About Commando Krav Maga

Commando Krav Maga is a self-defense system, which is about taking control: both of an attacker as well as the situation. No assumptions are made and nothing is taken for granted; it doesn’t matter what position your in e.g. on the ground, sitting down, walking etc or whether you’ve been surprised or are expecting an attack.

Commando Krav Maga is a ‘total’ system, in that it deals with all stages of a conflict e.g. avoidance, de-escalation, the conflict itself as well as the ‘post-conflict’ situation e.g. what to do when the fight is over. It is can also be called a ‘total system’ because it deals with all manner of attacks: those by unarmed assailants and those who are armed with knives, sticks, guns etc.

Israeli Military Special Forces (Sayeret) Krav Maga

This is what you would expect from a system that was designed for and is in use by the elite units of the Israeli Military e.g. Yamam, Sayeret (Commando) units etc. Commando Krav Maga, is a modern system of Krav Maga, which is in use by front line, operational personnel on a day-to-day basis and it is this, which makes it different to several other Krav Maga systems.

The system is constantly refined and updated in response to the experiences of these personnel: if techniques can be made more efficient or improved, they are and if something isn’t working in the way it was intended it is either refined or discarded and another solution found. Just as ‘threats’ and ‘attacks’ may evolve and change, so must defenses to them.

It is these things, which make Combat Survival Krav Maga such an effective self-defense system.

Krav Maga and Stress Testing

One of the major differences between Commando Krav Maga and most other systems of self-defense is the way that both the techniques and the individual are tested under stress. It is recognized, that however ‘good’ a technique may look or seem, unless it can be performed in a high stress situation it is useless. Much emphasis in training is placed on ‘stress testing’ the individuals ability to perform the techniques rather than just having them ‘rehearse’ each defense with a partner; each one taking it in turn.

In many systems the only way they increase stress is by the ‘fear of pain’ e.g. trying to emulate a fight itself by putting the gloves on, padding up and letting two individuals go at each other 100%. This however fails to address the many different forms of stress that actually occur within a confrontation, such as that caused by surprise or verbal intimidation and so doesn’t really prepare the individual for what it will actually be like on the street. Commando Krav Maga looks to train people in a ‘fully rounded’ way so that they are able to cope with the full spectrum of ‘stresses’ that a violent confrontation contains.

It is this emphasis on the overcoming of the natural reaction to ‘freezing’ (becoming immobile, failing to act etc) that makes it so effective. Everyone has a moment of ‘freezing’ when initially threatened, from the hardened combat soldier to the untrained individual. What separates them however is their ability to overcome this initial reaction (of inactivity) and start to act whether it’s by fighting or running away – either option is valid, the only one that isn’t is doing nothing. As this is a civilian system, we are not looking to train people how to act when coming under heavy machine gun fire but how to respond when faced with an individual/individuals (attacks today often involve groups) intent on causing harm.

Training to ‘cross the gap’ between freezing and action whatever that action is e.g. fighting or running, in the quickest possible time is the primary focus of Commando Krav Maga.

Commando Krav Maga Based On Natural Reactions

The reason the the techniques work so well, is that they are based on the body's natural reactions to attacks and threats, meaning that they are easy to learn and remember.

To be taught to ‘unfreeze’ and run is far more advantageous than being taught a multitude of techniques that you will never be able perform because you buckle under stress.

To be taught to overcome that state of inactivity and to have the choice to run or to fight and then know how to fight, with proven techniques that have worked for individuals time and time again (in the most stressful of situations), is what Commando Krav Maga is about.

For more information/details about Commando Krav Maga, Self Defense etc, please visit commando-kravmaga.com