Hi Richard here,

Thanks for visiting my blog. If you don’t know me, I have over 30 years experience in Martial Arts. I practice continually, but I am also interested in learning about new fighting arts that come across my radar. Case in point… Krav Maga (aka Israeli Ju Jitsu)!

Guy Dars Full Contact Krav Maga Training Videos Review

Guy Dars Krav Maga Training Videos is a pack of 41 Krav Maga training video clips and a Krav Maga ebook. All downloadable to your computer that can be viewed on any e-Reader of your choice (iPad, laptop, smart phone, etc, etc). Likewise the ebook can be ‘read’ on your reading device or you can print it off. For myself I simply used my laptop computer both to view the Krav Maga videos and the krav maga book.

I have to confess that at first the prospect of viewing 41 separate Krav Maga videos was a bit daunting. But after getting stuck in I found it to be a surprisingly good method of instruction as opposed to – for instance – a regular Krav Maga DVD or simply a Krav Maga training book. I’ll explain why in a moment. First, let’s look at what is covered in the videos and ebook.

The Krav Maga Training Videos

Our Krav Maga lessons starts off firstly with a set of 17 Krav Maga video clips which cover off the basics – 10 video clips going through Krav Maga hand strikes – punching, hammer blows, elbow and forearm strikes. And 7 Krav Maga videos covering off the Krav Maga kicks – thrust kicks different directions, roundhouse kicks, knee strikes, and how to strike with different parts of the foot.

With the basics covered off, we then get to the next set of 14 video s in which the above Krav Maga moves are applied to real attack / defence situations with an unarmed opponent.

And finally a set of 10 video clips showing Krav Maga personal protection applications against armed opponents.

Krav Maga Video Clips

Click here for the Krav Maga Videos

The Presentation of the Video Krav Maga Techniques

The Israeli Krav Maga techniques are presented as a series of short video clips, each clip lasting just a couple of minutes. The techniques are firstly presented at full speed, and then in slow motion. Then they are repeated. And whilst the Krav Maga is being demonstrated Guy Dars is giving an audio commentary. The commentary explains the technique and highlights details of the Krav Maga moves that you might otherwise miss.

And like me, you’ll want to replay the move until you completely know them – and since this is a series of individual video clips, is real easy to do!

The Krav Maga ebook

Guy Dars Krav Maga ebook is not so much a detailed step by step explanation of Krav Maga combat as a workbook to compliment the video series. For instance, I would find myself reviewing a section of the book and then working through the relevant Krav Maga video lessons.

Krav Maga Training Videos

Click here for the Krav Maga eBook & Videos

And here is another great  way to use the Krav Maga ebook. When you download your purchase you also get an audio version of the videos. At first I couldn’t really figure out what that was all about – what was the point of the audios? That was until I used the audios in conjunction with ebook.

Using the Krav Maga Audio

You see by reading the Krav Maga book and listening to the commentary at the same time allows you to focus on the technique ‘visually’ whilst absorbing the detail of the moves presented in ‘audio’ manner. You understand that learning something by audio and visually at the same time is mutually supportive. Plus that some people respond better to visual than audio and vice versa.

My Likes And Dislikes With The Krav Maga Training Videos

Likes

Clear and precise instructions in three complimentary formats (video clips / audio / manual).

The basic moves well covered and then logically shown in combat attack and defense situations  – against both armed and unarmed opponents.

Captures the simplicity and effectiveness of Krav Maga in an accessible and easy to learn manner.

Dislikes

In order to absorb the Krav Maga moves, it is a great idea to practice them with a krav maga practice partner. Unfortunately Guy Dar does not suggest a practice method. A bit surprising really since he is a qualified, experienced Krav Maga teacher and presumably does have training routines and programs.

And I’ll admit that it’s actually not that difficult to do, to create your own training regime from the material. In fact I can help you out if you want…

How To Use The Krav Training Maga Training Videos Course?

If you decide to get this training course and you want to know how I used the video series in order to learn Krav Maga fighting from the course, then flick me an email at Richard (AT) KravMagaTrainingVideos.org and I’ll send you an easy to follow program that I have created in order to learn Krav Maga.

Krav Maga Video & eBook Training Course

In Summary, this is certainly a very proficient piece of training material if you are interested in mastering Krav Maga. The Krav Maga video clips make it a cinch to grasp the basics and then move on to the applications against fighting opponents. And despite the fact that a training regime is not proposed, it is fairly easy to create one. And in any case I can send you a program if you want.

Here is where you can get the Krav Maga training video course.

*Update: 22/11/2012. Research has found that people interested in Krav Maga Training have been getting great results using from these Training Videos. For example Jon Phipps says this:

” Krav Maga in no time at all. This is a simple to learn system.

