While training with a senior ranking Krav Maga expert out of Israel, a metaphor was used to describe the moments just prior to physically engaging an attacker.
Most times, students of all systems train techniques that contemplate the attacker already in the process of striking, grabbing or otherwise menacing their intended victim.
What Krav Maga considers is the mental focus of both defender and attacker just prior to physical engagement:
A kravist, the metaphor goes, is a grenade with its pin still in. If you lay it on the table, it just sits there motionless and inert. Upon pulling the pin, however, there is immediate detonation and full-on commitment to attack.
In much the same manner, if you are approached by a hostile individual, we must mentally prepare to attack while physically remaining relaxed and quiet, ready to go at a moment’s notice. This must be done with NO physical indication to our attacker that we are prepared to strike.
What does this look like? Upon presentation of a verbal or physical threat, the stance that we have trained since day one, should immediately be struck, while all facial expressions and vocal inflection should give the appearance that we are trying to de-escalate and avoid violence at all costs.
How do we train this? We work through the process of not just getting into proper stance, but we also train the tactics of verbal de-escalation. This takes the attacker to a different headspace and gives us the opportunity to either end the situation without violence (the preferred outcome) or buy ourselves a moment to preempt and be first in.
The lack of motion, as with the grenade, gives our attacker nothing to go by. They cannot guess what our first move will be and therefore shifts the advantage to us.
Remember, since Krav Maga assumes that we are the smaller, weaker and slower, we win violent encounters by being smarter. Show the attacker nothing and give them no indication that you are going to do anything except submit. This immediately puts you in the position of driving the next moment and hopefully winning the battle in 8 seconds or less.
