Is Krav Maga practical for self-defence? Krav Maga is possibly the most practical martial art for self-defence when it is taught well. The reason is simple. Krav Maga was originally developed to be an effective system of self-defence that could be taught to soldiers quickly, and it had to work, because it was literally life or death. That means they set out from the very beginning with self-defence in mind (as opposed to competition etc), looked at many different martial arts, drawing in the best and most effective techniques from each, all to come up with a simple yet highly effective system of self-defence. Krav Maga being practical for self-defence and ‘quickly’ learnt, still doesn’t mean that you can do a weekend course and ‘know’ self-defence (just like you can’t learn to play guitar in a weekend either). It means that you can typically learn it quicker in comparison to some other martial arts. To reach a good skill where you can defend yourself in real life street defence situation is still going to take a couple of training sessions (or more) per week for a year or more.
You might be asking yourself why, if Krav Maga is practical for self-defence, does it take that long. First off, in self-defence you are usually dealing with a very difficult, unfair, unequal situation. The attacker is typically bigger, stronger, more aggressive, may have a weapon, and there may be more than one of them. Being bigger and stronger is an advantage, so to overcome that, you need a higher level of skill. Second, an attacker can do anything. ‘Self-defence’ is not one thing. It is everything. You can’t say to an attacker, “sorry, I don’t know that one, can you attack me with this instead”. Not only do you need to learn how to strike effectively and powerfully (if you’re not hitting hard, you’re not going to stop anyone), you also have to learn how to grapple, wrestle, defend against weapons and multiple attackers… you have to learn how to put all the techniques you have learnt together in a sequence that will work against different types of attacks eg what if they grab your hair, try to punch (is it swinging or straight), grab your shirt, pickup you up, choke you, strangle you, grab you in a head-lock from behind, push you to the ground… that is just the beginning, an attacker can do anything. How are you going to learn, remember, and perform well enough under the high pressure and stress situation that real world self-defence is, all after just a weekend or a month or two? When you really start to think about it, it begins to make sense that in the real world it takes time to learn real world self-defence (it always looks easy on TV right 😂 ).
Pro-tip: because Krav Maga has gained so much popularity so quickly, it has unfortunately led to the situation where some cowboys are doing a weekend course in Krav Maga, then teaching it the next week. To give you an idea of what a great Instructor looks like, Master Gav who leads our Krav Maga classes has his 7th Dan Black Belt in Survival Jujitsu & Krav Maga, 6th Dan Black Belt in Koga Ryu Ninjitsu, 6th Dan Black Belt in Genai Ryu Ninjitsu, 2nd Dan in Taekwondo, 2nd Dan in Judo, black belt in BJJ, and black sash in Muay Thai. In addition to this Gav has taught, and still teaches military and police personnel around the world including special forces units, and consults government and enterprise on security and risk management having his PhD in this field… big difference to a weekend course, and therefore the depth of knowledge that can be passed along in an effective, fun and safe manner.
To wrap up, is Krav Maga practical for self-defence? Yes, but it still takes time to learn and get good enough at to be able to do it at the practical self-defence level. Make sure you train at a good school with experienced Instructors, and get started! You’ll get so much more out of Krav Maga than just self-defence.
If you’d like to find out more about our Krav Maga, self-defence and martial arts classes, our professional martial arts trainers, or our safe, fun and friendly atmosphere where you will learn practical self-protection techniques you can use in real situations, come and try a class 🙂
As well as teaching martial arts techniques that prevent personal harm, our Krav Maga classes provide you with these valuable health and wellbeing benefits:
Classes for Everyone: No prior fitness level, flexibility or martial arts experience is required to learn self defence at BTC studios. You will progress, with professional encouragement, at a pace that’s right for you. Highly Qualified Trainers: BTC’s instructors are highly qualified martial arts professionals. Matted, air-conditioned facilities: BTC is a dedicated and air-conditioned martial arts studio, permanently set up for the sole purpose of teaching self defence. There’s no waiting for a hall to be prepared for your self defence class and there’s enough equipment for every student. Our rooms are fully matted for the comfort and safety of beginners and advanced students of any age. Onsite Gym: BTC members enjoy use of our fully-equipped and air-conditioned onsite gym where they can exercise alone or with classmates. Take a workout before or after your self defence lesson, or visit BTC between session times and train in a familiar, social environment. So come and try a class for yourself today!