Krav maga

[oldbanger]

I’ve just come back from a taster Krav Maga session and thoroughly enjoyed it, far more than any previous brushes with martial arts. It seems very intuitive, to be honest

Primarily I am looking for a way to get fitter, though the self defence aspect would also be useful

The local classes aren’t pay as you go, so before I commit, I wondered what other people's experiences were.

[Carrot]

I did it for a while having done karate for years beforehand. I honestly believe I learned more in a month of krav that was actually useful than several years of karate.

These days I just prefer to walk the dog. I was getting injured more doing that kind of stuff than I ever did in a street fight. And I have had zero street fights

[lemmingjames]

use search as its been covered before and itll end up in the normal KM is good/st, x martial arts is better.

All are as good or as worse as the another MA as it all depends on who the teacher is.

If you enjoy it then do it, if you dont enjoy then dont commit.

Also, atleast with Km you dont have to buy any expensive gi's or what not so youll save some money there

[SlimJim16v]

It also depends on who the student is.

Anyway, boxing. Better for fitness and will actually work should you need to defend yourself.

[J4CKO]

I did a year or so of it, it is good but really you should use the class to gain technique and do the fitness separately so you can get more out of the classes.

Might go back to it actually, it gives you confidence to get out of situations and if you cant you have the skills to maim

A guy at work was taking the mick and said come on, show us some of your moves, he is 18 stone and thinks he is muscular, 14 stone bloke plus four stone plus of lard, I had him grab me by my shirt, then you grasp one hand with both of yours rotate and push down, 18 stone kneels down and you have their full attention, it can be very, very effective, even being gentle you can easily hurt someone with some of the techniques, his wrist was still hurting a week later apparently, oops.

The instructor was fairly small and a bit stocky, wore glasses and was unremarkable, but Jesus he scared the crap out of me, in no doubt he could kill me, very quickly, even his demonstrations used to leave me sore, used to wince when I went near him, he used to have us go in full bore, just brushed us off like we were an angry Chihuahua.

My main thing I learnt was never get in a fight as someone may know this stuff or similar and I would be toast, just try and avoid agro wherever possible and be prepared to do anything to get out of a situation.

[Hoofy]

Guess it's that time of the year for the hero martial arts stories to come out again.

Re saving money, I doubt you'd save anything what with the gradings etc. It's very much a business.

[oldbanger]

Thanks for the comments.

Two day on everything hurts lol.

It’s interesting regarding boxing possibly being better.

Last time I tried anything like this, more than 15 years ago, I was considering boxing or aikido. I wimped out and did aikido instead. I was rubbish at it, too uncoordinated and gave up after a few months. Krav Maga was a lot easier. I’ve been on the receiving end a fair few times in my life, including being attacked twice on my own street when I lived in London, and also work lead me to reviewing hours of street fighting cctv at one point. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I mostly expected to be a bit lost but the class just made perfect sense.

After the km session one of the other guys was telling me I should try boxing. The thing is the km sessions are at the local school. Boxing would involve a drive into the nearest city.

[Wildfire]

I’ve done Martial Arts for a long time, on and off, there is a lot of opinions around it, what is good, what is bad etc.
My advice would be:

If you enjoy it, then carry on going with whatever you want. Just make sure it ticks the boxes that you want. E.g. Self defence, competition, fitness, whatever your goal. IMHO the best martial arts is the one that you enjoy and the class where you feel welcome.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

[R8Steve]

Wildfire said:

I’ve done Martial Arts for a long time, on and off, there is a lot of opinions around it, what is good, what is bad etc.
My advice would be:

If you enjoy it, then carry on going with whatever you want. Just make sure it ticks the boxes that you want. E.g. Self defence, competition, fitness, whatever your goal. IMHO the best martial arts is the one that you enjoy and the class where you feel welcome.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Well said.

I've done krav maga for several years but have given up debating it's benefits on here. It usually just decends into the usual - 'it won't work in real life, what if there's 2 people with machine guns', etc, etc.

If you enjoy it go for it. It definitely makes you feel better about yourself and increases your confidence. You will pick up a few knocks and bruises though, it's very physical.

[Hoofy]

R8Steve said:

I've done krav maga for several years but have given up debating it's benefits on here. It usually just decends into the usual - 'it won't work in real life, what if there's 2 people with machine guns', etc, etc.

Isn't KM the answer to that question!? I've got Imi Sde-Or's manual somewhere and I'm sure it talks about defence against guns. Skipped that bit as the chances of someone pointing an AK-47 at me in SW London are very slim.

[R8Steve]

Hoofy said:

R8Steve said:

I've done krav maga for several years but have given up debating it's benefits on here. It usually just decends into the usual - 'it won't work in real life, what if there's 2 people with machine guns', etc, etc.

Isn't KM the answer to that question!? I've got Imi Sde-Or's manual somewhere and I'm sure it talks about defence against guns. Skipped that bit as the chances of someone pointing an AK-47 at me in SW London are very slim.

That was my point. It is but anyone that suggests it on here gets quickly informed it won't/doesn't work. Usually people that have never done a martial art in their life.

[Uncle John]

Did it for 8 months.

Enjoyed it, you learn a lot in a very short space of time and keeps you fit.

Go for it.

[Hoofy]

R8Steve said:

That was my point. It is but anyone that suggests it on here gets quickly informed it won't/doesn't work. Usually people that have never done a martial art in their life.

Oh right. As you were.

[J4CKO]

R8Steve said:

Wildfire said:

I’ve done Martial Arts for a long time, on and off, there is a lot of opinions around it, what is good, what is bad etc.
My advice would be:

If you enjoy it, then carry on going with whatever you want. Just make sure it ticks the boxes that you want. E.g. Self defence, competition, fitness, whatever your goal. IMHO the best martial arts is the one that you enjoy and the class where you feel welcome.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Well said.

I've done krav maga for several years but have given up debating it's benefits on here. It usually just decends into the usual - 'it won't work in real life, what if there's 2 people with machine guns', etc, etc.

If you enjoy it go for it. It definitely makes you feel better about yourself and increases your confidence. You will pick up a few knocks and bruises though, it's very physical.

Indeed, I think what it does for most is gets them used to how interacting with a another person feels in an attack/agressive scenario, most of us never experience that, sex doesnt count people are heavier, stronger and faster than you anticipate and its all about how to use joints and weight, kind of a physics lesson as well.

A lot of blokes give it billy big bks but wonder how many have actually been in a fight, anyone who has that kind of knowledge and muscle memory has a massive advantage, you can debate what if scenarios all day long or compare Krav experts to Karate or any other discipline but if you are stuck with needing some skill, anything is better than nothing and most people have nothing apart from a big gob, a few drinks inside them and a long history of watching martial arts films.

[SlimJim16v]

I had a misspent youth and knew and met many interesting people. Some of the most dangerous had never had any training, nor were they very big. An old friend was very good at Karate, very powerful, but got a beating anyway; didn't have the required mental attitude.

As I got to meet the sort of people whose reputations you hear of, I found some common traits. They were almost all very friendly when met socially, obviously with nothing to prove, but you could see the danger. They were almost all people who'd trained in something, but used and perfected it for real, either on the doors or the street.

I myself studied/trained in a few things, but then had just enough experience to teach me that nearly all are st, with poor training and no mental preparation. One instructor even made me a worse fighter FFS.

It's the person, regardless of which 'art', if any, they've trained in, that matters.

Got a problem

[CoolHands]

You want some? I’ll give it ya