Krav vs. Everything

[bushido_man96]

What I like about systems like Krav and Combat Hapkido is that you can take what you learn from them, and adapt them to the style you already do. I've taken lots of the Combat Hapkido concepts and found ways to work them into what I do with TKD techniques in forms, one-steps, etc.

[SifuGazz]

Well as far as Krav USA, it could be wrong, but I have heard from multiple sources over the years the founder Darren Levine, only trained for 2-6 weeks in Israel and paid a hefty fee for his rank....and went there with no MA background.

http://martialartslies.blogspot.com/

As far as the rest? Not sure, I don't think the system has any depth of skill from anything I've seen. Perhaps a system to learn if you only have a few weeks. But, I haven't been to Israel, or sought out "legit" people not under Levine's umbrella I don't think, so who knows....

G

[barrypardue]

Not so sure about Krav not knocking it just not my thing!

[cheesefrysamurai]

There are some good krav maga instructors. Letting the bad ones represent the system doesn't work. It's brutally efficient and effective. Unfortunately there are offshoots that call themselves krav maga as well and they are less then ethical.

It's not about it being "your thing". It's what you would want your daughter to learn before she goes away to school. Its what you would want to learn if you were going to fight for your life in a week. It's not about kiai's internal power, Kata and tradition. All of that is replaced direct combat training.

Given the choice, I chose Okinawan goju ryu. If I was taking an art because I was fearful of walking in the street it would be krav

[yamesu]

Bas Rutten is not a Krav practitioner- hes a Dutch Muay Thai figher who learned some ground skills and competed actively in MMA.

And 2nd Dan Kyokushin prior to his Muay Thai experience, just quietly.

quite the assumption that you are going to safely grapple with somebody on the ground. I hope for your sake this person doesn’t have any friends with him or weapons to resort to.

Grappling works great in reality situations, if it is a one on one situation. Anyone who has been out on the town or makes bars a hangout will tell you that this is RARELY the case.

Think about it. What would any "real" person do if they saw a friend getting punched or put in a headlock? I know what my response would be!

I come from a background with similar concepts to Krav Maga, and I will say that for a self defense practitioner, a couple mma fights do a lot to help you learn to deal with the stress and fear of conflict, in a reasonably safe environment. I know it's not the same as self defense, but it's a deal closer than sparring with your friends. Stage fright is physically still fear, and it's good to be exposed to it. It's not for everyone, but can be a good tool for personal development.

I strongly agree with this, as well as previous comments about training to be hit hard.

Getting over adrenal dumps is a major factor in survival, and has been since the dawn of humankind - even shaping evolution to this day.

There is such a significant different when it comes to quality training. Just because some guy saw a triangle choke on youtube and thinks he can teach it to a couple of guys doesnt mean this guy is learning MMA on par with people actually proficient in their arts. In other words, MMA taught by sloppy instructors is still sloppy fighting.

^^^YES! This!

Any sub-par club or school is still only going to be teaching sub-par martial arts. Its 6 of one half-dozen of the other, and can happen within any martial art, MMA, traditional or RBSD.

Having been hit hard before is the key to knowing what you'll do when you actually get hit. Like Mike Tyson said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." And if Mike Tyson were put in a self-defense situation, my money would be on him 100% of the time. According to the arguments that have been put forth though, he would have problems defending himself because he's just a sport competitor.

I think this is a solid point, and made me laugh!

One, it's hard to have "thousands of fights" and not end up in jail as a result of any. Self defense does not happen that often, not with concious effort to avoid them. Perhaps one has a job that requires it, this is my case, and I'd stretch the definition of "fights" to get near that number. Still, it's concieveable it could happen in the right location/ profession.

Two, never, in all of the conflicts real world that I have been in, despite over two decades of training, MMA experience, ect., have I EVER taken it lightly or not been in a bit of an aroused state due to the unpredictable nature of combat outside of a ring.

Here's what I'm getting to in a round about way. Everyone seems to be arguing that "this has worked for me" Great. The things I've done have worked for me, in the ring, and with modification on the road. Great. But the point is, what I do and you do probabily doesn't look the same. There might be similarities, but we'll differ.

Again, we go back to no right answer. I'll grant, there are better answers than others. No way around it. In most cases, it's better or worse training and testing methods.

With the unpredictiable nature of real world conflict, I won't take any weapon off the table.

Thank you for summing this up so eloquently tallgeese. I was trying to word something similar, but you've done it better already!

For me to sum up in my own opinion - most martial arts that hve been around for a while are obviously effective to some degree or another, as they are still around. Particularly when you take their purpose.

Krav for instance, is obviously thought of as valuable by some, as they still use it for Military instruction.

If I was spending billions on training an army, I sure as heck would not be technign them garbage!!!!

But I have seen garbage MA schools everywhere.

Even Kyokushin and Muay Thai, which I both hold very dear.

MMA is the same.

Proven effective in some situations, but that does not make every MMA'ist an effective fighter. For instance, how many people from Joe Blogs MMA gym have competed in UFC? (Rhetorical question....)

This is the reason that people need to seek out what works best for them. For instance, I train over 90min travel from home, 2-3 nights a week, simply because I think the dojo's closer to home are garbage.

To each their own. Fit for purpose, and my purpose is not going to be the same as everyone elses.....