No gimmicks, no fluff, the information presented can save your life. High quality video and top notch instruction.

Good work. I highly recommend! “

Click Here to learn more.

It was developed in Israel by Imi Lichtenfeld circa 1930. It soon gained recognition for it’s efficiency and was subsequently used to coach army personnel. It had been affiliated within the year 1975.

In part Krav Maga aims to leverage the fighters’ inbuilt instincts when facing intimidating situations. It’s therefore regarded as being much more practical within real-life circumstances.

The primary principle associated with Krav Maga is to strike opponents’ susceptible places such as throat, groin, eye, etc.

Listed here are several techniques utilized in Krav Maga to protect against the actual enemies. A few of the techniques will be briefly explained below:

* Defense against weapons: This describes defending towards weapons such as guns, kitchen knives, or razor-sharp objects the actual fighters discover threatening.

* Defense against attacks: Fighters tend to be taught to protect themselves through attacks which come from each and every direction before enemies tend to be knocked lower. This consists of defense towards kicks, your punches, strikes, and so on.

* Techniques using arms: The fundamental strike within Krav Maga is really a punch. There are various kinds of punches such as low strike, straight strike, uppercut as well as palm-heel hit. Some from the boxing strikes will also be taught to create the hit powerful.

* Techniques using legs: Reduced kicks tend to be mostly utilized than higher kicks, although high leg techinques are trained at greater levels. A few of the kicks tend to be side stop, front stop, back stop and circular kick. Knee strikes will also be used right here.

* Techniques using head: This can be a method by which head can be used as the weapon in order to attack through generating the blow in the opponents’ body.

* Throws: Krav Maga doesn’t allow fighters to maneuver from the floor while battling, thus throws aren’t used a lot. Some from the similar methods taught tend to be two lower-leg take-downs, arm locks as well as hip tosses.

* Ground fighting: This describes the taking of the greatest position in order to fight on the floor. Fighters tend to be trained to protect themselves towards chokes, headlocks as well as punches.

It is crucial to look for a good Krav Maga instructor in your town. You can grab free Krav Maga Training Videos Here.

The roots of Krav Maga tend to be known, but it may be difficult in order to pinpoint precisely at exactly what point this type of “contact combat”, an extremely loose meaning of it’s name, actually has been around since.

The basics associated with Krav Maga are rooted in street fighting. They were utilized, refined and added to by Krav Maga founder, the Hungarian-Israeli fighter Imi Lichtenfeld.

In his early days, he and friends formed a public militia to help defend Bratislava against faciast attacks in the 1930′s.

At the end of WW2 he subsequently emigrated to Israel where he started to provide combat training to members associated with what ultimately became the actual Israeli Protection Forces (IDF).

Through these earlier beginnings, Imi Lichtenfeld, recognized in Israel because Imi Sde-Or, continued to develop the machine that became referred to as Krav Maga.

Because those earlier years, it’s been refined for use within real-world civilian, law enforcement and army applications.

In reality, there tend to be many within the know that believe that it’s quite probably the ultimate hand-to-hand fight practice. This isn’t surprising because, unlike the current versions of numerous other individual combat techniques, it will probably be used virtually in life-and-death circumstances in real life, not about the mats of the dojo.

If it’s “refined” in a aspect from the term, it is within that the very best aspects associated with physical mayhem happen to be distilled through many resources and held, while additional, less helpful, or much less effective, methods for disabling a good opponent.

Still being used by the actual Israeli Protection Forces, as well as Israeli Unique Ops organizations, variations happen to be developed as well as adopted through various police force and cleverness organizations, such as the Mossad, the actual Israeli nationwide intelligence support, and Tibia Bet, the actual Israeli Protection Agency. These are thought by allies as well as foes alike to become a few of the toughest clients around.

Unlike a lot more commonly recognized Asian martial arts techniques, Krav Maga is seen as a four particular goals, one of the most valued which is basically “aggression”.

The expert with this self-defense method doesn’t wait to make use of the adversary’s weight or even movement or even intentions towards him. There’s very small bowing or even flipping within the hip. A Krav Maga practitioner continues the attack from the beginning and doesn’t quit. Quite simply, one from the key concepts of Krav Maga would be to effectively remove the assailant as quickly so that as effectively as you possibly can… usually along with disastrous results for that recipient of the attention.

Right here, aggression is really a tool, a method to supply in coordination using the other features of Krav Maga: risk neutralization, along with a simultaneous software of protective and unpleasant maneuvers. While defense is really a major a part of training, the practitioner’s greatest focus is how to defeat the adversary, and defeat him significantly and significantly, in because short some time as feasible.

