Krav Maga: How to Defend Yourself Against Armed Assault

I have to apologise if I seemed overly critical in the last review because I have over 15 years experience in specific anti-gun and anti-knife techniques so when I looked at Krav Maga I didnyt think ywow something that really works!y I thought ymistake, bad foot work, wrong position elbow, what if attacker does this, telegraphed movement, approach from wrong sidey etc..

However after thinking about it, compared to what other books are out there it is quite good. Certainly what I have learnt in my training I have NEVER seen in any book. For me KM was nothing new. It was a good read and interesting and gave me an insight into the psychology and social history behind its development. Maybe I should write a book y seriously, maybe I will.

Kjetil Moland you asked what techniques I advocate against guns, knives and sticks y I recommend techniques similar to Krav Maga y but when I saw the KM techniques I picked them apart, I forget that what I know is not widely practised. I made specific points in my other review. THERE ARE SHORTCOMINGS IN THE TECHNIQUES IN THE KRAV MAGA BOOK. If you canyt pick up on them then you need more experience. Coat your practise knife in paint and see where you get cut. Karate, Taekwondo, Ju Jitsu, Judo, kickboxing, thaiboxing are inferior to KM for real world self defense (although Ju Jitsu should not have been too bad) they all have their own strengths but in all that I have seen of those you mentioned I have never seen adequate real world techniques taught. 4 of those you mentioned are purely sport and the other 2 are a combination of sport / traditions and none of them strictly taught without any pure real-world self defense practise are adequate for the real world y you should know that.

p24 Stab to the Stomach from the Side, Oriental Hold, Forearm defense. Anyone skilled with a knife will immediately twist with the knife and slash the veins along your forearm, retreating and driving the blade down into your throat. Even if the attacker has no knife skills and just lunges at your stomach, you would be lucky if the knife was short enough to not hit you regardless. Either way you have put yourself in the path of the blade. Do you honestly believe that after blocking with your right forearm you are able to then move your right arm and grab the same position on the attackers wrist with your left hand while he stands there not moving? He has a huge knife, any movement he makes with his arm is leveraged with the length of the blade. Slash your forearm, hook it up into your armpit or bicep, not to mention your throat, the knife wielding attacker has the advantage of reach speed and leverage (not to mention the sharp edge) and the KM guy is basically saying ydonyt stab my gut, stab my throat insteady.

You would be far better off initially trapping the arm by deflecting it to your right, leaving you on the outside of the attacker (on his right hand side past his arm) and able to break his arm at the elbow or drive him down.

However after criticising that technique I will say this: what they show IS instinctive, simple, easy to apply even in for example a really crowded place with people all around, easy to learn, and most importantly could well save you especially if the person attacking you is just some ordinary guy with a knife trying to stab you, and not a trained killer (with a cool head, knife skills and a deliberate intent). More likely than not, if you practise these KM skills, then in that situation your trained reflexes will save you and give you the edge over the attacker (the last thing he would expect is a competant counter attack).

Also I would point out that many martial arts, if you had learnt them instead of KM, you would have the reflexes to block the initial stab but you probably would not instinctively grab the knife etc... like KM would teach you. The traditional martial arts generally do not give adequate training for real world events. KM does fill the gap quite a bit. I am sorry if I seemed overly critical before but remember I didnyt look at KM and think ygee I never saw this beforey

If you do not think you can defend yourself against knives, guns, sticks (or grenades y something I hope I never encounter) then you would probably learn a great deal from this book y and then you must practise it a lot as realistically as you can. Get it, get a friend, practise practise practise y experience is the real key. Practise until it is second nature and then practise some more but with chaotic unpredictable opponents (not just rehearsing) (like the reviewer who mentioned going all-out with pads). Tell your partner: "Take this knife and kill me or die."

Dip the practice knife in paint. Use a water pistol with food dye in it. Make no excuses. And donyt go thinking KM is the be all end all just because youyve never seen techniques like these before. Everyone loves to think their martial art is the best and to pretend to themselves that because their technique is superior they will be OK y donyt fall in that trap, practise, learn what is useful and what works.

Good luck and may you never have to use these skills.

I also recommend yBouncers Guide to Barroom Brawlingy - an accurate account of street fighting, however it does not have many illustration or specific techniques like Krav Maga does.


REALISTIC SELF-DEFENSE- ISRAELI STYLE!   September 3, 1999
49 out of 60 found this review helpful

You no longer have to travel to L.A. or the "Big Apple" to get a taste of the increasingly popular self defense and fitness method called Krav Maga. This new book gives you some valuable tips on how to protect yourself on today's mean streets from armed attackers. And its written by the late creator of the system and one of his students- who happens to be the head of one of the major Krav Maga organizations! I liked this book because of its no nonsense approach to personal protection- from safety in training to getting mentally tough. Other books I thought were in the same league are "The Close-Combat Files of Colonel Rex Applegate" by Applegate and Melson; "Krav Maga for Klutzes" by the Personal Shield Foundation; "U.S. Marines Close Combat Manual" from Paladin Press.


Very bad self defense, but interesting   August 8, 2001
Oavde (Australia)
45 out of 77 found this review helpful

Most of the techniques require that your assailant is off balance, over-committed and incredibly stupid, with only one arm no ability to use their legs, head or indeed skill with their chosen weapon, no peripheral vision and often intoxicated with religious zeal. This may be the case in Israel but sadly is not so in other parts of the world.

