Ebook Sample Content Preview:

HOW TO STRIKE

You obviously hope that you won’t have to get into a physical confrontation with someone. However, self-defense means being prepared to do so if necessary. In this section we’ll discuss some basics about striking.

When it comes to your strike, you need to focus on your stance and target areas. You’ll also want to think about striking with the most effective areas of your body and using your own natural weapons.

For your stance, you’ll begin in a neutral position - especially if you’re still in the verbal de-escalation phase of speaking with someone. You don’t want to appear aggressive. You can have your arms hanging at your side or you can have your hands up with your palms facing outward. This creates a physical boundary that says stay away from me.

A fighting stance is used when a physical confrontation is imminent. You’ll want to put your left leg forward if you’re right handed or your right leg forward if you’re left handed. This provides you with balance and power as you strike.

Your feet need to be a little more than shoulder width apart to help you stay on your feet. Your hands will be raised up and should be about 8 inches from your face. Your hands can be curled, but not in a tight fist.

Square your shoulders toward the possible assailant and tuck your chin.

This stance shows that you’re confident and ready to defend yourself. It also helps you to maintain balance and power if you need to strike.

It’s important to strike areas on your assailant that are soft and will be the most painful. Remember that you want to give yourself an opening to get away. Many people do things such as strike the chest or back - but these areas are protected by bone and not very painful to your attacker.

Instead, choose areas such as the eyes, ears, chin, solar plexus (the area just below the ribs where your diaphragm is), groin, kidney, knee or shin. These areas are sensitive and if you strike well, you’ll have a better chance of disabling your attacker and getting away. If you just think about the parts of your body that are most sensitive it will help you to choose wisely.

When you strike someone else, you want to use parts of your body that are hard and will hurt. The best places to use are:

Knuckles

Palm

Crown of your head

Elbows

Knee

Shin

Bottom of your heel

These are bonier areas of your body that will have more impact when striking against an opponent. You should also think about using some natural tactics against your attacker that can be very painful.

For example, gouging someone’s eyes is going to be very painful for them and debilitating in the moment. It will allow you to get away to safety. Biting is also an option because it’s painful and might give you an opening to get away.

Grabbing and twisting soft tissue areas of the body, especially in the groin area, is also a good tactic for getting quick results. In addition, you can focus on trying to bend and break small joints that cause a lot of pain such as the fingers.

These are some very basic tips for striking. The more training that you get in Krav Maga, the more you’ll learn about specific techniques.

DEFENSE AGAINST AN UNARMED ATTACKER

If you’ve gotten to a point when de-escalation isn’t working or isn’t possible, you need to protect yourself against an attacker. This is where your striking technique will come into play. It’s important that you remember to use all of your personal weapons.

Here are a few tips for improving your defense against an attacker:

Use small hand movements so that you can have more control over your positioning and you can defend against a second attack from the assailant.

Extend your hands a few inches away from your face so that you can defend your face before a punch gets close.

Counter attack in the softest, most painful areas. A knee kick to the groin is often very effective.

If you’re attacked from behind, raise your hands as far backward as you can with your arms at a 90 degree angle. Step away in a diagonal direction to avoid your legs being swept.

If you are put into a headlock position from the side, always work to gouge out the attackers eyes with your higher hand while your other hand should focus on grabbing and twisting in the groin area.

In general, as soon as you feel your attacker has disengaged and is stunned you should get away as quickly as possible.

When you study Krav Maga in more detail you’ll learn many different moves for putting off an unarmed attacker. But sometimes you have to deal with someone who is armed and there is help for that as well.

DEFENSE AGAINST AN ARMED ATTACKER

One of the most frightening things you can imagine is being confronted by someone who is pointing a gun at you. This is obviously a life threatening situation from the start. Krav Maga is a self-defense technique that has the sole purpose of keeping you alive and safe.

In the case of a mugging or robbery, remember that there isn’t anything you own that’s worth your life. In some cases complying with what the person wants will allow your life to be saved.

But even if you comply, you can still end up assaulted, raped, or even killed. It’s important that you have many techniques available to you to prevent this from happening.

Most of the time when someone is using a gun against you, they still get close to you. Generally, gun crimes are committed within five feet of a person.

This draws less attention and increases accuracy.

The main thing that you’ll need to combat in this situation is fear. Often the presence of a life threatening weapon can cause you to freeze. But practicing over and over again with a weapon in a real life scenario can help you to feel confident you know what to do.

It’s important to note that when you practice disarming an armed attacker, you should never use a real handgun. Not even one that’s not loaded. Always use a mock gun made specifically for training.