Several years ago an article appeared in a New Orleans’ online publication that described how Krav Maga saved a man from a would be robbery. As the story was told, rather than giving up his wallet, at gunpoint, he executed a gun disarm that allowed him to keep his wallet and scare off his attacker. Unfortunately, he still took a bullet in the right shoulder. This was heralded as a major validation for Krav. While I’m grateful for the publicity of Krav Maga as an effective system in such circumstances, Initially I was struck by the fact that an experienced Krav Maga student would have known to simply give up their wallet rather than attempt a risky technique.
Secondly, the article continued with a link to a video showing this same kravist in his group class learning this gun disarm from his instructor. Sadly, the video illustrated what I feared was true…the instructor taught the technique incorrectly. The student was correctly taught to trap the gun against the attacker’s body with his left hand. What the instructor failed to teach was the body rotation which would have prevented the bullet from striking the defender’s shoulder.
A key principle of Krav Maga is that with every technique, there is both a hand and body defense. The combination of which creates what is referred to as a “200%” defense. The first 100% is the hand defense which explosively redirects the threat out of danger. The second 100% is the body moving off the line of attack, thus creating further protection from the inbound threat.
When Imi built the system, he wanted to protect every kravist from possibly being late or ineffective in their hand defense. He, therefore, insisted that every defender move off the “x” on the count of one. With this added precaution, a kravist is doubly safe. The body defense takes the attacker offline while the hand defense redirects the inbound weapon (regardless of whether that weapon is a knife, gun, stick or punch).
When teaching the system, I repeatedly tell my students that “footwork saves your life, while hand position gives you options!”. In other words, I stress that each student follow Imi’s principle and move their feet at the same time they move their hands. Being flat-footed while performing any technique does not guarantee success in defensive maneuvers.
To best train Krav Maga, all students need to focus on building proper footwork as well as hand speed. Remember, not only was Imi a black belt in Judo and Aikido, he was also an award winning dancer! Physical grace and fluid movement are both stressed in order to create opportunities for successful defense of all threats.
At Krav Maga Personal Safety, we help build not just physical coordination and dexterity but also your defensive IQ. We make sure you take the time to learn how to use your whole body when learning self defense. To not do so is to expose yourself to potential injury, as was clearly shown in New Orleans. Imi would not approve.
