Is Krav Maga As Useless As Aikido?

Many people claim that Krav Maga is the greatest form of self defense, yet under close analysis and contact with former instructor I started to suspect something else.

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Welcome to the Martial Arts Journey YouTube channel!

My name is Rokas. I'm a Lithuanian guy who trained Aikido for 14 years, 7 of them running a professional Aikido Dojo until eventually I realized that Aikido does not live up to what it promises.

Lead by this realization I decided to make a daring step to close my Aikido Dojo and move to Portland, Oregon for six months to start training MMA at the famous Straight Blast Gym Headquarters under head coach Matt Thornton.

After six months intensive training I had my first amateur MMA fight after which I moved back to Lithuania. During all of this time I am documenting my experience through my YouTube channel called "Martial Arts Journey".

Now I am slowly setting up plans to continue training MMA under quality guidance and getting ready for my next MMA fight as I further document and share my journey and discoveries.

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[gxtmfa]

My BJJ instructor also taught Krav in the past. He always said the biggest issue with Krav is quality control.

[WrathOfPhropet]

When I did Krav Maga in Amsterdam, the instructors encourage us to pressure test, to go from no resistance through light resistance to stubborn refusal, even with chokes. My most hated kind of drill was training with resistance mixed with cardio so you didn't have a lot of energy to think. We also had many drills for technical striking and some light sparring, so I think that the gym was one of the better ones.

But what stuck with me the most was that the instructors always had us end the technique by scanning the room and darting towards the nearest exit, which is a habit that no combat sport teaches. I have since changed for boxing but I still feel like my gym wasn't teaching just feel-good bullshit.

[naginataisrael]

Yeah, ok. So, I am a former IDF soldier. I served in 2003-2006 in the recon battalion of the 35th paratrooper brigade. In my unit, we had a lot of krav maga. Like 2-3 times a week usually, and 2 weeks of non stop 6-8 hour practices. What we learned is nowhere near similar to those youtube videos you mentioned, and I would like to elaborate: Krav Maga, unlike aikido, is not a unified system. In the IDF, there are no krav maga ranks, no krav maga belts, and the curricilum is constantly updated and researched - because that's the only way to keep it effective. My unit specialized in close quarters warfare and night arrests of armed terrorists - and our trainings were designed to keep us alive in these situations. How did the trainings go: About 10% of the trainings were technical. Like how to grab, how to punch, how to kick and maybe one basic bjj like arm lock which can be performed on the ground as well as standing. 20% were sparring. Always on full protective gear and almost always 2, 3, 4 against 1. No one cared about points or scores. The only goal was to keep standing after a bunch of guys is hitting you for 5 minutes. and the other 70% was about absorbing hits and strikes. We were constantly kicked and punched, left to stand on our knuckles for 15-20 minutes, ran trough a line of soldiers who tried to keep us from running etc. The amount of injuries was quite severe, though no one got seriously hurt. But the goal of such training was to train us fight in unfair conditions against multiple opponents, or after getting stabbed, hit with a stick or shot. This was extremely effective, as after several months we became quite indifferent towards all kinds of physical punishment. This type of KM was designed specifically for units with my type of speciality. The rest of the army didn't practice it, because they didn't need it. The police in Israel also practices KM, which has a completely different curricilum. And it's units also have different specialities. All that being said - there is NO way that anything even close to that stuff can be practiced outside of the army. There is no insurence that will cover it, and the risk of injuries is too high. So I don't know what the guys in the movies did - but it's not *my* krav maga. And I don't mind, really. People do what they feel like doing. Oh yeah, and one last thing: When we first started KM in the army, our trainer told us something like: "When you meet an enemy in combat you shoot him. If you ran out of bullets you call your buddies to shoot him. If you are alone you use a chair, rock, helmet or anything else you have lying around. If you don't have any of these you grab your opponents weapon and use it against him. And only if both you and your opponent came to combat completely naked like idiots with nothing to use as weapons - only then you use Krav Maga techniques". That sentance kinda put all of our trainings in proper proportions.

[m.a.central]

I was a karate student and then an instructor for about 22 years. I knew nothing when I started. About ten years into it, I began to see a huge disconnect between techniques we were taught for self defense and the sparring we did. When it came to kata, the disconnect was ever greater. It took me a long time to realize the problem (slow learner). I finally left and pursued more realistic martial arts. The problems I experienced with karate are to be found in many styles and schools, I think.

Part of the issue is trying to balance realistic techniques with realistic sparring, and part of it is that when many techniques are pressure tested, they just don't work. Too much realism or no rules in sparring leads to terrible injuries on a regular basis, which chases away students; techniques that work great on a willing partner often fail miserably when someone resists. So where is the middle ground?

At age 66 with a body full of joint injuries, it's too late in life for me to take up judo, but I think that it is a martial art that has found that balance. Judo randori is rough stuff and realistic, but they train so that they can take falls and not smash people. They thus can go very, very hard. Every judoka adapts techniques to his/her own body, and his/her own strengths and weaknesses. Judo has hundreds of wonderful techniques don't work for everyone, but often work for someone. My best friend (who passed away four years ago) was a shodan in judo. Because of the nature of his job, he was attacked several times on the street. Each time, he used judo to effectively subdue each attacker, and did so without injuring the assailants (except in one instance when he got carried away with anger). That, to me, is the proof of the efficacy of a fighting style.

