About Krav Maga

Hi Nick,

I just read in another thread here, that you have become a Krav Maga instructor (and also visited your KM homepage which is really well done, btw ).

I was honestly quite surprised to read this (in fact, I was so surprised, that I actually made an attempt to see, if my old account here is still active, so I can ask you about it ), as I remember you as one of the more sceptical guys about the material coming from Israel, the hype about it and the marketing involved.

Posts like the following ones came to my mind:

Before anyone starts flapping about my lack of respect for the Israeli's stuff...as Jim said, it's hyped to shite.

http://hockscombatforum.com/index.php/topic,981.msg6890.html#msg6890

Everyone here used to oooh and aaaah at anything Israeli from the Uzi to Krav Maga. If it had Israeli on it, it was the be all and end all and God's gift to the planet. I used to keep asking all my mates caught up in the frenzy..."who the fuck have they ever fought that was any good?

http://hockscombatforum.com/index.php/topic,2213.msg18790.html#msg18790

Regarding Krav...yep, very underwhelming. I saw their tapes many times and everyone was raving. I went in with eyes open expecting to see something amazing. What I saw was a left jab, right cross, hook and uppercut from western boxing, a hammerfist from karate/kung fu, some front, groin, side kicks from any basic martial art, some basic ju-jutsu escapes from holds (that are in a thousand books on the subject) and some, frankly, piss poor knife defense, one of which involved kicking someone under the chin brandishing a knife at your belly.

http://hockscombatforum.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=ed7f9328e436c67f0280e2354b171a8e&topic=2126.msg22670#msg22670


So, how come that you decided to be involved in Krav Maga as a teacher/instructor, especially, as you have with Fightsurvival your "own" self-defense system on the market (so to say)?

Thanks for your time

AD

ps: This is not a troll-job or peronal attack or so. I just found it fascinating, that a rather sceptic and highly decorated guy like you becomes a teacher in a system he used to be quite sceptical about. Sounds like an interesting story with some special experiences on the way, that is why I ask.

Hey mate,

I've actually answered this a couple of times already but it's entirely possible that some of the replies have been lost when the forum went through its upheaval a month or so ago.

I do know there are several posts I can't find but I'll paraphrase them in a second.

To begin with I stand by all of those quotations but I'd also add the missing ones from here in which I said "there is Krav and there is Krav." I mentioned several times that the group I worked out with in PA was hard core and I also talked about my mate Ernie's group having an open house fight night on Friday's etc.

It gets political so I'm going to try and avoid that but let me just say that until recently there was only one organization for KM here in the States. They lost a court case that challenged their cornering of the market which has now freed up some other groups, like my mates, that I have no problems with.

The rest is marketing. I moved north to an area where everyone was googling for and asking after Krav. I would have had to have spent a ton of money marketing my stuff, or less money getting certified in KM with my mate, and teaching it instead.

In his setup we can remove the crap from KM, add missing elements such as soft skills (which I've done) so it was a no-brainer really.

Think of it (and I've mentioned this before on my FIST web site) as the difference between an AK-47 and an AR-15. An instructor in one isn't going to take very long to become an instructor in the other platform. I can now teach both, instead of just one, but the market has a preference hence my now teaching Krav.

Hope that helps

Nick

Nick Hughes wrote:Hey mate,

I've actually answered this a couple of times already but it's entirely possible that some of the replies have been lost when the forum went through its upheaval a month or so ago.

I do know there are several posts I can't find but I'll paraphrase them in a second.

Hey Nick,

sorry then for asking you the question again, I did not know about the lost posts and that there were forum problems in the recent past, as I am not too often here anymore, I admit. I looked around and could not find anything about this topic, so I wanted to ask you directly about it.

If you find any of your old posts on that topic, please just post the links here, that would be enough for me.

To begin with I stand by all of those quotations but I'd also add the missing ones from here in which I said "there is Krav and there is Krav." I mentioned several times that the group I worked out with in PA was hard core and I also talked about my mate Ernie's group having an open house fight night on Friday's etc.

Yes, I remember you said so as well and it is only fair that you mention these quotes in this context.

It gets political so I'm going to try and avoid that but let me just say that until recently there was only one organization for KM here in the States. They lost a court case that challenged their cornering of the market which has now freed up some other groups, like my mates, that I have no problems with.

