I get asked every now and then if there are tournaments or competitions for Krav Maga. This always makes me chuckle as this is a dead giveaway that the questioner doesn’t really know what Krav Maga is. Krav Maga is real World self-defense for when someone is truly trying to harm you or your family. When this happens, anything goes. Krav is about kicking someone in the groin as hard as possible, sticking a finger as far into an eye socket as you can, finding a pipe or chair leg, and beating the bad guy with it. If these things were done in a competition I doubt too many would be interested in competing! Krav Maga is a philosophy-based self-defense system. The philosophy is “do whatever you have to do to be safe”. Cheating is fair game, hitting someone and running away is fair game, and beating someone with a fire extinguisher is fair game (after you’ve sprayed them in the eyes, of course). The point is, if your life is on the line, do what you can to get out of the situation.
Our combatives translate well to MMA. Krav Maga has stolen whatever is effective from other systems. Our standup is Muay Thai, just like MMA. We have elements of BJJ and wrestling, just like MMA. Would a Krav practitioner be effective in MMA? Yes, if he had talent, trained hard, had a rock chin and out of this World cardio….just like all other MMA competitors. We don’t have secret techniques. Our guy would train the same way that the other competitors do. Could he do Krav Maga in the ring? Nope, he would be thrown out of the first round of his first fight. Krav Maga would be doing absolutely everything that is illegal in MMA. Hitting to the groin, grabbing and crushing testicles, eye-gouging, and head butting! Real Krav would be hitting the opponent with the stool before the bell! There is a reason that these techniques are against the rules….they are devastating and the competitors would get injured. MMA competitions want fair play where things that end fights quickly, cause damage, and end fighters’ careers wouldn’t sell. Rules are for a sport. In real life, if you are in a fair fight your tactics suck! BE SAFE!