To this particular end, Krav Maga professionals use numerous combinations associated with attacks towards the most vulnerable body parts. These episodes are delivered inside a deliberately diverse manner, as well as without respite, in orfer to maintain the adversary confused, frightened and inside a constant condition of protection… until it is over.

Taking care of of this particular real-world martial art, if we are able to feel comfy reffering into it as “art”, is an element that makes it quite not the same as more popular self-defense as well as martial arts methods. Since Krav Maga is actually expected, as well as intended, to become used within dangerous, actually life-threatening circumstances, one of the very important items to be learned through the student is actually how to understand one’s surroundings and also to be prepared not just for the counter-attack in the opponent, however for an assault from an additional direction too.

Students learn various kinds of strikes, delivered along with every the main body, consider downs, grappling, along with other attack actions. They also learn to most successfully defend on their own against individuals same episodes. Practice periods often include defending towards attacks through multiple assailants.

Krav Maga is among the most strenuous from the martial arts, and the practitioner should also engage within regular as well as strenuous bodily training every single child keep up using the demands associated with Krav Maga by itself, but every single child sustain a good attack… constantly as well as consistently and in the highest pace possible.

Kicks used in Krav Maga are a very effective way to end a fight, and so well worth practicing. Guy Dar covers kicks reasonably well in his video series. There are two main kick weapons to practice – the foot and the knee.

Ideally you’ll be wearing shoes. Shoes will protect your feet from impact damage and makes your foot tougher so that it hurts your opponent more.  If you are bare foot then make sure that you don’t land the kick with your toes first otherwise you’ll hurt yourself more than the other guy! If barefooted you still can make contact with your heel or your instep.

Kick Low

In a fight do not… I repeat do not kick above waist level. You can practice high kicks if you want (good for acquiring balance, stretch and power) but they have no place on the street. High kicks take longer to deliver, consume more energy, they can unbalance you (especially if you miss!) and they can leave you wide open to counter attack. They look good in the movies, and that’s where they belong, not on the street.

Targets

In many ways so long as you land a kick somewhere on them then it’s going to hurt them. I really like striking the shin bone – it’s close in, easy to hit, and it’ll hurt them like crazy: a fantastic target. And as they are hobbling around you follow up with a quick one, two (ALWAYS follow up with a quick one, two ok!?).

The groin / crotch is another obvious target, it’s higher for sure, so it carries a slightly higher risk, BUT it carries the tremendous advantage that it is difficult target to miss, and is a fairly safe target even if you are barefooted.

Likewise kicking them in the knee with your heel can be a devastating attack. Once they have a shattered knee cap you can finish the off a cinch. Also it’s another good one if you have bare feet since your heel is a very tough instrument.

At close quarters the knee is a truly powerful weapon. Hit them in the groin or thigh and they’ll go down.

Another close quarter weapon is your heel – for stomping on their upper foot or grinding down on their shin.

Practice low kicks like your life depends on, because one day it might!

The best way to understand what is Krav Maga Self Defence is to consider it’s history, development, and in particular the surroundings in which the Krav Maga fighting system came about.

Its founder is Imi Lichtenfeld, Hungarian at birth, Imi seems to have been a natural athlete from a young age, being well versed – and winning awards nationally and internationally – in gymnastics, wrestling and boxing. When you also consider that Imi’s father was both a policeman and a self teacher then you can see Imi would have had the ingredients to become an accomplished fighter.

But there was another factor to add to the mix. Namely that when Imi was growing up in Bratislava in the 1930′s, as was the case in some other cities in Europe, he, his friends and family and fellow Jews were the subject of violent anti-Semitic actions and persecution! He and his friends had plenty of opportunity to hone their martial skills during their frequent run-ins with Nazi gangs.

Imi Lichtenfeld – The Founder of Krav Maga

You can see that this last experience would have been the galvanizing ‘hands-on’ factor that led Imi to mould his art into a decisive street fighting system that over time it became.

When the situation in Bratislava become too severe he left for Israel (then Palestine) where he continued to exercise and teach his skills. The culmination at this time came about when he was invited by the Israeli government to establish a fighting system for the Israeli military. Naturally he accepted, and the resulting system, a distillation of his combat skills subsequently became known as Krav Maga (which is Hebrew for contact combat or hand-to-hand fighting). You may also see Krav Maga referred to as Israeli Ju Jitsu – now you know why!

Krav Maga Self Defense – a martial art fit for the Israeli military!

Krav Maga is considered by it’s exponents to be the most devastating fighting system in the world! I would argue that no such beast exists; however it certainly ranks as one of the easiest and quickest fighting systems to learn, AND which is most certainly very effective in its application.

