iKRAVMAGA
Excellence. Empowerment. security.
איך לבחור חוג אומנות לחימה או הגנה עצמית?
Before you sign your child up for a Krav Maga class, or any other martial art or self defence class, it’s important to take a moment and understand what each martial art is so that you will make the choice that is best for you and your child.
There is a wide variety of martial arts classes available today, such as: Judo, Karate, Brazilian jiujitsu, MMA, Thai boxing, Wrestling, Boxing/ Kick boxing, Taekwondo, Kung-fu, Capooeira and Krav Maga. There are no good or bad martial arts and each discipline has its own advantages. Should you find that you are a better fit for something other than Krav Maga, we would be happy to recommend highly reputable schools and teachers in the area.
At our school, and with our encouragement, we have many students who study both Krav Maga and another marital art simultaneously. Ultimately, each student and parent must make the best choice to match their needs.
To understand your or your child’s needs and make an educated choice, it is recommended to understand the differences between competitive and non-competitive martial arts, between traditional and progressive martial arts and so on and so forth.
מה ההבדל בין אומנות לחימה תחרותית ללא תחרותית?
It is possible to divide martial arts into competitive and non-competitive and that will shed light on the curriculum, teaching method, atmosphere and the objective of the classes.
In competitive marital arts, the classes will have a focus on the competition and how to win it. For instance, in Judo, Brazilian jujitsu and MMA the students will practice against one another every class and exercises scenarios that can occur within a competition. It is important to note that such exercises are not fit for a street fight or real-time self defence, as they are governed by rules and do not cover things like defence against hand strikes, knife and stick attacks and gun threats. Naturally, the rules are an integral part of every competition and they serve to protect the competitors as well as ensure the competition is fair and unbiased—violence in reality is not as kind and the things taught in competitive martial arts are not suitable for real situations.
For instance, in Karate and Taekwondo competitions, all punches are aimed at the body alone and the competitors do not learn how to protect their faces and heads. Bottom line: competitive martial arts are specialised for the competition only, but what they are taught is not suitable as self defence.
Another factor that needs to be looked at is the atmosphere during classes. A new student in a competitive marital art must take into account that the atmosphere itself will be competitive and that not all students in the group would be considered equal, especially among children. Since martial arts are not team competitions and the advancement of every competitor is individual, there may develop a situation of “winners” and “losers”.
We are often asked why Krav Maga is not competitive. We have illustrated the answer through what a competitive martial art actually means, but there are two additional reasons beyond the fact that real violence and assault doesn’t follow rules: The first reason is that we are opposed to any and all violence and will never endorse celebration when one of our students has been defeated. The second reason is the atmosphere and our goal. We strive to teach all our students how to defend themselves and thus, whether they’re a beginner or more advanced, we do not focus our attention and resources on “champions”, but value every students’ progress equally.
מה ההבדל בין אומנות לחימה מסורתית לאומנות לחימה מתחדשת?
What is the difference between traditional martial arts and progressive marital arts?
Traditional martial arts strive to recreate the movements of masterful martial artists of the past. It is a very revered, aesthetic and even spiritual process that poses its own challenges and, as a form of expression, can be seen as almost artistic. Like the Kata in Karate, which is a very precise sequence of movements that have, in some cases, been maintained for hundreds of years and often are meant to signify an idea or image.
While these martial arts are doubtlessly beautiful and teach those who practice them to have full control over their motions, what they do not teach is self defence.
Other traditional martial arts, like jujitsu, which originally taught warfare and self-defence to samurai in feudal Japan, took into account their armour, physical strength and weapons. Unfortunately, it does not offer an adequate or even realistic response in a modern setting, void of chivalry and for people with average conditioning and strength.
In progressive martial arts, such as Krav Maga, there is a constant search for the correct and most efficient motion that will ensure one’s defence. While in the beginning of its development Krav Maga had borrowed from traditional martial arts, many of these early drills were abandoned when newer, more effective moves were developed.
שורה תחתונה...אז מה לבחור?
Bottom line… What to choose?
It your child wishes to compete and become a champion then the best choices for them would be competitive marital arts such as judo, karate, taekwondo, boxing, Thai boxing and Brazilian jiujitsu. Beware of schools that claim to teach a combined method. In most cases such schools do not specialise in any marital art and won’t help you child progress.
If your child wishes to learn something with traditional value, then karate and capoeira would be the suitable choice for them.
But if the objective is to learn self defence, then the most tried and tested and effective method is Krav Maga.
האם ניתן להסביר בכמה מילים מה זה קרב מגע?
Krav Maga is the leading self-defence method worldwide and the chosen method taught in special forces and elite military units around the globe. In I-KRAVMAGA we teach over 350 self-defence drills against all possible scenarios of violence, including hand and legs attacks, choke holds, knife and stick attacks and gun threats. The civilian Krav Maga was developed by holocaust survivor Imi Lichtenfield. All Krav Maga could be traced back to him.
כיצד לבחור בית ספר לקרב מגע?
How to choose a school for Krav Maga?
Sadly, due to its popularity all over the world, there are a lot of people who claim to teach Krav Maga, but are not trained instructors and know very little Krav Maga. Someone who was a Krav Maga instructor in military service is not a self-defence specialist and not a certified Krav Maga instructor. In the military most of the Krav Maga drills consist of using your firearm as a blunt weapon when it is jammed or faulty and fails to shoot.
Luckily, there are a few things that could help you tell apart real Krav Maga from charlatans.
It is important to choose a school whose chief instructor could be traced back to the creator of Krav Maga, Imi Lichtenfield. For Instance, Aviad Segal, founder of I-KRAVMAGA was a student of Eli Avigzar, who was Imi Lichtenfield’s leading student. Second, choose a school that belongs to a known Krav Maga organisation. Additionally, make sure that the school follows an organised syllabus and that each age group and gender has a specialised programme for them—you want to be taught the self defence that is most suitable for you. Finally, it is vital to attend a try-out lesson to see whether you’re able to connect with the instructor and the atmosphere of the school. Leaning self defence should be an empowering experience.
