This is a good heuristic that allows for a fast, initial response, however it should be understood that Krav Maga was initially created and developed for the military, where contexts and objectives were much clearer e.g., if you had your wrist grabbed as a soldier, it is a clear attack both on the individual and the role they are performing; something that would – in most cases – warrant a combative response. However, in civilian settings, contexts become more important, and the idea of “attacking the attacker” may not always be an appropriate and suitable response e.g., if two co-workers got into an argument in a workplace and one grabbed the wrist of the other (legally a case of assault and battery – battery being unwanted contact/touching), Human Resources may judge a combative response as being “excessive” regardless of the person’s legal right of self-defense. Another scenario where immediately responding with combative force may be inappropriate, is if somebody responds to a wrist-grab in a bar setting by striking/punching the person making the grab, is if this leads to friends of theirs joining in the “fight” in order to assist their friend/associate who they see as the one being attacked etc.

Whilst the heuristic of “attacking the attack” when it is life-threatening and “attacking the attacker” when it is not, is a great starting point, when deciding how to respond, context is important when considering the consequences of such actions and responses, whether this involves dealing with events that happen after the conflict (dealing with Human Resources) and/or escalating a conflict during it (creating a multiple assailant situation). It is often better to think of Krav Maga “principles” as heuristics, that guide responses, than ideas that should be followed/enacted regardless of the setting or situation.

Armed Threats & Attacks

As well as having techniques for dealing with unarmed attacks, Krav Maga also presents solutions for dealing with armed threats and assaults, including those that involve weapons such as knives, sticks and guns etc. The difference between an armed threat and attack, is that with a threat, the offender is presenting and displaying a weapon, not primarily to cause harm, but to force compliance e.g., a mugger shows somebody that they are robbing that they are armed with a gun or knife in order to force them to hand over their wallet/possessions etc. In an attack, the offender is not looking to “convince” anybody about what they should do, but rather to cause them harm and injury e.g., if an aggressor grabs somebody’s lapel and starts to shank/stab them with a knife, they are looking to directly hurt and harm the person they are attacking. Threats are generally used to force two type of compliance; either to force somebody to handover their assets, such as a wallet, a phone or laptop etc., or to force them to act/behave in a way that they wouldn’t normally agree to e.g., to get into a car with them, go with them to a second location etc. In most cases if the threat, is to force somebody to hand over their assets, compliance is normally the safest and most effective way to handle the situation. However, if the threat is directed at the person themselves, such as moving from their current location to another, then it is often best to resist in that moment.

Because there are potentially so many different ways for a person to be threatened and/or attacked either with a weapon or without, Krav Maga groups its techniques into “families”, where common movements are used to deal with a variety of threats and attacks e.g., a very similar solution is used to deal with a short-barreled gun pointed to the front of the head, as is used to deal with a knife positioned to the side of somebody’s neck/throat etc. Similar movements used to deal with unarmed threats can be used against armed ones e.g., there are similarities between a rear-strangle, and a rear knife threat, where the blade is positioned to the front of the throat, when the offender/aggressor is standing behind; both responses involve pulling/plucking either the knife (knife threat) or the arm away (rear-strangle) using a similar movement. By reusing the same movement to deal with a variety of armed and unarmed threats and attacks, the amount of techniques and solutions that have to be learnt and remembered is significantly reduced. Another benefit is that when somebody is practicing a technique to deal with a rear-strangle, they are also practicing how to deal with a rear-knife-threat. What this means is that the time is cut in half, to get to the 10 000 repetitions needed to perfect a technique i.e., 5000 repetitions of two techniques, as opposed to 10 000 of one etc.

As well as having solutions to armed threats and attacks, Krav Maga, also teaches these in the many different dimensions of real-life violence e.g., defending knife attacks whilst standing, when seated, when on the ground, when in confined spaces etc. Rather than just creating the “perfect” environment, in order to get techniques and solutions to work, they are also trained when the practitioner is at a disadvantage and have the odds stacked against them.