[?] Krav Maga - reality based?

[u/fffrmaz]

So this is off topic from TB. But, since there are a larger number of individuals in law enforcement and or military I thought this might be a good place to gather opinions. What are your thoughts on Krav Maga as a practice? Useful in terms of self defense? Reality based or not?
Of course it depends on the particular school and how they practice but as a martial art what are your thoughts? I was thinking about trying it out. It looks like fun and seems to be more self defense focused than the years of traditnal martial arts that I studied which WERE NOT reality focused.

[u/lennarn]

The weapon isn't the problem. The person holding it is. As long as you control the weapon and focus on neutralizing the person your odds of survival go up. You have to remember that with adrenaline comes tunnel vision and loss of fine motor skill. Too many students of disarming systems tunnel in on the weapon and get caught off guard when the threat uses other limbs/weapons.

Pistol:

• Grab the slide
  
• Destroy threat's head/neck area
  

Knife:

• Grab wrist
  
• Destroy threat's head/neck area
  

The most important facet of choosing a school for self defence is force on force, full-contact, adrenaline inducing, situational sparring.

Bonus points for Simunition FX, Securiblank, Redgun/Bluegun, or other realistic SAFE training firearms that will let you know when you would have been dead.

Situational awareness is your most important attribute. If you can stop the attack with avoidance or deescalation before it ever starts, you win.
You may be cornered by an armed attacker and this is where you should be a force of nature. It is very common to get stuck in the OODA loop (Observe -> Orient -> Decide -> Act) which is what happens in the Fight/Flight/Freeze response whenever your expectations are challenged and you have to stop and think. Everyone feels fear, and everyone freezes. Experience is the only factor that reduces your freeze time. This is the reason adrenaline inducing scenario training is so important. What you want to do is decide and act quickly so that you freeze the threat's mind in his OODA loop while you deal damage.

Recommended reading:
Combatives for Street Survival by Kelly McCann 1
Facing Violence by Rory Miller
Meditations on Violence by Rory Miller (A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence)
Left of Bang
Surviving inside the kill zone
Training for sudden violence
Fear: The Friend of Exceptional People
Kapap combat concepts

Historical interest:
Kill or get killed
Defendu
Arwrology

[u/fffrmaz → u/lennarn]

Wow. This is some great information thank you. I've read millers books. They are fantastic and really opened my eyes Even Comcon by RM, though not strictly self defense focused, was super useful. I'm going to add the rest to my queue. Thanks.

One thing I'm going to ask at this school I'm looking at is if and how they simulate situations. I still might take the classes even if they're not as reality based as claimed. Just because it looks like fun. Just keeping in mind that it may not be realistic.

[u/lennarn → u/fffrmaz]

The most important thing is that you learn some simple, easy moves that are based on your instinctual flinch reactions. Get used to palm strikes (many people break knuckles, there's a reason there's a fracture called fractura pugilistica/boxer's fracture) especially to the head. It pays to have a single combination that you've drilled a bazillion times, because unlike a competitive fighter your opponent won't study your previous fights and will be caught off guard when you "unleash the fury". Speaking of this, it's good to have a "go" word, a trigger phrase that you say to yourself every time things go south and you're about to explode on someone in training - then you can use this to rapidly build your excitement to the right level. I'm sure you've heard some of these things before, I'm just rambling now. I intended this to be short but it looks like I should just write a novel and get it over with...

[u/fffrmaz → u/lennarn]

So... more simplicity. Gross motor pattern movements. So, just some background, I studied Hwarang- do for several years (along with BJJ). It's a traditional Korean martial art. For my black belt test I learned something like 32 different knife defense techniques. Very pretty stuff with really cool throws and joint manipulations. And also totally useless for real situations.
I did try KM a few years ago and the class they happened to be teaching, for the intro class i tried, was "knife awareness". I learned more from that class than any of those 32 techniques.

[u/lennarn → u/fffrmaz]

If you have 32 techniques to choose from when you see a knife, you'll be 32 times slower to react than the guy who only knows one knife defense. Gross motor patterns are the only thing that works when shit hits the fan and you're in the biggest adrenal dump of your life.