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!

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.

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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.

The Krav Maga Alliance is proud to announce an Instructor Course at Wingate Institute in Israel.  The course will be held 19-26 September, 2011.

We will also sponsor a Tour of Israel from 12-18 September.

To get more information on both, click on the Instructor Certification page on the Alliance website and choose "Wingate Instructor Certification."

See you there!

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Download Here!