Is it any good?

mcgowana

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I saw an article about Krav Maga in my local newspaper in the UK. Is this style any good and is it worth going along?

Andy
 

K-man

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I saw an article about Krav Maga in my local newspaper in the UK. Is this style any good and is it worth going along?

Andy

2 part question.
Is this style any good? Yes, but as with all styles of MA there are good and bad practitioners. It is possibly a little easier to learn the basics and have some practical self defence skills at an early stage in your training than in the more technical MAs such as aikido.
Is it worth going along? Always! Look at every MA you can find and if they offer a few free lessons, take up their offer. Try before you buy! Make sure that you feel comfortable with the training being offered and talk with some of the students, as well as the instructor.
 

MJS

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I saw an article about Krav Maga in my local newspaper in the UK. Is this style any good and is it worth going along?

Andy

I agree with whats already been said. Do your homework and find out about the school, the teacher, who they're affiliated with, go watch a few classes, take a class or two, and make your decision.

IMO, I think its a pretty effective style. The weapon disarms are often critized for not being that good, but IMO, they're a hell of alot better than some other stuff that I've seen out there.
 

Drac

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I agree with whats already been said. Do your homework and find out about the school, the teacher, who they're affiliated with, go watch a few classes, take a class or two, and make your decision.

IMO, I think its a pretty effective style. The weapon disarms are often critized for not being that good, but IMO, they're a hell of alot better than some other stuff that I've seen out there.

I agree with MJS..
 

masherdong

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Yes most definately! Krav is an art that has been battle tested, combat proven. I would do some research on the school and instructor. If they are associated with the IKMF or KMWW, they are prolly good. Just my dos centavos!
 

harold

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As has been stated,check out the school and instructor and make your decision. I frequently train with my local KMWW school owner and I like the concepts a lot.
 

Radharc

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The weapon disarms are often critized for not being that good, but IMO, they're a hell of alot better than some other stuff that I've seen out there.

Hey,

I think the ppl that criticize the krav weapon disarms are ppl that believe that "good" means "100% effective, works like a charm all the time and nothing can ever go wrong" and that's way far from reality... the way I see it: weapon disarms always involve some risk, you´re playing the odds, and what krav disarms do is improve your odds quite decently. But you´re always taking a chance if you go for a disarm.

Anyways, krav is a pretty good system, but like some other ppl allready said, you (the OP) should check the school and they´re affiliation, there are some "krav" rip offs out there as well.

Good luck.
 

Touch Of Death

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Yes most definately! Krav is an art that has been battle tested, combat proven. I would do some research on the school and instructor. If they are associated with the IKMF or KMWW, they are prolly good. Just my dos centavos!
As opposed to Martial Arts that aren't used... martialy. LOL
Sean
 

Eltigreblanco

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Here's my two cents - I have been studying at a Krav Maga school in CA for the last two years. I have prior experience as a black belt in TKD and took a year of Muay Thai.

I like the system and my instructor is great. We train quite often on weapon defenses and if someone can show me a better disarm, I will gladly use it.

Our philosophy is basically - "use what works"

That being said, not every instructor or school is good in any art. Check out your local school and see how they roll.
 

Joab

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On the plus side, Krav Maga is relatively easy to learn and definitely has things in it that will work. Personally, I disagree with most clenched fisted striking or hitting, preferring open hand blows, don't like the high kicks in Krav, although they have relatively few compared to others, and I had a problem with a Krav instructor, it's very unlikely he moved to your area. It really depends upon what your looking for in a system and if the instructor is a good teacher that knows his stuff and has a level of maturity that enables him to be patient while he teaches.
 

Deaf Smith

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Here's my two cents - I have been studying at a Krav Maga school in CA for the last two years. I have prior experience as a black belt in TKD and took a year of Muay Thai.

I like the system and my instructor is great. We train quite often on weapon defenses and if someone can show me a better disarm, I will gladly use it.

Our philosophy is basically - "use what works"

That being said, not every instructor or school is good in any art. Check out your local school and see how they roll.

I've been taking KM here in Texas for about a year. Also a 5th Dan TKD (WTF) and still do TKD to.

If I didn't like it I sure wouldn't be in it!

The workouts are hard. Lots of hammer fist and punching as well as elbows and knees. Some very good SD techniques and weapon defense. All with a emphasis on aggressive action.

I like their simple blocking as it's very strong and fast.

Many of the drills they use I use in my own practice but substitute kicks for alot of the hammerfist, especially for multiple attackers scenarios.

Also their ‘stance’ is very much like boxing and the way they shuffle is boxing also. I just add that to my lunges and slides.

All in all it’s a good hard class and well worth the effort.

