The Benefits of Training Questions arise when starting a new sport or hobby. In this case, a life-changing methodology that’s part self-help, all badass and all functional: Is it for me? What are the benefits? How long will it take me to become Batman?! Self Defence Simply put, this is the most effective, battle-tested, easy to learn, self-defence system around. Any additional skills brought to the table, implement them.
The more you train, the more you figure yourself out; what your body and your mind are capable of… what elements from your everyday life or personal experiences bring to this way of operating in order to aid building a mindset with the best overview of getting home safely. Fitness When it comes to learning and practising techniques, Krav Maga is fully effective in staying in shape. One develops improvements in strength and conditioning through a combination of cardiovascular work, fighting drills and constant flexibility exercises. High intensity drills elevate your heart rate, developing endurance and recovery time (fitness). As you progress through the ranks these increase in intensity and duration (endurance and stamina). Krav Maga isn’t a competitive sport or a work-until-you-drop boot camp, but through planned classes and an ever-changing environment you enjoy the fun of pushing yourself and actually forgetting you’re exercising. Technique, stress, recovery, adaptation. Stress Management Training Krav Maga, will help you relieve stress. The regular increase in intensity of (unknown) attack drills, drills where eyes are closed or varying iterations all lend to a development of stress inoculation and a stronger focus that’s transferable to various life aspects - not just self-defence but everyday life. Krav Maga techniques are based on natural responses that often occur under duress or a limited time frame – i.e. you didn’t have time to think, choose an action and action it. For example, if suddenly someone throws something at you, your hands shoot up, not to catch but initially to protect your head. Acceptance Following on from stress, within the conflict acceptance is key. This will help you not freeze. This situation is real and happening. Now deescalate, defend, fight, flee. Any one of these may be enough, you may need all of them but accepting the present ensures measures are taken for a future. Awareness Being aware of what’s going on around you and what’s in your environment is the best self-defence tool you can arm yourself with. Techniques and improved physical conditioning are, of course, beneficial tools that are primed to aid you if the need arises. Exposure to drills and scenarios in training increases your natural ability to read situations and be on-guard consciously and subconsciously regardless of what environment you’re in. Adding basic scanning techniques and looking up and further down a street sounds simple but is crucial - how often do you see people with headphones on and staring at their phones? These distractions may land us in the category of ‘easy prey'. They shouldn’t but they do. Stay alert. The more you drill, the more you train with multiple attackers, the quicker you become accustomed to being in a correct position; what’s behind me? Am I stood in the middle? Where can I run to? You also become familiar with the shape of an attack – is someone about to punch, kick lunge etc. are hands going into the pockets (weapons)? All part of the pre-fight . Confidence This is a key benefit when training Krav Maga. During classes with Saint Fury you don’t want to develop a false sense of security or an over-inflated idea of what you’re capable of. This would be detrimental to the principles of understanding your situation, de-escalation, applicable skill sets and of course their chance of success. But the confidence gained through training will enable you to protect yourself, your loved ones and also translate to other areas of your life outside of training. This can be anything from the way you speak, carry yourself, handle home and work stress, the way you walk and - furthering your Krav training. A big takeaway from this is conflict resolution. Understanding what is occurring and what could occur. Understanding what you are capable of in order to see a peaceful resolution to a violent situation or managing a verbal altercation be it highly aggressive or potentially getting heated. * The above are some of the key benefits you get while training Krav Maga. You train in different environments, with different people, making new friends while learning a variety of effective techniques. Combining all these things makes for a healthy Krav Maga practitioner and an ability to improve oneself physically and mentality. If the need to call upon you physical skills is required, you're in better stead to do so. *
Further reading Mindset 101: The Attacker