Last night as I was teaching the Knife Defenses that make up part of the curriculum/syllabus that we’re going over this week (and that I want to start putting into our Redman training at 8:00 pm tonight), I got to thinking about how many people don’t realize how Krav Maga works as a system. A lot of people think that it is simply a collection of the “best” self-defense techniques around rather than realizing that it is a system based on concepts and essential fighting principles. Krav Maga was (and continues to be) built from the bottom up; certainly it took techniques from other systems and was inspired by other martial arts however it is something more than a random collection of techniques. Any time a technique is modified or a “new” one developed it has to adhere to a certain set of concepts, principles and ideas – just because something seemingly works doesn’t mean it is worthy on inclusion e.g. if the technique, its movement pattern etc is one that can’t be re-used and/or doesn’t compliment existing movements in the system then however much it stands alone on its own merits, it’s probably not going to make its way into the system i.e. if it doesn’t adhere to the system’s principles how can it be part of the system? If a person doesn’t understand these principles and concepts they will be ignorant as to why Krav Maga is taught and practiced the way it is – unfortunately that often includes some instructors who claim to be teaching “Krav Maga”. In the next six blog posts I am going to discuss some of the underlying ideas behind the system. In this post I am going to look at “Hand Defense, Body Defense”.

There are four parts to any block:

  1. Be a random/moving target that an attacker will find difficult to synchronize his movement to
  2. All blocks should be attacks
  3. Move the target/body away from the threat/attack
  4. Move to a position where you can make a powerful counter-attack

Without looking at all these points in depth, I just want to briefly talk about points 1 and 4 before moving on to points 2 and 3, which are really about the idea of “Hand Defense, Body Defense”. If your movement pattern is random it is hard for your assailant to predict where you will be, this will make it difficult for them to position themselves for a powerful attack; it may also cause them to over-commit and/or cause them to move into positions which make them vulnerable to your own attacks. This dovetails into point 4 i.e. you should always be looking to position yourself in a way that allows you to make a strong and powerful attack. With that out of the way let’s consider points 2 and 3, under the heading of “Hand Defense, Body Defense”.

Whichever way you want to look at it when you are attacked you become a target; someone aims something at you e.g. punch, knife etc. Just as you wouldn’t stand on the tracks as a freight train hurtles towards you, neither should you remain static when a punch or a knife strike/slash is coming towards you. Even if your movement is not perfect, it is better than staying rooted and absorbing the full force of the attack. At 155 lbs many times my blocks will yield somewhat under a larger and stronger person’s assault, moving away from it etc may give me the distance that my block has had to give up. In Krav Maga we call this a 200% defense: if the hand defense is done 100% perfectly and the body defense is done 100% perfectly then the total effectiveness of the defense is 200%. If however the block is only done 50% well and the body defense is only done 50% well then at least there is a 100% total defense.

I will always come back to the fact that there is no blocking system that gauruntees you full protection. In a real life violent confrontation it is more than likely that you will get hit and if a knife is involved, cut/stabbed – on the occasions I have had to deal with knife this has been my experience. How you get cut/punched, where you get cut/punched is often what decides the fight. This is where the body defense part is so crucial.

The actual block needs to be combined with the movement, often we try to do this based on instinctual reflex actions e.g. somebody shanks us with a knife, we pull the hips back and the hands come forward etc. the movement piece becomes key in this as it can often give us the room and space, as well as the time to make the block. With 360 “flinch” defenses (defenses against circular attacks), we rely on picking up movement as it enters/crosses our peripheral vision. Under stress we become somewhat tunnel-vision(ed) and so the result is that we pick up the movement later (one of the reasons we “scan” and move), this means that our arm starts to move a lot later than it would in a more relaxed training environment/scenario. It may be that our movement away from the attack is the only thing that gives us the space and room to successfully bring the arm up to block the haymaker, knife slash etc.

It is not just in striking that “Hand Defense, Body Defense” is used. We do it when dealing with knife and gun threats. If I am facing a gun and all somebody has to do is pull the trigger I need to buy myself as much space and time as I can. Simply moving the gun away from me may not be enough, I must move the body also. I have seen some spectacular gun disarms, where the target never moves out from the line of fire i.e. there is no body defense. If you’re fast and athletic you may just get away with it however in approaching my fortieth birthday this Friday I have to recognize that neither my reactions nor hand speed are what they once were. I need the body defense in there as well to make things work.

This is why Krav Maga works: you don’t have to the most athletic or the most physically gifted as the insurance components for your lacking in these areas have been worked into the system. Krav Maga was designed for the average Joe who had no prior training and so the system was designed to give everyone the tools, regardless of size and strength etc to be able to defend themselves. This is why we use/combine, “Hand Defense, Body Defense”.

Further principles and concepts to follow….