Intro to Krav

Last weekend I ran my Intro to Krav Maga seminar at Glenfield. I was fortunate enough to have the editor of PhysicalArts attend my seminar. I think all who attended had fun and walked away with a few useful techniques. Those attending got to experience the rawness of the system with its direct striking methods (combatives), its tactical approach and simple self-defence applications.

Martial arts hold many truths and human potential, there are elements of aesthetics, health and mysticism. In its philosophy Krav Maga is free from these conventions, dealing only with practicalities of effective self-defence To put it in a nutshell to describe Krav Maga as anything other than a simple yet holistic system covering many facets of self defence would be to scale it down.

It is interesting to see what New Zealanders make of Krav Maga. Until quite recently there was no system like Krav Maga; some are even taken back that such a direct and violent system is to come from a Jewish culture. However times change; in the information age, art is beginning to merge with life as reality shows flood our televisions. Movie and video game choreography is increasingly becoming more reality-based rather than wooden kung-fu fighting.

My seminar exposed a facet of the martial arts world different from the type of training that emphasises stances, patterns of movements and punching the air to the call of an instructor. It was nice to see experienced traditional stylists try the system and reap the benefits of supplementing their training with Krav Maga. I hope to see Krav Maga establish a bigger presence in both Auckland and New Zealand as I continue running promotional seminars and workshops in the future.