Krav Maga is founded on a framework of ideas, concepts, and heuristics/principals (some of these are illustrated in a set of videos which can be accessed by clicking here). This allows for the method/approach to evolve e.g., when defenses to long barrel weapons were developed in the 1940’s the rate of fire of such weapons meant that the barrel could be grabbed, something impossible with a modern weapon. However, because no Krav Maga techniques are set in stone, new solutions could be developed, albeit ones that adhered to the conceptual framework that defines what Krav Maga is and isn’t.

Below are a few of the ideas/concepts that aren’t described in the videos (which can be accessed by clicking here).

• 1. Attack must follow defense at the earliest opportunity – Outside of Israel, this often gets interpreted as all defenses must contain a simultaneous attack, however this is completely unrealistic. If you are attacked completely unaware, instinctively your arm is likely to make a block, but to expect to at the same time make a simultaneous attack is unrealistic. However, by having trained from a position of surprise a practitioner will recognize their response and have this as a mental “reference point”, and not be caught “freezing” and not knowing what to do. It may be now, as they defend again that they are able to make a simultaneous block and attack i.e., this is their earliest opportunity to do so.
• 2. Techniques and solutions must be able to be performed when exhausted – The IDF recognizes the link between physical fitness and fighting. After becoming adrenalized and the adrenaline wearing off the body starts to go into recovery mode, effectively wanting to sleep. The better a person’s physical fitness, the easier they will find fighting this response. However, performance will still be impacted and so Krav Maga techniques need to be able to be executed when a person is fatigued. The complete design of the UZI SMG (sub-machine gun) is built around the idea of an exhausted infantry man being able to change the magazine whilst running.
• 3. Simplicity – When under the stress and duress of a real-life confrontation, when you have entered the world of the unknown, where there are no rules and societies conventions don’t apply, trying to recall complex techniques that involve several steps and stages to them is unlikely to happen. By keeping movements simple and straightforward Krav Maga techniques can be easily and quickly learnt and recalled when under the pressure of a violent assault.
• 4. Reuse of movements – Krav Maga techniques are grouped into “families”. These families of techniques reuse common movements, so that only small variations and changes are needed to have one major movement be common to techniques that deal with different types of attacks. This cuts down on one what needs to be learnt, remembered, and recalled, making it quicker to “master” a technique, because the major movements are being practiced over and over again whilst learning other techniques within the family. It also means that decision making when attacked is sped up because there aren’t hundreds and hundreds of solutions to choose from.
• 5. Targeting vulnerable areas – Krav Maga is not an approach that plays “fair”. Every vulnerable target that is banned in combat sports are targeted in Krav Maga: eyes are raked, ringers are bent, the groin is attacked etc. Targeting the weakest and most vulnerable parts of the body effectively gives the most bang for the buck. Sometimes the pain is used to create movement rather than to punish e.g., if you are trapped on the ground, pinching somebody, and ripping their flesh may cause an assailant to pull away, creating the space that you need to escape etc.

These fighting ideas, and others, define the way with which Krav Maga teaches people to fight. If you would like to see how some other ideas, concepts and heuristics manifest themselves, you can watch a series of short videos which explain why Krav Maga is so effective by clicking here.