krav maga?

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kejw08
kejw08 Posts: 61 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone do it? Is it good exercise? I have been considering it for a while hoping it will be beneficially for both self dense and exercise...

Any thoughts?

Replies

  • alyssa0061
    alyssa0061 Posts: 652 Member
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    All I can think about is that episode of The League...
  • senoranderpants
    senoranderpants Posts: 1 Member
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    It's decent exercise, but pretty physically intense in the sense that you get kicked in the chest a lot. There's a bit more of a philosophy of "you need to feel the pain" than karate or jiu-jitsu.

    Lots of punching drills, which is good for back/arm/shoulder strength, and it definitely keeps you moving. In terms of pure cardio, kickboxing is probably the best bet, but krav maga is way more fun, and definitely one of the best practical systems for self defence.
  • shellyld2016
    shellyld2016 Posts: 288 Member
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    My son is an instructor in Joplin and would tell you it's a great workout! He loves it!
  • ohpiper
    ohpiper Posts: 729 Member
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    Depending on the drill, Krav can be a great workout. Of greater benefit, though, are the skills you learn. As someone mentioned, it is VERY practically oriented and teaches skills that could potentially save your life. Part of the philosophy is to tire you out physically at the beginning so that you experience something similar to the adrenaline dump you would experience in a moment of panic as when faced by an attacker. We work on scenarios such as dealing with multiple attackers, since they do not fight fair. In a given class, you might work on basic combatives, such as different types of strikes, such as elbows, straight punches, upper cuts and such. You also work on how to defend against knife attacks (assuming you can't just run away from the situation to begin with) and the myriad of ways someone could attack you with one. You also learn to defend yourself in situations where someone has other weapons such as a pistol to you. In today's world, I could not recommend this more strongly.
  • frontjab
    frontjab Posts: 12 Member
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    I agree with the comments above regarding a great workout, practical real-world defense, and learning something very valuable while exercising.

    The only thing I would add is that you should thoroughly research the Krav gym. When Krav is taught in proper form and intensity, it is fantastic. However, based on what I've read and a little personal experience, there is a big variability in the quality of Krav gyms (probably true of most BJJ, etc. places also). You definitely want well qualified instructors that know and correct form and introduce the correct intensity. A good place to start is to see if the gym is an officially recognized KMW affiliate: https://www.kravmaga.com/locations/united-states/

    Not to say that's necessarily the end all, but if it's not licensed, then due diligence on instructors, reviews, etc. is in order.

    As great as Krav is, if it's poorly or sloppily taught, it likely will fail you when needed and probably isn't as intense and valuable as it should be.

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