What is Krav Maga?
Krav Maga is a modern self-protection system designed to enable ordinary men and women to overcome violent and potentially violent encounters.
Initially developed by the Israeli Defence Forces for use under extreme battlefield conditions, Krav Maga has been adapted over the last 40 years to serve the needs of civilians in need of an effective means of personal protection that remains within the bounds of legality.
Krav Maga | noun
A form of self-defence and physical training first developed by the Israeli army in the
1940s, based on the use of reflexive responses to threatening situations.
Much of the initial philosophy of Krav Maga remains the same. Everything we do is simple, easily retained, and capable of being used under the extreme shock and stress of a sudden, violent encounter. Krav Maga is based on instinctive body movements, straightforward tactics, and an aggressive mindset as the most effective response to violent attack.
Krav Maga is not just about physical actions. It is about problem-solving; about recognising a problem before it develops; about finding quick and effective solutions; about dealing with adrenaline, verbal de-escalation, and the legal aftermath.
What will I Learn at a Training Session?
We aim to make sessions interesting, fun, and varied. We employ a mix of drills, games, scenarios, and repetitions to create, learn, and perfect skills. Sessions revolve around warming up, functional movement, drilling skills, and employing them in varied situations.
We train to overcome common types of attack, including punches and kicks, chokes, bearhugs, and headlocks. We train to deal with multiple opponents and gang attacks. We train to deal with knife, gun, and stick threats and attacks. We study criminal attack patterns, aggressive behaviour, and the pre-assault indicators that signal when you are about to be attacked. We learn awareness, avoidance, de-escalation, and escape.
There are no rules, rings, or referees in Krav Maga; we train for reality. You use what is available to you — elbows, punches, kicks, headbutts, chairs, tables, your voice and bodylanguage — whatever is to hand. We use whatever works. This makes Krav Maga a truly unique and valuable skill to stay safe in modern society.
Our twice-weekly classes allow you to train in a controlled environment with qualified instruction and supervision. You will be taught various Krav Maga techniques and tactical behaviour from the official IKMF syllabus. The techniques are trained and tested in class to be second-nature, so that you can deploy them in confidence if absolutely necessary.
- Avoid injury during training and in a real-life encounter...at all costs!
- Defend and counter-attack in the shortest, quickest way possible
- Use the body's natural reflexes to help with a proper, effective defence
- Use only what is necessary to neutralise a threat, or allow escape
- Be aware of potential multiple attackers