In essence Krav Maga fighting teaches to neutralize an attack in the instant! It does not entertain complicated or drawn-out impractical defence / attack routines. Rather it takes down your opponent there and then with whatever weapon (part of your body) is best placed. And targeted to the attacker to cause maximum discomfort.

And if the circumstances requires a ‘pre-emptive’ attack, then so be it, Krav Maga training encourages that if necessary!

Strategy of Krav Maga Techniques

Keeping it simple, Krav Maga fighting places emphasis on fast decisive strikes that take-out ones opponent: game over! As you might imagine, the body weapons used include the hands (punches, heel strikes, chops etc), elbows, and legs (usually low – risk – kicks), the head (butting). In addition to striking, practitioners also learn take-downs and chokes.

In the undesirable situation that the fight goes literally to ground, Krav Maga training teaches ground-fighting techniques.

The thing to appreciate about the Krav Maga techniques is that it covers a small suite – not an encyclopedia – of techniques that work. They are thoroughly learnt, so that they become – reflex! Try doing that with an encyclopedia of techniques – you can’t!

The preferred target areas are the opponents face, eyes, throat, groin, knee etc – you get the picture, strike vital areas fast, and achieve high impact results.

Both armed and unarmed – in addition to unarmed combat, Krav Maga training teaches defence against weapons – knives, sticks, guns. Again, these techniques are simple to learn, easy to apply (well as easy as it can be relieving someone of their knife or firearm that is!) and effective. If you want to see this in action check out this digital course that came across.

The Continued Evolution of Krav Maga

Imi himself created his fighting system over many years. He consolidated the best material into the system that he taught to the Israeli Military. But he didn’t stop there. He actually taught variants to different people. For instance it is well recorded that he taught a ‘civilian’ version of Krav Maga fighting techniques.

Since Imi’s death in 1988 various versions / interpretations / embellishments of Krav Maga self defense have been taught – not just by different Krav Maga instructors such as Guy Dar (more on hime later), but also under the patronage the various associations that have sprung up since his death.

And this is often the way, just look at Karate or Aikido – where even amongst the same ‘styles’ (eg Shotokan Karate) different associations formed (the JKA – Japanese Karate Association, and the Shotokai to name ‘just’ the two big ones that sprng to mind).

With the Krav Maga martial art one of the interesting observations to me is that teachers have integrated into their Krav Maga training the best and most useful elements from other fighting systems such as Muay Thai – hopefully without evolving their Krav Maga into an encyclopedia of techniques at the same time!

Later on I will be reviewing a set of krav maga training videos by Guy Dar. Guy is a modern teacher of Krav Maga who seems to have remained faithful to the original teachings of classical Imi’s Krav Maga.

Click here for a preview of Guy Dar’s training material.

I came across Guy Dar when I was researching the Krav Maga Self Defense system. I had already viewed a couple of books on the subject, but I wanted to see some Krav Maga video clips to see the art in action, to get a better idea of this famous fighting system.

After I searched Krav Maga online with Google I came up with a quite a few Krav Maga video training clips. Some were actually quite good, and not just crass promotional material (though there was a fair bit of that as well). And so this led me to Guy Dar, an Israeli Krav Maga master, who teaches full contact Krav Maga! (with protection I assume). I discovered that in addition to his regular classes and seminars he also has produced some rather interesting online training material – check it out here.

A Summary of Krav Maga Fighting from Guy Dar

As you understand what Guy Dar has to say about Krav Maga, you quickly get the impression that Krav Maga self defense is a no-nonsense, no-holds-barred fighting system. Certainly as he teaches it anyway!

Guy Dar – Krav Maga Fighting Expert

Guy Dar points out that a real fight – like on the street – is not at all like the controlled environment of a gym where conventional ‘martial arts’ are taught. There are no rules and there is no one to ‘cut in’ if the situation gets ‘out-of-hand’. By contrast, on the street (a place well within the comfort zone for bully’s and would be oppressors of innocent law abiding people) things are different ….

When faced by an imminent attack by a bully or street thug, you only have just a couple of seconds to take the initiative, to do something before you start enter a world of hurt. These one or two seconds are crucial. That’s when you have to take the initiative.

Guy goes on to explain that Krav Maga fighting is not fancy at all. In fact in many ways it’s about using just a few special Krav Maga techniques to end the fight fast. As Guy says:

“The Main Principle in Krav Maga Training is to End the Fight in Seconds”

Throughout his discourse (and others) you will hear this familiar fact: ‘that there is probably good reason why Krav Maga fighting is taught to the Israeli Army, FBI, CIA and numerous police and security services the world over’.

Click here for Krav Maga training information from Guy Dar