[frogman]

I would be curious to see you do a similar deep dive into systema

[murilocaruy]

0:21 it's literally written Aikido on the wall of that school

[MW-ddvk]

Krav is great if you don’t train like idiots and practice techniques under pressure testing whilst incorporating sparring

[gekonz]

I dunno. As a person who had 5+ years of expereince of Krav MagaI can tell you just train it for one or two situations that will happen through your entire life.
There are three golden rules of Krav Maga
1. Avoid dangerous situations
2. When a dangerous situation happens - try to stay away of it as much as you can
3. When you cannot escape - do your best to defend yourself

I've experienced some situations in my life when I had to implement what I've learned from Krav Maga. For example when a drunken guy tried to grip on my wrist, I used a specifically Krav Maga technique of how to get out of such grip. Despite him putting resistance on me I got out of it with ease. So in my opinion it works. But only in a specific situations. It's more like a tool that you learn how to use in a few specific situations in your life rather than treating it like a sport which most of the martial arts are

[thiagoribeiro]

Eli Avikzar, the first black belt student of Imi Lichtenfeld, went to France in 1968 to study Aikido. And in 1974 with the retirement of Imi, Eli Avikzar took control of the Krav Maga center in Netanya.
There is why you can find similarities between Krav-Magá and Aikido.
But we also have to remember that "Krav-Magá" became a brand; a brand that any idiot can put on his wall.
The secret is to research the credentials of your instructor and remember that the Krav-Magá masters in Israel forbid on-line classes.

[eabatica]

This problem exists in a lot of martial arts schools. I taught Taekwondo for the better part pf 15 years and I would always see the same issue amongst my peer teachers, they would teach technique but not focus on stress testing. As anyone with any level of combat sports background knows, thats a recipe for failure because there are too many unknown variables in a self defense or combat situation. Pressure testing is key. And like you said, use your brain before committing to any program. 9 times out of 10 it isnt the art but the instructor and their lack of knowledge or experience.

[russelltimmerman]

I think the biggest problem is that Krav has lost control of it's credentialing.

[jitsroller]

After taking Karate for 10 years and boxed for a couple years I wanted to find grappling but at that time there was no grappling so I found Krav. The school I went was no good. If most schools are like that I wouldn't recommend it.

[haydennarine]

I've been training in Krav for over 10 years. From what I've learned, there are many "McDojo" Krav schools in the world. Everybody and their mother can open a Krav gym and get a certificate to be an instructor. Luckily, my school isn't like this at all. There are two parts of Krav: The self-defence techniques, and actual fighting (sparring or rolling).

Nine times out of 10, these videos on youtube only demonstrate the cool slick techniques that look like an action movie. But in intense training, it looks messy, but it's effective. Our instructors will tell us that if someone holds a knife to you and they want your money, just give them your wallet, it's not worth your life. But if you have no other choice, defend yourself. But understand that you will get slashed up even if you perform a knife defence. As long as you get out alive, that's all that matters. In sparring, we incorporate techniques from Thai boxing, boxing and kickboxing. We also incorporate many Judo, wrestling and BJJ techniques for grappling. And as martial arts evolve, the Krav curriculum does as well.

Also the other problem with Krav is that most people who train in Krav, are the "everyday Joes and Janes." In every school there's probably 10% of students who perform at a high level. Whereas at an MMA, Thai boxing, BJJ, boxing gym, etc. you'll find amateur to pro-level students. And who you train with makes a significant difference on your development.

[keepmoving]

"Keep owning your journey", what a great motto! Thanks!

[rudai]

In my Krav Maga association, we do train under pressure. Not sparring. It is called a "blitz". At the end of a class, each student is attacked by multiple attackers to test techniques. You find out what works and what doesn't work, very quickly.

[gianandreagiacoma]

The equation is simple. When there is 80% semi-conditioned and free sparring and 20% conditioned sparring we are approaching realistic training. When 80% is conditioned sparring focused on technique, with pre-established moves it is not only unrealistic but creates dysfunctional conditioning to the real fight.

[GatodeUlthar]

Maybe you can fight them like Xu Xiaudong, After you can make a movie about your Life, like Cobrakai

[claesandersson]

this is so true.
myself being a former krav maga instructor. when you spare it looks like bad kickboxing.
ofc there are good krav gyms. But it's a very watered down martial art.

[northlord]

Main difference between Aikido and Krav Maga is that quality of Krav teached in diffident schools varies greatly. There are great teachers, for example former special unit operators or some bullshito experts. In Aikido every school teaches more or less the same art.

[karatematt]

Been a martial artists since I was in elementary school and I've had a long journey, with lots of ups and down and serious injuries. After about 8 years of just barely practicing any form of martial art, I'm steadily getting back into it and I've found your channel informative and fresh. Also inspiring!