Darren Levine - Krav Maga for Beginners

Krav Maga Worldwide training centers attract people from all walks of life, with varying experiences, backgrounds, and training goals. It’s important to understand and respect these factors when training. When partnering, students should try to partner with those of similar size. This may not always be possible, so considering potential size and strength differences to insure the safety of everyone is vital to a productive training atmosphere. While students are there to better themselves, peripheral goals should include bettering the others in the class. Also, while we want to engender a realistic training experience, this should not be done at the unnecessary risk of injury. If you feel a student does not wholly understand how to train safely, speak with your instructor.

5Continue wrapping around the palm of your hand to the bottom of your thumb. Wrap around your thumb and back toward your wrist, on the palm side. Continue to wrap around the back of your hand to the thumb. Wrap around the thumb once more (this time it will be from the opposite direction.)

6Continue from the thumb, over the back of your hand and around your wrist.

7Wrap around your wrist, over the back of your hand, and between your pinky and ring finger. Wrap around your palm toward your wrist. Repeat this step for all fingers, but not the thumb.

8After the last finger, bring the wrap across the palm toward your wrist. Continue across the back of your hand, up toward your knuckles.

9Wrap the top of the knuckles again and continue across the back of your hand toward your wrist.

10Wrap the wrist with the remainder of the wrap, and fasten the hook and loop.

Your training environment should be controlled as much as possible. If training at a licensed facility, this should be a normal part of business, but you should do your part to be diligent in understanding inherent or potential dangers. You should remove obstacles that are not imperative to the training at hand. You should check equipment to verify its integrity. If training outdoors, be sure to scan the area and remove items that may be hazardous. If you are not training at a licensed facility, you should be sure to have a first-aid kit on hand during your sessions.

Certain items are essential for the ideal training experience. For combative training, there are several types of training pads that will serve to enhance your training.

The punch or “tombstone” pad is very versatile. Most upper body combatives, as well as some kicks, can be performed on this pad.

The kickshield pad is ideal for practicing many of the stronger kicks used in Krav Maga. It’s also used for practicing knees and prevalent in many training drills.

Focus mitts are used for intermediate and advanced combative training, particularly punches.

In order to train hard and minimize injuries, there are several pieces of gear that are essential. Handwraps, gloves, mouthpieces, and groin protection are at the top of the list. However, it’s also important to train, at times, without this gear. This should be done only in a controlled and supervised training environment.

There are many styles and sizes of gloves, which vary according to training goals. For basic Krav Maga training, 12- to 16-ounce boxing gloves are ideal for heavy punching and controlled sparring. These gloves may be worn with or without handwraps. While there are inexpensive options out there, the higher-quality gloves are more durable and provide more protection.

Self-defense is not just about learning techniques. Violent encounters are by definition frightening, visceral events involving extreme reactions on several levels: the emotional/psychological level and the physiological level. Good training helps to prepare you for these aspects of violence.

Emotional responses to a violent encounter (or even a potentially violent encounter) include all the obvious extremes of fear (for oneself or others) and anger (at being put in danger). The wife of one of this book’s authors was carjacked and recalls feeling, along with fear, a sense of outrage and confusion. She kept demanding of the carjacker, “Why are you doing this? Why?” She didn’t expect a response, but her outrage demanded an answer (we’ll discuss this further below in the comments on psychology). One of the authors himself was threatened with a gun (prior to learning Krav Maga) and recalls being not afraid but furious, and determined not to allow the would-be robber to succeed.

But emotional responses are usually issues to deal with after the fact, when treating oneself or others suffering from post-traumatic stress. During the violent encounter itself, emotional responses tend to be symptoms of powerful physical and psychological responses, and it is these that we will discuss in detail here.

The “fight or flight” response, also known as the “acute stress response,” was extensively documented by Dr. Walter Cannon in the 1920s. In “fight or flight,” the nervous system pumps adrenaline and norepinephrine into the body, triggering an increase in heart rate, constriction of blood vessels, and a tightening of the muscles. Essentially, the body is preparing itself for a short burst of sudden and extreme physical activity. As an interesting side note (especially for Krav Maga, which bases itself so much on instinct), an abundance of certain hormones (catecholamines) at neuroreceptor sites encourages the body to rely on spontaneous or intuitive reactions that often help during combat or evasion. [1] While “fight” and “flight” are the best-known reactions, there is a corollary of the “flight” response called “freeze.” In some individuals, the physiological response is so overpowering that they simply do nothing. They shut down, simply wanting the incident to be over. This is the typical “deer in headlights” response. We believe that whatever training you do must allow you to avoid the “freeze” response. Possums freeze. Rabbits, in certain situations, freeze, because by freezing they hope to avoid detection. But we’re not talking about avoiding detection. We assume that the violent encounter has already begun. Running away (when practical) is fine. Fighting is often required. But from our point of view, freezing is not an option.

But what, specifically, happens during the “fight or flight” response? Here are a few of the most typical physical and psychological reactions.

Essentially, during moments of intense stress, your strength goes way up and your dexterity goes way down. You experience a very short period of extreme physical ability (although you’re unlikely to enjoy it!) but without much control of your fine motor skills. For this reason, any techniques you employ must avoid precise movements. In a nutshell, the following occurs: