Latest Black Belt Article - Commando Krav Maga

More documents

Recommendations

Info

1 2 3 4 5 The Seven-Minute Myth Is seven minutes a short time or an arduously long time? One week ago, I would have said that it’s not very long at all. You can soft-boil an egg or prepare a pot of coffee in about fi ve minutes. So in the grand scheme of things, seven minutes seemed relatively quick. Or so I thought. Last week, I found out that even in the same day, seven minutes can be blink-your-eyes quick or as long as a root-canal treatment. To understand what I mean, indulge me while I go back in history a few months. First, a little about me: I’m a 51-year-old fi nancial-services executive with a black belt in karate and experience in kung fu and kickboxing. I try to stay in shape but still manage to enjoy a full life with family and work. In the early spring, I was looking for a martial arts retreat I could attend to get a workout and learn some new skills. I did some research and came across the Web site for Commando Krav Maga. CKM is a reality-based self-defense and survival system that was developed for the Israeli military. The founder and chief instructor is Moni Aizik, a former Israeli soldier and special-forces operative. He’s perhaps the scariest and toughest man I’ve ever met. Anyway, CKM offers a weeklong boot camp for men and women who wish to learn practical survival strategies for personal gain or so they can instruct others. I was interested in both, so I applied. One of the prerequisites was a telephone interview with Aizik. I was a little surprised and impressed when he called me from a training session he was conducting in London. He grilled me on my martial arts background, teaching experience, health and lifestyle before fi nally telling me that I could register. A month before the course began, I sent an e-mail to Linda, the organizational wizard behind CKM, and asked if lunch was provided. She wrote that students are encouraged to bring “several light snacks, lots of water and several T-shirts.” There was, she said, no scheduled lunch, just a seven-minute break once an hour throughout the day. Was she kidding? As it turned out, she wasn’t kidding. She was exaggerating. On the fi rst day, I met my fellow attendees, a group of guys with varied martial arts backgrounds. We were introduced to the assistant instructors, and then Aizik arrived. After a few minutes, they set us to work. And work we did—nonstop drilling in tactics Aizik developed to enable us to prevail against punches, chokes, kicks, knives and guns. After a couple of hours, it occurred to me that he’d forgotten to give us a break. Many of the guys just brought their water bottles into the dojo. Nobody wanted to be the one to ask him if we could stop for a moment. The fi rst seven-minute break came after four and a half hours of training. Apparently, that was intended to be lunch, as well. It turned out to be the only break we got the fi rst day. I went home as stiff and sore as I’d ever been, but I was exhilarated by what I’d done. The second day was another endurance fest. Aizik allowed us three breaks—for seven minutes, fi ve minutes and two minutes. The day ended with some more pain, way more skill and one less student—one of our comrades decided he couldn’t fi nish the week. I can’t even remember the third day, although my notes tell me that we had two sevenminute breaks. That was also the fi rst day I didn’t have to soak in Epsom salts when the fun was done. My confi dence in the learning was growing. One of the instructors told us that Aizik had been going lighter than usual on the fi tness training and that we could expect him to make it up the next day. He did. At this point, it probably makes sense to talk about the types of training involved. The fi rst is skills training: learning defl ects, disarms, stances and takedowns and practicing them over and over with a partner. The second is surprise attacks: You work with two or three partners who test your skills by trying to kill you in real time. As soon as you dispatch the fi rst one, the second is on you immediately, delivering a punch, kick, knife thrust, choke, head lock or gun attack. The third is fi tness training: push-ups, burpees, squats, wind sprints and so on. Breakfalls are an important part of CKM because you never know when you might be knocked down, so attendees spend a lot of time falling. The last day was for grading. We worked out for a couple of hours, then were invited to have a two-minute drink break before getting called up to prove ourselves. The fi rst part of the grading was demonstrating, with an uke, every single tactic we’d learned. Then came the real fun—fi ghting off three attackers, nonstop, in real time, for seven minutes. Each minute felt like three as we were repeatedly stabbed at, knocked down, held up by a gun, punched and kicked until, mercifully, Aizik yelled, “Time!” Here’s what I learned about seven minutes: • Hourly seven-minute breaks don’t happen every hour. • Seven minutes is a very short time when you’re eating, drinking or resting. • Seven minutes is an eternity when you’re being continuously attacked and have to defend yourself. Having said that, let me also say that Commando Krav Maga really works and that the fi rst students I intend to take in as a level-two instructor will be my own family. In the meantime, I need to start training again—the level-three course is only a year away. —M. Lyon SEPTEMBER 2009 / www.blackbeltmag.com BLACK BELT 97
1 2 3 ANTI-GUN: The criminal approaches Moni Aizik and places the muzzle of his weapon in the small of Aizik’s back (1). As soon as he detects the position of the gun, Aizik spins clockwise and uses his right forearm to point the barrel away from his torso (2). Circling his right hand up and around the gunman’s arms, Aizik traps the weapon (3). He grabs the slide with his left hand (4), leverages the fi rearm out of his grip and fi nishes with a palm strike to the face (5). Afterward, he steps backward in case he has to shoot. uncooperative partner. • Some of CKM’s best choke defenses are aggressive counterstrikes. One is called the “wave strike”—you forcefully deliver your palm to your opponent’s nose, then rake downward to take out his eyes. • Other effective counterstrikes include groin and throat shots, grabbing the Adam’s apple and biting. Just about any sensitive part of the human body can be targeted. • In some systems, the focus is on outfi ghting your opponent by being a better striker or a better grappler. You learn to use your hands and feet as weapons to punish the other guy until the referee intervenes. On the street, that mentality can send you to the morgue, Aizik says. • Anything can happen in a real fi ght, he continues. Your attacker might sense that you’re a better striker and pull out a gun to compensate. You might be choking him when he grabs his knife and stabs you. That’s why Boot Camp trains you to engage and disengage as quickly as possible. Never stay in the fi ght to punish your attacker. Debilitate him with “illegal” moves such as groins strikes, eye gouges and head twists. • It’s a fact that most fi ghts end up on the ground. If you’re a skilled grappler and plan to take your attacker down, know that it’s risky business, Aizik says. On the street, things are too unpredictable. Imagine trying to perform a triangle choke when your attacker’s friends show up and begin stomping on your head. • At Boot Camp, you’re taken to the ground over and over, and each time, your mission is to infl ict damage and get to your feet as quickly as possible. Enter the Five- Second Rule: You must get up in less than fi ve seconds, or you may fi nd yourself on the receiving end of some good-natured “attacks” from your classmates. It can be a rude awakening from your comfort zone. • Forget what you see in the movies. You won’t be snatching a knife out of an attacker’s hand and walking away unscathed. Thinking that’s possible can cost you your life. Expect to be cut or stabbed. • Of course, the best tactic against a knife is to run, Aizik says. Don’t let your ego keep you from doing that. • If you absolutely need to stand and fi ght—if the attacker is between you and the exit or if you’re with a loved one—fi nd a weapon. It can be a stick, a chair or a belt. Go empty-hand-against-steel only if you have no alternative. • Never try to block a knife while simultaneously striking the attacker. If you’re a woman who weighs 120 pounds and your adversary weighs 220 pounds, your strikes will only enrage him. Also, if he’s pumped with adrenaline and charges at you with an overhand stab, blocking will be impossible. Focus on getting the knife rather than delivering punishment. • Boot Camp also covers gun defense. Aizik teaches that if someone threatens you with a fi rearm, he wants something— money, information or maybe a chance to take you hostage. Although that’s terrifying, it means that you have time to react. If he wanted to kill you, he would have already. • Gun disarms must be straightforward and fast and work regardless of where the gun is held. Again, the goal is not to punish the gunman; it’s to get control of the weapon. • For realism in drills, the attacker should be verbally aggressive while making his demands. You should practice being submissive until you get your hands on the gun. Once you have control of it, order the attacker to get down. • Never try a disarm when your enemy is out of reach. Do it and you’ll get shot. If he’s that far away, comply until you can close the distance. Or, if the situation permits, run away in a zigzag pattern. • After running through hundreds of drills for a variety of attacks, you endure a Boot Camp pressure test. You learn that disorientation is a component of real fi ghts, and to beat it, you need to train accordingly. The pressure comes from being attacked with knives, guns, kicks, punches, chokes and takedowns—everything you’ve learned how to deal with so far. It pushes you beyond your limits and tests your will to survive. • In a recent Boot Camp, an instructor who was in great shape lasted a full 30 seconds before nearly collapsing. • To up the intensity of a pressure test, introduce objects into the training environment to simulate debris or an uneven surface. Make sure the objects are safe so that if someone falls on one, he won’t be hurt. • As Boot Camp progresses, a lack of sleep and a nonstop regimen of training combine to push your body beyond its limits. The second day is often the breaking point for the unprepared. • By the time the course ends, you have a newfound confi dence in yourself. It’s about more than having learned a few tactics and techniques. It’s about more than getting into shape. It comes from having dug deep and awakened your inner warrior. It’s about shattering the limits you thought you had. About the author: Henry Kou is a Vaughan, Ontario, Canada-based freelance writer who’s trained under Moni Aizik for fi ve years. For more information, visit www.commandokravmaga.com. 98 BLACK BELT www.blackbeltmag.com / SEPTEMBER 2009 4 5
Page 1 and 2: 94 BLACK BELT www.blackbeltmag.com
Page 3: year. Presented below are a few of

Latest Black Belt Article - Commando Krav Maga

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?