Krav Maga Weapon Defenses - David Kahn

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with strong combatives, blocking access to the weapon, and achieving dominant control. If the weapon is successfully deployed and put into action, closing the distance allows the defender to deflect-redirect or block the weapon, the majority of time in combination with body defenses while delivering withering counterattacks.

      The Israeli krav maga fighting system is designed to work against any attacker. The key is your mindset. As my good friend Nir Maman, Lead Counter Terror Instructor for the Israel Defense Force, explains so well, you must be able to transition from a highly disadvantageous “negative five” position to an advantageous “positive five” position instinctively and instantaneously. You must turn the table on your opponent(s) immediately. Self-preservation is a powerful motivator—so is protecting others. If you must defend yourself, you need to dominate your attacker and incapacitate him. Krav maga’s core techniques provide cumulative building blocks for a formidable self-defense foundation. A few mastered techniques go a long way and are highly effective against weapon threats and attacks.

      Krav maga’s defensive philosophy is never to do more than necessary, but to react instinctively with speed, economy of motion, and the appropriate measure of force. Instinctive reaction is paramount and you are taught to strike instinctively at the human body’s vulnerable parts. Israeli krav maga training tries to place you in the most realistic training scenarios including weapon attacks with all possible attendant variations. The goal is to present instinctive solutions to overcome threats and defeat deadly attacks. Krav maga uses the same building blocks from the simplest defenses to the most advanced techniques, including empty-handed defenses, and disarms against bladed weapons, firearms, and even micro-explosives, as you will soon learn. Most important, krav maga emphasizes that there are no rules on the street. If a situation is dire, do whatever is necessary to overcome the threat.

      A trainee immediately appreciates krav maga’s simplicity and universal applicability. Krav maga uses the concept of retzev, Hebrew for “continuous motion” to complete a defense. Retzev, the backbone of modern Israeli krav maga, teaches you to move your body instinctively in combat motion without thinking about your next move. Training becomes first nature rather than second nature. When in a dangerous situation, you will automatically call upon your physical and mental training to a launch seamless overwhelming counterattack using strikes, takedowns, throws, joint locks, chokes, or other offensive actions combined with evasive action. Retzev is quick and decisive movement merging all aspects of your krav maga training. Defensive movements transition automatically into offensive movements to neutralize the attack affording your opponent little time to react.

      Imi summarized, “it [defensive movements] comes from the head.” Your brain absorbs, retains, translates, and harnesses your instincts to launch your body into action. Keep in mind that two attacks will be delivered in the same manner. Defenders are given tools for their toolboxes along with a general blueprint how to use them. Remember, Imi’s goal was survival in any defensible situation. You must develop a strong understanding and grasp of how and why you might find yourself embroiled in a violent encounter. How did he (the assailant) get so close to me without my noticing? Was he acting aggressively toward others before he turned on me? Am I a specific target or a random target put in harm’s way by bad luck?

      To make the method yours and react instinctively, you must put just as much emphasis on mental training as you do the physical. In a potential deadly force confrontation, you may experience a combined surge of stress, fear, and excitement. When you are fearful, the nervous system increases the body’s physical capabilities by injecting adrenaline into the blood stream. Although fear helps you to survive by quickening your heart rate and sending more oxygenated blood to your muscles, you must harness your fear and remain levelheaded. You must control involuntary body responses, such as quivering legs, to execute the correct self-defense reactions. You will need both physical and mental training to learn how to harness this fear-induced adrenaline surge.

      Mental and physical conditioning allows you to harness your adrenaline and channel it into action. Mental confidence and toughness, in particular, provides a decisive advantage in a violent encounter. When you feel confident, you believe that your training will carry the day regardless of an opponent’s possession of a weapon. Confidence, however, must not lead to overconfidence. Do not underestimate the opponent, especially, when he has the mechanical advantage of a weapon. And, always expect the unexpected. Mental conditioning will help build your confidence, preventing the panic that can lead to freezing or poor decision making. Mental conditioning will also allow you to deescalate or walk away (always the best solution if possible) from a potentially a violent situation.

      With proper training, you will learn how to use fear and other negative emotions to your advantage. You will harness the energy and power from your body’s fight or flight response rather than freezing under pressure. If you merely read through this book but do not actually train against impact weapons, edged weapons, and firearm threats on a regular basis, physical trauma coupled with fright and shock will most likely negate rational thought, paralyzing you into inaction. When in danger, the brain searches its memory bank for a response. In a violent encounter, if an opponent takes an unanticipated or unrecognized action, the brain cannot find a practiced response resulting in decision paralysis. Denial is the most common obstacle to taking appropriate action. Often, with an untrained mind and body, it is difficult to process or accept that someone else intends you serious bodily harm. An assailant may know this and achieve his purpose accordingly.

      Krav maga’s goal is to make a trainee proficient in defending himself or herself against any manner of attack in the shortest possible training period. As krav maga is based on our most primitive and natural instincts, a few core defensive movements harnessing gross motor skills can be learned, retained, and applied to overcome numerous deadly force threats while under duress. For example, the same defensive movement can defend against a hook punch, an overhand, forward slash, or a hook stab to the throat or head. This training principle is crucial: good defensive tactics training should rely on a few instinctive and adaptable core techniques.

      In krav maga, you will learn a few elementary techniques that you can perform instinctively and apply to a wide variety of situations. You will learn how to protect your vital points and organs. Equally important, you will know how to debilitate an opponent by striking his or her vital anatomy. If the situation requires, krav maga will teach you how to maximize the damage you can inflict by striking, kneeing, kicking, chopping, gouging, choking, dislocating joints, breaking bones, and taking your opponent down to the ground.

      You need not master hundreds of self-defense techniques to become a kravist or competent krav maga fighter capable of defeating an armed attack or threat. Non-violent conflict resolution is always your best solution. In krav maga, we prepare for any type and number of attacks and threats. While there are no set solutions for ending an armed confrontation, there are preferred methods using retzev or “continuous combat motion” to prevail. When defending against weapons, retzev is modified (“modified weapons retzev”) because the nearside arm often controls the attacker’s weapon or weapon arm. Combined with simultaneous defense and attack, retzev is a seamless, decisive, and overwhelming counterattack forming the backbone of the Israeli fighting system. Retzev can be understood using combined upper- and lower-body combatives, locks, chokes, throws, takedowns, and weapons interchangeably without pause.

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      The human body can withstand a high degree of physical punishment. Certain attacks can be lethal, but even when severely injured, the body can perform nearly miraculous feats. Adrenaline is a powerful energizer and allows the body to momentarily insulate itself against pain. The body’s resilience works for both victim and assailant. Note that an assailant under the influence of drugs acquires yet another layer of pain insulation and artificially increased strength.

      Keep in mind, however, that the level of force you use to defend yourself should be commensurate with the threat. Developed as a military fighting discipline, krav maga employs lethal force techniques. When faced with a deadly force encounter, you may, in turn, need to employ lethal counterforce. Forging an awareness of your own personal weapons (hands, forearms, elbows, knees, shins, feet, and head) and an opponent’s vulnerabilities is essential to fight strategy and tactics, especially when he is armed and you are not. As noted, the human body is amazingly resilient, even when subjected

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