Thanks, this is interesting for me as I do not know too much about the situation in KM in the U.S. of A. and it is different from our situation here in Germany, where we have many different organisations and this since quite a long time.

Out of curiousity: which organisation do you and your friend Ernie belong to?

The rest is marketing. I moved north to an area where everyone was googling for and asking after Krav. I would have had to have spent a ton of money marketing my stuff, or less money getting certified in KM with my mate, and teaching it instead.

Respect for your honesty here on this answer! You are a class act!

In his setup we can remove the crap from KM, add missing elements such as soft skills (which I've done) so it was a no-brainer really.

I am always interested in what good people like you and your friends would add/change/remove to/in/from "their" KM. If you have the time and inclination I would appreciate it, if you could write some lines about it. As mentioned above, if you find old post of yours covering this topic simply post the links, that would do.

Think of it (and I've mentioned this before on my FIST web site) as the difference between an AK-47 and an AR-15. An instructor in one isn't going to take very long to become an instructor in the other platform. I can now teach both, instead of just one, but the market has a preference hence my now teaching Krav.

I am not a shooter but I got your example, I think.

Hope that helps

Nick

Yeah, you helped a lot, thank you!

AD

I sent you a PM mate...outlines some stuff.

My main complaint with the group that was here was that after green belt (and yes, they introduced the Japanese belt system for some reason) their stuff went a bit outside of the parameters i.e. jump spinning back kicks and so on.

I'm also not a fan of the simultaneous block and strike knife defense and, I think I mentioned, they have no soft skills incorporated at all.

Nick

PS: If the gun analogy is difficult...think cars. If you were a BMW mechanic and switched to working on Audis it wouldn't be too hard to make the jump. Much would be very similar and the principles almost identical. (Look, I even used German cars to make the analogy easier. Ich bin zuper!! )

Nick Hughes wrote:I sent you a PM mate...outlines some stuff.

Thanks dude, what a service! Be prepared to get one back, though it might take a bit.

My main complaint with the group that was here was that after green belt (and yes, they introduced the Japanese belt system for some reason) their stuff went a bit outside of the parameters i.e. jump spinning back kicks and so on.

I own the book complete Krav Maga, where the whole program till brown-belt of said organisation was published and I had the same thoughts about certain material, especially the high- and jumping-kicks.

I'm also not a fan of the simultaneous block and strike knife defense and, I think I mentioned, they have no soft skills incorporated at all.

Thanks for your input on this.

PS: If the gun analogy is difficult...think cars. If you were a BMW mechanic and switched to working on Audis it wouldn't be too hard to make the jump. Much would be very similar and the principles almost identical.

Thats a perfect example for a German. One with two different beer-breeweries would also work.

(Look, I even used German cars to make the analogy easier. Ich bin zuper!! )

Indeed, you definitely are!

Nick Hughes wrote:I'm also not a fan of the simultaneous block and strike knife defense

Just to make sure: with this, do you mean the so-called bursting defense [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcyRPAQRMo0&feature=related ] or something different?

That's it...you WILL NOT see that in what I teach.

Nick

I nearly got into Krav a couple of times but didn't purely cos off the attitude I got when I phone up with enquiries. The first time it was some month long instructors course I could take and the guy on the phone just wouldn't have that I was an experienced martial artist
'Oh its really only meant for people who have done this and that.' and despite my assurances that I had done most of the stuff on his list to one level or another he just didn't hide the fact he wasn't planning to get me on this course.

The other was a local lesson and I got alarm bells when he was planning to charge extra for the first lesson because it was an introduction lesson, it wasn't that much but it still bugged me. Also he didn't both to be polite so I didn't bother to show up, he had an arrogance in his voice so I decided I couldn't be chewed. Maybe I judged him harshly but it I had a lot of shit on my plate at the time I recall.

Anyway other than that its Krav that has nothing to do with anything else in this thread

Nick, are there any videoclips from/about your Krav Maga school on the internet?

Not currently...but I am working on it.

Nick

That is excellent! I am looking forward to watch them.

There is a bunch of (extremely well-made) training-pics from Nicks Krav Maga training-group on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151442022722501.585064.84042517500&type=3

Nice job everyone!