Since I started training in Krav Maga a few years ago, I find myself engaging in a fun and educational activity. While watching fights break out on TV or in the movies I’d be thinking about what a particular character did well or maybe what they should/could have done differently for potentially a better outcome. I am thinking in terms of avoiding the conflict, defusing the conflict, or — when it’s too late and it’s going down — what they should have done to end the fight. It’s an interesting way to spark a discussion about Krav Maga and self-defense in general. And heck, these days, violence being so prevalent in our media, there are so many opportunities to do so. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Video’ Category
Applying Self-Defense Thinking to Shows and Movies
Posted: March 23, 2015 in Attitude, Hollywood-lesson, Video0
This is a really interesting video by Tony Robbins about setting goals (it’s a playlist of 35 minutes but very much worth it). He released it a few years ago around New Years as a motivational message to help people keep their resolutions but it’s just as relevant throughout the rest of the year. One of the more compelling messages in it for me was that, in order for you to make lasting change you have to “raise your standard”.
Whether or not you are a fan of motivational speakers, if you have the chance to do so, I challenge you to give this a chance, sit back and take it in. There is a lot of food for thought in here that I think can help us all get to the next level in our training goals.
When thinking about intensity of training, it occurred to me lately that we don’t always train at the level we think we are. Sure, we’ve all been told time and time again that intensity trumps technique — it’s the more vicious dog in the fight that wins (even if it’s a little dog); that the enraged football player will thump the calm martial artist standing Zen-like before them; that cops would sooner face off with a black belt who’s posing in a crane stance in front of him, ready to defend, than an angry, deranged, and drugged out lunatic who’s screaming and flying towards him like a nuclear powered chainsaw — like those lightning-fast zombies from that movie 28 Weeks Later…
And yet.
As students we so often fall into an exhausted “good enough” frame of mind. I sometimes glance sideways during drills to guage how intense our class is. Some are brutally intense, almost psychotic. Others are going through the motions. Many are in between these two ends of the spectrum. Many start at the intense end and as they get progressively more tired and fatigued slide towards the other end. In fact, I bet that to some extent we all do that. (more…)
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
Lance Armstrong
This is a pretty interesting Krav Maga demo; I thought I’d include it here. There aren’t too many decent Krav Maga videos out there so when I find one halfway decent I can’t help but to share.
This is an amazing talk by an incredible human being, John Wooden, famous basketball coach legend at UCLA. There are so many lessons in this talk and the majority of them apply directly to martial arts training. I pulled a lot of wisdom from this 17 minute talk. Hope you can too.
For reference, here is the pyramid that is held up in the talk. It’s useful to print out and keep handy. Again, it’s surprising how many principles outlined on Mr. Wooden’s pyramid tie directly to work ethic in the dojo.
I wanted to share a fantastic demo that was filmed at the 2010 USMAF. It features the amazing Sensei Roy Elghanayan who is representing the Krav Maga style. Sensei Elghanayan is the awe-inspiring and deadly Krav Maga instructor you probably have seen on the Internet in a wildly popular video, throwing people around like rag dolls to a pretty annoying soundtrack (hint, turn your speakers down).
I liked this video below even more as it was much better footage but also showed the techniques more clearly and from multiple angles.
Thanks for the link, @kravlady!
As with all new White Belts, I wonder what my first belt test is going to be like. There are some decent videos on YouTube but since Krav Maga belt systems vary a bit from school to school, the tests shown in the videos vary a bit from one to the next as well.
Below is one that I watch from time to time to see what techniques I’ve learned and some I haven’t yet. Apparently the test for his group took 4 hours to complete. I am assuming that’s everyone in the whole class taking turns getting tested with various aspects since the Black Belt test is supposed to take 8 hours.
Krav Maga Journey 