I don't know what's more embarrassing- having mud on your face or having mud on your face because you failed to land a front roll. This morning's Krav class was pretty intense since it was held outdoors at a nice muddy park. Plus it was the last few sessions so instructors want you to step it up. One of the drills was to pick a partner where you then proceed to run after each other. Once you catch up to your partner you give them a push from behind. The idea was to quickly do a front or forward roll once this happens. This means you have to put your arms up and around as you tuck your head while you start to roll towards the ground. As you roll, your hands and forearm should hit the ground first while following through with your shoulders then the side of your body. It sounds easier said than done. It's hard to remember since rolling forward is not what you do all the time. Add the attack scenario and you have adrenaline rushing through your body. This video will give you a better idea of what I'm talking about especially 1:20 in to it:
Now this may come natural to some but I'm not one of those people who would do rolls and flips when they were a kid- and for fun. I hate falling! So when my partner caught up to me and gave me a shove. Boy was I not ready. I ended with half of my face kissing the muddy ground. I turned around to my partner (chunky white guy) and I knew as soon as I looked at him I had mud smeared on half of my face. He did not even try to hide his laugh.
I admit, I've missed some sessions over Thanksgiving and some Sunday morning ones which always cover the groundwork. So yes, I was rusty on the front roll. I eventually got it together in time for the obstacle bonanza the instructors had in store for us. We essentially had to run through the park, climb up a kiddie slide and scale a low wall, front roll and bear crawl while defending ourselves from chokes, punches, headlocks and unleashing our "lethal" elbow/heel strikes, punches, kicks and knee throws throughout the course. Not to mention my all favorite forefinger on attacker's nose to release a side headlock move. *cringe* There's just something about possibly touching a strangers mucus that disturbs me during a non real attack session. But seriously it is very effective when done right. I've brought some large men down to the ground with this finger technique (in Krav class all are encouraged to make an effort to simulate an attack). This video shows you how to do this:
It's hard work but it's also a good time. In Krav Maga there are two rules: 1) There are no rules 2) Use your aggression and effort to defend yourself. Here's a really good video from the History channel's Human Weapon series which features Krav Maga (the rest is on Youtube):
Sorry, I know it's cut off but there were no options for a smaller frame so just watch it on YouTube.
Sunday morning roll around the mud and grass...ah breakfast of champions
Next New Project (NNP): Krav Maga
NNP is back!
Krav Maga is the Israeli hand-to-hand combat system that involves wrestling, grappling and striking techniques (very brutal counter attacks). It's heavily influenced by street fighting with an emphasis on threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers, and aggression. The Israeli military isn't the only using Krav...it's so effective that various American law enforcement and intelligence organizations have adopted it. If you've ever seen Liam Neeson's movie Taken, a lot of the fight scenes use moves from Krav Maga.
For ordinary folks like us, Krav Maga can be most useful for self-defense. I'm into my 3rd week of training and so far I really like the practical and applicable approach of this technique. Being a single female I'm pretty vulnerable to a lot of possible hostile situations especially when I travel. One of the things that Krav can teach me is how to handle myself during a life threatening situation. The objective here is not to win the fight but to fight to gain enough time to run somewhere safe or to get help.
I used to take Karate when I was a teenager and eventually became a brown belt. It gave me a lot of strength and flexibility but I don't think I'd ever be able to use it to fend off an attacker. I think it didn't really lend a lot of the mental conditioning that Krav has. For example, drills consist of partnering up with different people (women and men some very big) to simulate choke holds, fending off attacks from the ground and running erratically around a crowded small room like you were being chased while trying to avoid from being grabbed.
Again I'm only on my 3rd week so I am looking forward to what fundamental techniques I can learn from Krav. More to come...