Now that is one insulting statement I just made so I had better elaborate. I did enjoy this book and it does have some value, I just worry it might be a bit dangerous especially for beginners.

It is quite well written, I did not find the photos difficult to understand like one reviewer here commented. As far as being a book is concerned it is quite well put together and good value. It is the actual techniques that are dodgy.

It really does assume the attacker is over committed, off balance or just plain stupid. Most of the Krav Maga counters are themselves very easy to counter, the Krav Maga guy putting himself in an off-balance, over committed position not to mention exposing himself in the most extreme ways. How does wrestling a gun so it points at your groin sound? No good? Alright, someone stabs at your midsection - lean forward as far as you can and offer them your throat. Provided they are a lunatic stabbing madly in religious fervour, you'll be fine. Although most people will simply stab you in the throat.

Many of the anti-gun and anti-knife moves approach from the open side instead of the blind side, telegraphing the move and prob. will leave you dead. Some of the anti-terrorist moves are likely to leave the poor hostage dead, usually from wrestling the gun so it points at yourself or the hostage.

I do not suggest trying to grab the barrel of a gun to stop it revolving and hence firing a second bullet: the first bullet will prob. kill you (as you've just wrestled the gun to point at a vital part of your body), the flash will burn your hand and many gunners oil their guns making it IMPOSSIBLE to hold it still. I know this from a friend with a burnt hand and a hole in his leg. You're better off jamming your hand in the hammer instead. The grenade tactics are OK but if you mistake a bomb trigger for a grenade, you're history.

Overall it is interesting (if brief) in its coverage of all these weapons such as grenades, machine guns etc... but not effective. In my opinion dangerously inadequate, very bad technique, unfoundered on actual experience. Again, these are insulting statements so I would like to point out that the "real life examples" they use to justify their techniques are garbage stories like "when the grand master was 13 his brother pulled a gun on him and he hit it and it went off and he was unhurt" and stuff like that. NOT real life examples of combat for life and death on the street, just idiots stuffing around and accidents, they neglect to mention that the REASON the gun went off in those examples was BECAUSE they hit it. Just plain stupid. The obvious lack of experience astounds me.

The reason Israel is not known for its martial arts is because they are really really bad. I find it difficult to believe anything in this book would stand up to anyone other than a person standing still for the photo. However I did enjoy reading it - it makes you think about your existing skills, it gives an insight into another M.A culture, it is interesting for any instructors out there with spare time and money to have a look.

But for ~anyone~ who wants to learn serious self defense techniques this is absolutely NOT the book to get, stay away unless you are already experienced and just want an interesting read. I hope I have not offended anyone with this review - if I have then don't get mad at me, get some other skills and compare them for yourself.


Material seems poorly presented   April 21, 2002
Michael Dees (West Linn, Oregon United States)
31 out of 36 found this review helpful

Having studied the 5 part Krav Maga video series,which was excellent, and then comparing that information presented with this book, I was disappointed. This book is supposed to be the only authorized written guide for a fighting system developed over a plus 30 year period. This fighting system is widely respected and adopted by many institutions, yet the book does not address in any significant detail, the basic building blocks upon which the rather advanced techniques which are shown must be based. The book addressed defense against knife, handgun, long gun, multiple bad guys, and hand grenade (I'm not joking). Yet basic stances, blocks, strikes, and training methods are barely discussed. As a manual or reference guide, this book is very poorly written. Purhaps I missed the point and the purpose of the book was not to instruct by rather to foster interest in people with regard to this self defense system by showing its capabilities.


Read the book; TAKE A CLASS   February 3, 2002
rickvid (Seattle, WA USA)
28 out of 32 found this review helpful

The first rule of KM is "Don't get hurt!" What do you do when you see the knife in the fight - 1. RUN! (No macho last-man-standing...) 2. Get a longer weapon. 3. As a last ditch, life or death resort, go hand-to-hand, then RUN! KM will teach you things you can effectively use after your first class going to your car in the parking lot. It does not take years of study, complex choreographed jumping and hand swirling and theatrics. If you can't learn a technique to some degree of usefulness in five or ten minutes, it won't help you in a street attack.

This book is, unfortunately, fairly advanced, being aimed at weapons defense. The basics of punch, kick, elbow, knee are essential to weapons defense. Is KM "nothing new?" Depends on what you mean by "new." Krav Maga was developed for the Israeli Defense Forces with the aim of training large numbers of ordinary citizens (remember, mandatory conscription in Israel) in a very short time to defend themselves successfully. KM is based on boxing, street fighting, grappling and, being an open system, changes its techniques and incorporates from other systems. In my four plus years of KM study in nice safe Seattle, we have changed some of our moves, studied techniques from Ju Jitsu, Capoeira, Safta, Marine Corps CQB, Muay Thai kickboxing, joint manipulation, Tae Kwon Do and other systems. We have instructors come in, occasionally, to show us other systems.

KM is for the ordinary person as well as police and military. An attacker is not likely to be a trained weapons fighter, just a loser out to get cash or valuables. Knife attacks are up as penalties for gun use become more severe. Sometimes, the loser just hurts you for kicks - not much else happening in his miserable little life, maybe.

Is KM worth learning? Yep. The very best in every situation? Often, maybe. The be all and end all? Nope. But it has been very useful for some classmates in tough circumstances. Put this one on your list, read it, then take a class. You will be glad you did.