Deaf
 

Hudson69

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The local S.O. here trains their Deputies in the LE version and they like it. I crossed trained with one of their instructors and it looks solid, simple (simple is good) and straight forward.

Before you go for it you might want to sit in a class or see if there are any free lessons offered since every system has good and bad instructors in it.

Just my .02.
 

Brian R. VanCise

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Okay I think Krav Maga is a really good system with sound self defense principles. The big issue that people have with Krav Maga is in its attempt to proliferate it watered down the instructor pool. Meaning look at two distinct model instructors. One went to a Krav Maga school started out with no rank and worked their way up slowly over the course of several years internalizing the training and the concepts and techniques. After several more years he or she decided to teach and became an instructor. Most people would find this model acceptable and the instructor would in all probability be pretty good. Now the next model is Krav Maga got some name recognition and a school owner said gee that would go great at my school if I could teach it. So he or she went to a weekend instructor seminar course and walla at the end of say ten to twenty hours of training they got their instructor certificate and now teach Krav Maga as an add on at their school. Okay now, who would you rather learn from? The first person will have some depth the second well they learned all they know in ten to twenty hours. That is most people's gripe with Krav Maga in that the vast majority of instructors learned it over a weekend course.
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However if you can find the real deal and someone with depth then I am sure you will enjoy it!
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Jonathan

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So, the school I'm considering has this on their website... how accurate a depiction is this? There seems to be numerous KM 'parent' organizations that each sound official... but how does one make sense of it?

Krav Works is the ONLY Krav Maga school in the Washington, DC area that is recognized and endorsed by the National Governing Body for Krav Maga in the State of Israel and abroad, the Israeli Krav Maga Association, and also by the Wingate National Sports Institute, and the Israel Ministry of Education.
 

Spork3245

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So, the school I'm considering has this on their website... how accurate a depiction is this? There seems to be numerous KM 'parent' organizations that each sound official... but how does one make sense of it?

Krav Works is the ONLY Krav Maga school in the Washington, DC area that is recognized and endorsed by the National Governing Body for Krav Maga in the State of Israel and abroad, the Israeli Krav Maga Association, and also by the Wingate National Sports Institute, and the Israel Ministry of Education.

If you link me to the website I can find out if they are legit. The IKMA is the only organization that is recognised by the israeli government
 

astrobiologist

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I'm new to Krav Maga. I just had my second class tonight. But, after my entire life in the martial arts (well, since i was 5) I feel like Krav Maga is going to be a good fit. After having been an instructor in my father's martial arts school in Pennsylvania, it took me almost two years to find the right school in Colorado. From goju-ryu to wushu to brazilian jiujitsu to shotokan and more, I pretty much could not find anything that fit my needs/wants for a school to train at. The Krav Maga school I found seems pretty sweet. Though I've only been to two classes so far, the intensity is awesome and the techniques (so far) are practical. Our first class, the instructor gave a pretty sweet talk about the nature of Krav Maga. To paraphrase a part of it: "These are self-defense and fighting skills that need to be simple and instinctual." So far, they appear to be. I still will continue to train in traditional martial arts, but I am really liking Krav Maga so far.
 

elbows

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hi there , im new to the site , just found it . was wanting to know a few things about krav maga . i am interested in starting and will go to a club nearby to check it out .
i have just a little background in shotokan ( orange belt ) and also zen do kai ( also orange belt with tips for blue belt grading ) .
my reasons for a change to krav maga are as follows .

1 - my lifestyle does not allow me time to learn and study the kata's required for further grading . ( although i do respect and understand the ideals behind them )

2 - a neck and back injury dont allow me train enough to keep up and therefore i find im not making progress to remain interested .

3 - i love the agressive anything goes street tactics that krav can offer .

4 - i love the weapons training .

5 - seems like it will be more beneficial in real life scenarios .

dont get me wrong , i think all styles of martial arts are fantastic and for kids , the longevity and personal development skills they offer are excellent and well worth it .
but at my age ( 41 ) , with the injuries i have , it seems that krav offers me more in the way of training when i can ( if im sore from injury flare ups ) and not falling behind , aswell as learning the tecniques faster without time lost by having to memorize kata sequences and movements .
basically , i want to train in just combat without the fancy stuff that my injuries generally dont allow me to do anyway ( ie the high kicks etc ).

any thoughts would be apreciated , cheers !
 

MaxRob

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Excellent when combined with other martial
Arts ie Kajukenbo.
 
D

Dylan9d

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Excellent when combined with other martial
Arts ie Kajukenbo.

Well if you trained very long in other martial arts it has not much to offer technique wise, at least thats how i felt after almost a year and a half of Krav training.

It is a very good fitness workout, focussed on health and stamina wich did help me along my journey through martial arts land :)

This however is my personal experience with it and doesn't apply to everyone else ofcourse.
 

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