Essentials of Krav Maga Self Defense Techniques

Krav Maga, the official self-defense and close-quarters combat system used by the Israeli Defense Forces, was founded in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld. Essentials of Krav Maga self-defense techniques drew on many forms of hand-to-hand fighting techniques including boxing, stick-fighting, muay thai, jiu-jitsu, grappling and wrestling. In its most basic form, Krav Maga involves doing whatever it takes to survive an attack using any combination of these close combat skills.

  1. Fighting Stance

    • One of the mainstays of essential Krav Maga self-defense techniques is the krav maga stance. The Krav Maga stance is a relaxed boxing stance with legs staggered, shoulder width apart, with strong or lead foot forward (meaning your dominant hand, or in this case foot, forward). The student, from this position can quickly guard in a boxing position (hands up at both temples, elbows tight to the sides), throw any combination of punches or kicks and subdue an attack in a natural and instinctive way.

    Striking

    • Krav Maga focuses on utilizing the core for defending and striking. The disciplines involve throwing short fast kicks and knees to soft tissue areas like the groin and abdomen. Hand strikes focus on vulnerable areas like the throat, eyes, nose and temples. The core is conditioned and developed throughout the repetitive motions used in training to develop a swift, powerful counterattack when defending yourself. The use of strikes--punches, kicks, elbows and knees--is taught from standing positions and from the ground.

    Grabs

    • Street fighting techniques like Krav Maga incorporate real world fighting scenarios like subduing an attacker that is attempting a grab. Krav Maga technique teaches the student to attack the attacker to impact the attackers balance and gain control of the grab in order to force the attacker to release you. Defense against grabs are practiced from numerous positions both standing and on the ground.

    Throws

    • An essential Krav Maga self-defense technique involves subduing an attack with throws. This style is most similar to jiu-jitsu where the attacker's momentum is used against them to quickly avert the attack while maintaining control of the attacker's arms or legs to gain control of the attacker. Throws are taught to Krav Maga students in a number of methods including disarming an assailant, redirecting an armed or unarmed attacker and the repositioning of an attack from behind by attacking soft tissue or joints to throw the attacker in front of you, or in a position where you gain full control of the attacker.

    Chokes

    • Attacks come in many forms and a common form is the choke or choke hold. Krav Maga students learn how to manipulate the attacker's soft tissue and or joints to force the attacker to release you. Choke releases are the method taught and practiced from standing positions, from the ground and with various choke methods employed upon the student, where the student must break the choke or choke hold and gain control of the attacker.

    Training Duration

    • Krav Maga is a form of self-defense that much like any other requires a lot of time to learn and master. A typical black belt in Krav Maga can take as many as five years (with three or more classes per week) to complete with many more years to follow if the student wishes to teach and hold the title of master themselves.