an agreement with my opponent as to what is allowed or not allowed (rules) and I won’t be able to maneuver around the way I can in the pristine environment (terrain) of our training center.

I treat my sparring for what it is and that is practice for recognizing combatives, distancing, timing, targeting, absorbing punches and kicks, offensive attacks, counterattacks and defenses. That’s it, nothing more... nothing less.

“Martial arts and martial artists often try to do it all. They teach self-defense and sparring and streetfighting and fitness and personal development, as if they were the same thing. They aren’t even related.” –Rory Miller

Krav Maga Street Creds

Moshe Katz writes:

I first heard this phrase "Street Creds" while teaching a Krav Maga seminar at U Penn. A student had asked me…one of those "What if" situations. What if a street thug with a knife was standing at some distance from me, he was not attacking – thus none of my knife defense techniques would be applicable, he was not close to me – so I could not grab his arm or knife, so what would I do, he asked.

My response: run away if I could. He is at a distance, there is no knife touching my skin and no knife moving towards me, just a stationary street thug at a distance talking trash. Why should I try to disarm him? I have too much respect for the damage a knife can do. Besides, the great Danny Inosanto, the top student of the great Bruce Lee, said, "Knife disarms are incidental, if not accidental." My goal is survival, not knife collecting. If I can get home unscathed, I have accomplished my goal. I have no need to become an urban legend in the process.

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Retzev and the OODA Loop

One of the classes I took this week continued with retzev (continuous motion) counterattacks. We did some slow drills, isometric type to start things off.

If your partner threw a straight punch, you appropriately defended and then followed through with retzev. Doing the retzev in a slow manner, gave you a chance to see if you were executing proper technique and targeting.

We practiced inside defenses, outside defenses and round kick reflexive defenses. Then we were on the floor, on our backs and sometimes on our knees, defending against punches and round kicks.

We did two types of stress drills. One drill pre-exhausted you prior to defending against attacks. And the other drill... which was very interesting in its affect on you... had you spin around several times bent over. Once you finished spinning, you had to defend against attacks. Obviously, after spinning you were dizzy. This drill simulated the effect of being sucker punched. Trying to defend against attacks while dizzy ain’t that easy folks.

Our final drill involved groups of three. Person #1 was on her back holding a tombstone pad. Person #2 was mounted on person #1 and was delivering elbow strikes, punches and hammerfists to the tombstone pad. And, at some point, person #3 attacked person #2 with punches and round kicks.

Once person #2 was attacked, he defended against person #3’s attacks, dismounted person #1 and then counterattacked person #3’s offense in a retzev-like manner.

When I think about retzev, I also think about the OODA Loop. OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. The OODA Loop was created by military strategist and USAF Colonel John Boyd. The OODA Loop approach favors agility over raw power in dealing with human opponents in any endeavor.

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Richards, Chet: OODA explained. Seven-slide presentation explaining the OODA Loop.

Go to your Dark Side

I have read on the Web and have spoken to individuals that cringe at the thought of retaliating with some of the brutal combative techniques of Krav Maga when they have been attacked. If you feel the same way, this may help you with your dilemma. The following is a passage from Rory Miller’s book Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence:

If you are ever faced with extreme violence, you will have to make the decision to act. Make it now. You must decide what is worth fighting for, never forgetting that the question involves the risk of both dying and killing. You must decide now. Taking damage in the middle of a shitstorm of fists and boots is the wrong time to agonize over the moral dimension of conflict. There are things worth fighting for. List what they are.

Once you have made the list, these are your “Go” buttons. You must commit that if one of them happens you will act ruthlessly and decisively. You cannot second-guess yourself in the moment.

In his book, Surviving Armed Assaults, Lawrence A. Kane gives a list of scenarios to consider as possible triggers (“Go” buttons).

• You face an armed attacker and know that you are about to die if you do not act and possibly even if you do. You have nothing to lose by fighting back.
• You are faced with clear, present, and unavoidable danger of death, dismemberment, or significant harm to yourself.
• Your spouse is faced with clear and present danger and cannot escape without your intervention.
• Your child is faced with clear and present danger and cannot escape without your intervention.
• You discover a pregnant woman or small child who is faced with clear and present danger and cannot escape without your intervention.
• You are confronted with an aggressor who attempts to force you into his/her vehicle or otherwise take you to a secondary crime scene.
• You are about to be raped.
• You are about to be tied up or handcuffed by an aggressor.
• You are ordered to turn your back or are about to be blindfolded by a captor.
• You are taken captive by someone you believe is a vengeance seeker, terrorist extremist, fanatic or other hostage taker who sincerely intends to kill you.

Lastly, go to your Dark Side to aid you with your defense. The Dark Side draws energy from emotions such as hatred, rage and fear to create purely harmful energy. Focus that harmful energy on to your attacker.

“Give yourself to the Dark Side; it is the only way you can save your friends.” –Darth Vader

Another Week of Krav Maga Training

The 7:30pm class Monday night primarily drilled on fighting ranges and the continuous and smooth flow of counterattacks (retzev). We warmed up with shadowboxing using combatives that involve different fighting ranges, i.e., straight punches, hook punches, elbow strikes, knee strikes and kicks.

