We just love this picture!

Comment received from the Dallas certification

"John

I wanted to thank you again for the training this past weekend in Dallas. Your reputation as a master technician, passionate and definitive Krav Maga Instructor and badass in general was evidenced by this weekend’s training of 34 instructor candidates. I am grateful to have been among them and to have had the benefit of your experience/knowledge for three days.

I walked out of my first Krav Maga introduction 3 years ago saying, “I want this for myself.” I walked out of the small school in Dallas on Sunday (expletives about how sore I was deleted) feeling proud and believe I can and will represent the Krav Maga Alliance brand of Krav Maga well. I like what you are doing. I like the direction you are going with Krav Maga and I think it resonates with many others as well.

In the fall, Jett Garner and I, via a partnership with Jeff Levine/Fit and Fearless, will expand the brand into the Westlake area of Austin, Texas with a new retail location. We are currently operating out of a negotiated space (and we are grateful to our neighbors for their generosity) but despite adding classes, will soon outgrow our current footprint. I am looking forward to further training, becoming more involved as an affiliate with Krav Maga Alliance and growing in the system.

Thanks again, John, for everything. I take this training very seriously and I appreciate what you have built and continue to expand upon. If I can ever assist in any way, please let me know.

Regards,

Greg Shindler"

Thanks, Greg!  We are glad you found the cert to be worthwhile. You did great!

If you are reading this article, you are probably an instructor, which means you've heard a number of discussions about the importance of stages in teaching.  The essential idea is to break a lesson up into logical, manageable sections that build the students' understanding of the technique.  Other articles cover the basic approach to this structure, so I won't bore you with a detailed description here.

I do want to talk about (and correct) a specific trend I've seen recently.  After instructors run students through the dry work in stages, the students partner up and usually do the same stages together. So far, so good.

But the training method I object to is this: I don't agree with the method in which one student attacks the other, and the defender must wait for the instructor's command to defend.  I don't like this rigid format in general, and I strongly disagree with it for self defense techniques.

Let's take Choke From the Front from Level 1 as an example. Using the above teaching method, all the attackers puts their hands on all the defender's throats. The defenders must then wait for the instructor's command to defend, then counter, etc.

I strongly disagree with this teaching methodology, for the following reasons.

First, it delays the defender's reactions.  We emphasize immediate and aggressive reactions to violent contact. To have the defender wait, with hands on her throat, for the instructor to say "go," makes no sense.

Second, it occupies the instructor's attention.  Using this structure, you have a room full of people waiting for your command. What happens if you want to talk to an individual student? Either you have to delay that individual comment, or make all the other students wait.

Third, it makes training more rigid, reduces class energy, and slows down the pace. We have been very successful with a free, less-formal style of training.

I would consider a more successful training set up to be this:  after teaching the lesson and going through stages "dry," then put the students together. Specify the portion of technique you want them to execute, regulate the speed and power, and then let them work. This frees you up to walk around and help individuals.

I'm not sure why this is creeping into some of the mock teaching sessions I have watched. However, I think you'll find that if you relax the structure about, the students will have more opportunities for repetition, and you will have more time for individual corrections.

Huge group, great energy, great effort!

Here's a new group of Yellow Belts from Chester County (Philadelphia).  Great work, guys!

Registration is open! Don't miss the best weekend of hand-to-hand combat, live fire training, and simunition stress drills that you'll ever experience. This year, we have special guest Nir Maman, Israeli counter terrorist operator and instructor!

To register, click here.

Download Here!

Hi all!

I just wanted you to know that a new version of the Krav Maga Touch app is out. This update includes a curriculum checklist so that Krav Maga practitioners can track each time they see a technique for each level.

For schools that are part of the KM Alliance, the curriculum is keyed to the monthly checklists and the book Complete Krav Maga.

This update should be available to all current owners of the app. We hope you enjoy! The Android™ version is also now available through the Android™ Market.

For Warriors, By Warriors

Training and Certification for Today’s Armed Professional

When John Whitman approached me about becoming the Director of KMA Force, I have to admit, I wasn’t keen on it. Besides the fact that I wasn’t even part of the Alliance, I was fairly busy with my full time job as a Los Angeles Police Officer and my duties as the Lead Instructor for Simi Valley Krav Maga as well as Vindico Training Group. It wasn’t the bright flash of enlightenment that brought me around; it was the gradual realization that even though we weren’t part of the same organization, our approaches and our training concepts were just about identical. Together, the Alliance has the opportunity to transform the way Krav Maga’s life saving skills are delivered to the people who need them most: those that are sworn to defend us.

It begins with you, the Affiliate… We are embarking on a rigorous program of Civilian Law Enforcement and Military Certification that will enable you to confidently establish a Law Enforcement or Military program of your own. Would you like to approach your local agency about conducting seminars or classes? Good! We encourage it! After successfully completing our Civilian LEO/MIL Certifications, we are confident that not only will you be prepared to train today’s Peacekeepers and Warfighters; you’ll do a damn fine job of it. John and I don’t have the time nor do we have the inclination to conduct all of the Force training. We will give you the tools to do it and then get out of your way. We want you to grow the system the way it was meant to be grown -- locally.

Several Affiliates have contacted me about KMA Force certifying some of their students that happen to be full time LEO/MIL. That course is now a reality and will be scheduled shortly. This will allow Affiliates to build their own KMA Force training cadre in order to expand their role in local Police and Military training. We will also continue to expand our program of agency instructor and operator certification, although our main focus is on you, the Affiliate.

Also, expect to see several other Certifications opening up soon. I am in the final stages of developing a Stress Based Firearms Instructor course that will allow you to provide a safe, realistic firearms training program for your own students. We teach them to take the firearm during the defense: it’s about time we taught them what they hell to do with it! There are also several other courses that are being developed to help you expand your business and to keep the training we provide at the cutting edge.

In order to ensure that the training and certification programs remain forward-thinking and relevant, we have instituted very strict guidelines for our “train the trainer” cadre. Every member of the KMA Force Mentor Instructor Cadre was handpicked by me and vetted by John. All are full time, Sworn LEO or Military. There are no exceptions to this rule. In addition, all hold the rank of at least Brown Belt in Krav Maga. Furthermore, all must have a significant amount of relevant field assignments, to include SWAT, Counter Terrorism, or high risk warrant service. Military members must have actual, verifiable Combat action.  Finally, all are Agency and POST certified instructors in related fields, including Arrest and Control, Firearms, and Tactics.  There are many “Krav Maga Force Trainers” that went through a week of training and got a shirt. These are not the people you’ll be learning from; you deserve better than that. At KMA Force we are dedicated to providing you with the tools to ensure the mission success of today’s warrior. From the Cop on the beat to the forward deployed Soldiers and Marines, we intend to live by our motto, “For Warriors, by Warriors”.