Krav Maga. Gershon Ben Keren

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      PART 1

      Basic Skills (Stances, Movement, Blocking, and Striking)

      Stances and Movement

      A street fight is not a fight, it is an assault. Nobody who attacks you actually wants to fight; they merely want a victim that they can physically punish, rape, or steal from. A “fight” would imply that an aggressor wants to give you the opportunity to participate and “fight back”—but no aggressor wants to be met with resistance. This is the reality of violence. This is why real world violence differs so markedly from combat sports and sparring, which are voluntary (and controlled) acts of violence, in which both participants willingly agree to engage. Real life violence is something that is forced upon you, not something you consent to—usually in locations and situations which are designed to inhibit your movement and ability to disengage and which are advantageous to your assailant.

      The only time that you will have the opportunity to adopt a stance is when you have picked up on any available pre-violence indicators in the situation, such as a person moving towards you in a purposeful and aggressive manner, or someone becoming verbally abusive towards you. You will be able to adopt an Interview Stance, for example, in the Pre-Conflict phase of violence (see below).

      The Timeline of Violence

      All violence happens along a timeline and can be broken down into five distinct phases: The Non-Conflict phase is one where there is no sign of harmful intent in the environment; the Conflict-Aware phase is where you initially become adrenalized, but have not yet ascertained if the danger is directed towards you; the Pre-Conflict phase is where you have recognized and assessed that an aggressor’s harmful intent is towards you but they haven’t yet made a physical assault, e.g., they may be verbally abusive towards you; the Conflict phase is the assault itself; and the Post-Conflict phase is everything that occurs once the assault has ended (such as disengaging to safety as well as seeking medical attention, getting legal advice, etc.).

      The Interview Stance

      The point of the Interview Stance is to get you into a physically strong position, while at the same time not appearing overly aggressive—you don’t want to escalate the situation at this point by giving your aggressor a reason to pull a knife, gun, or other weapon. Neither do you want to appear overly timid or fearful. Instead, you want to communicate through your body language that you don’t want any trouble, but at the same time you are confident in your ability to handle any attack. Your goal should always be to avoid a physical confrontation, and if you can, you should either try to discourage your assailant from attacking or de-escalate the situation. You should also put yourself in a position to be able to make a preemptive assault if you recognize that a physical confrontation is inevitable because you were unable to de-escalate or disengage from the situation.

      Most violent encounters involve a verbal confrontation that precedes any physical assault. Depending on the motive of the aggressor and their emotional state, it may be possible to de-escalate the situation and resolve the conflict without having to engage with them physically.

      An aggressor’s body language and their ability to communicate verbally will indicate whether they are about to launch an assault. If they respond to a question such as, “What can I do to sort this situation out?” with silence, with jumbled up words, or by simply repeating their complaint over and over again, you should take this as an indication that they are about to make an attack.

      Key Points Regarding the Interview Stance

      The aim of the Interview Stance is twofold: firstly, it should present you in a non-threatening way to your aggressor, and secondly, it should prepare you for a physical confrontation. If a person is verbally aggressive towards you, you don’t want to escalate the situation by balling your fists and trying to intimidate them—if they are carrying a weapon, such as a gun or knife, they may feel that your aggressive posture necessitates them pulling their weapon (once somebody pulls a weapon it is very unlikely that they will put it away without using it). Your goal should be to present yourself in a non-threatening, but confident way. Your aggressor is probably used to people either cowering or posturing back when threatened, so presenting them with a different image can cause them to question the situation.

      Your head should be directly over your hips, so you are stable. If your head moves forward or backwards from this position you may still be “balanced,” but you won’t be stable, and this increases the risk of you being taken to ground. Your arms should protect the space in front of you, creating a “No Man’s Land” that your assailant’s strikes would have to cross to reach you.

      You should appear non-threatening but in control. By using a hand gesture (open palm facing forward) that is the international signal for both “Stop” and “I don’t want any trouble,” you are sending a confusing message to your aggressor. When this is coupled with an upright and “dominant” posture, you are presenting yourself in a way that most assailants are not used to being met with, i.e., you are not cowering or acting submissively, but at the same time you are not acting aggressively or appearing to posture back. You are also in an excellent position to both defend yourself physically and launch any necessary preemptive assaults. Obviously if you are attacked by surprise then you will not have time to adopt such a stance; however, if somebody verbally threatens you or acts in a manner that makes you uncomfortable, this should be your first response.

      1. The foot of your least dominant hand should СКАЧАТЬ