We practiced the retzev by drilling on Level 1 chokes and with some choreographed fighting. The choreographed fighting sequence went something like the following:

Partner: holding focus mitts

You: left jab, right cross, reload hips, right low round kick

Partner: right cross

You: inside defense

Partner: left hook

You: covering, left hook, right cross, reload hips, right low round kick

Partner: right low round kick

You: left shin defense, left jab, right cross, reload hips, right low round kick

Wednesday’s ground fighting night was a marathon rolling event. One of the aims of the class was to slow things down a bit, particularly for the beginners. Typically, beginners overexert themselves and because of that, they tire quickly. The idea was for them to take their time so that they could figure out what was going on and then try and deal with it.

One person started on his back with someone in his guard. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, this is considered a neutral position. Everyone else waited his turn to wrestle the person on his back. When the instructor said go, both combatants jockeyed for a submission. The time limit was one minute per round.

What made it a marathon event was that the person on his back had to wrestle everyone in the class! Once everyone had their turn starting on their back, we wrestled everyone one more time.

The rest of the class involved a review of the Americana arm lock and practicing a new defense against it.

A 3-hour seminar was held today. Suggestions were requested during the week for what students would like to drill.

We started out with some distancing drills and then we moved on to:

• Overhead stick defense
• Reverse horizontal swing stick defense
• Handgun defense from the front
• Handgun defense from behind
• On the ground and on your back defending against a knife or handgun
• Third party protection

As is typical in our Krav Maga classes, we had some closed eyes drills whereby you didn’t know whether you were going to be attacked with a stick, knife or handgun until you opened your eyes.

The third party protection drills raised some concerned issues relative to an assailant taking your significant other as a hostage. What basic facts apply to all hostage situations? Go here to read about hostage situations and how negotiation works.

I’d like to sum this post up with a quote from a book I’m reading by Rory Miller. The title of the book is Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence. In the book, Mr. Miller defines self-defense the following way:

It is recovery from stupidity or bad luck, from finding yourself in a position you would have given almost anything to prevent. It is difficult to train for because of the surprise element and because you may be injured before you are aware of the conflict. The critical element is to overcome the shock and surprise so that you can act, to “beat the freeze.” Self-defense is about recovery. The ideal is to prevent the situation. The optimal mindset is often a conditioned response that requires no thought (for the first half-second of the attack) or a focused rage.

Crime is a Product of Opportunity

The following is an excerpt from the new book, "No Second Chance: A Reality-Based Guide to Self-Defense" by Mark Hatmaker.

We’ve already established that predators of all species seek the path of least resistance when selecting prey. That rule holds true whether we are discussing victim selection or property selection. To further illustrate this point, place yourself in the predator role momentarily and answer the following questions honestly.

You decide to steal a car and are presented with two vehicles sitting side-by-side. One is locked and appears to have an alarm system activated, the other is unlocked and the keys are in the ignition.

Which do you choose?

You are walking through the mall and decide a little extra cash would be nice. You start scanning people in your immediate area and notice two women waiting at a counter, their backs are turned. One is holding her purse to her side, the clasp is closed, the other has her purse slung towards her back, the mouth of the purse is wide open with contents easily in view and easily accessible.

Which purse do you choose?

You decide that you would like to enter into a physical altercation with someone but want enough wiggle room so that it doesn’t look too deliberate, where and when do you look for such opportunities? Do you choose a bar with a bad reputation on a Friday night? Or, do you choose a Bible study class on Sunday morning?

You are a serial rapist, you stake out a parking lot looking for your next victim. You notice two young women enter the parking lot, one is walking head-up seemingly alert with her keys already in hand. The other is multi-tasking, she stands at her car door fumbling in her purse for her keys, and seems to be texting at the same time.

Who do you choose?

Presuming one does not wish to be caught, the answers to the above are obvious; predators choose the easiest victim--the victim that provides optimum opportunity for success. Every habit you possess that increases the ease of acquisition for a predator means that you are edging into the opportunity column. Every precaution you take to reduce criminal opportunity will make your personal safety a likelihood.

The fact that crime is, by and large, a product of opportunity is great news. By understanding that certain habits create greater opportunity for loss of life or property, that certain environments are more conducive to these crimes, and that even certain times of day or night can work for or against us, we can make choices that vastly improve our odds of ever having to use any of the actual tactical material in this book.

Even a cursory reading of the literature that studies criminal behavior in depth reveals that approximately 90% of criminal activity is of the opportunistic variety. That leaves a 10% area that’s out of our hands, the sort of crimes we encounter when we see shootings erupt in malls, or vehicles driven through restaurant windows before opening fire as we saw in Killeen, Texas in 1991 that left 24 dead. To be frank, this 10% is the tough part to prepare for but, it can be done to some degree (as we will soon get to) but, that 90% that makes up the large majority of crime, we need to grasp the significance of that number.

If we take every step that we can comfortably make to reduce the opportunity earmarks then we have, in a sense, made 90% of the journey towards being a “master of self defense” without ever having to learn one single physical defense tool. We need to grasp just how empowering this 90% figure is and revel in the fact that a few simple acts of habit can render much of what follows in the physical defense section null and void. Nothing would make me happier than to see every single reader of this book alive and well and of the firm belief that the physical work was a complete waste of time because they exercise good opportunity reduction habits.

Opportunity reduction is key. Again, to flog that horse, crime is 90% a product of opportunity; reduce opportunities for crime and the self-defense has taken care of itself.