Street Survival Guide

8/3/2019 Street Survival Guide

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01043 FEBRUARY 2010www.blackbeltmag.com

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MARTIAL ARTSPLACES TO GO

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48 BLACK BELT blackbeltmag.com / FEBRUARY 2010

DESTRUTHE COMMANDO KRAV MAGAGUIDE TO STREET SURVIVAL

WAY OF

by Henry Kou / Photography by Thomas Sanders

When nonpractitioners watch a mixed-martial artsshow on television, theyre entertained by the spectacleof modern-day gladiators vying for dominance in the cage.When martial artists watch, however, the effect is different.They subconsciously examine the athletes kicks, punch-es, takedowns and submissions, after which they usuallynd themselves wondering how effective their favoriteghter would be in a self-defense situation. >>

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The martial artists might then conclude that to be prepared for a street ght, theyshould train like an MMA competitorthat is, develop a few powerful strikes and a solidground game. After that, they hypothesize, theyll be able to take on anyone. It makessenseas long as there are no other variables in the altercation. Unfortunately, whenyoure talking about combat on the street, in a bar or in a parking lot, theres nothing butvariables.

Consider: Youve nished a workout at a local ght gym and decide to walk to anearby store and grab a snack. As you leave, a man asks you for money. Thats when younotice another guy, who starts closing the distance. The rst man attacks, and you nailhim with a roundhouse to the thigh and punch to the head. His friend jumps you from be-hind, and you fall to the ground. Youre comfortable with your ground game, so you startworking your way into a textbook armbar. Then you feel the sensation of being punched

QUICK RELEASEMoni Aizik is held at gunpoint.

He turns his body and uses both hands to redirect the muzzle to ensure that hes off the line of re.

Aizik twists to his left and leverages the gun out of the assailants grip.

Once he has possession of the weapon,Aizik backs off and uses it to hold him at bay.

in the back. You disengage and stand, andas the thugs run away, you notice a numb-ness in your back and see blood runningdown your shirt. You were stabbed threetimes and didnt know it. The worst part is,there are no medical professionals or ref-erees to render assistance.

The rst lesson of street ghting:The longer you draw out a ght, the morelikely you are to end up in the hospitalorthe morgue. Your actions and reactionsmust be quicker because the outcome canbe deadlier.

The best way to prepare yourself forthe street is to train under conditions thatmimic a street ght. In other words, prac-tice in the environment youll ght in. Now,if you want to compete in MMA, thats ne.Locate a gym with good coaches and haveat it. However, if your primary pursuit isself-defense, youll need to nd a good re-ality-based system and train in a way thatdevelops the skills you need to survive.

Reality-based self-defense is growingin popularity because its effective and ef-cient. The goal is to prepare the practi-tioner to defend himself in a short amountof time. The philosophy is similar to that ofthe military and law enforcement, whererecruits must be made battle-ready asquickly as possible. Why the hurry? Be-cause in todays society, few adults havethe time to commit to long-term training.

To become procient at self-defense,

more and more people are turning to Com-mando Krav Maga. The system was found-ed by Moni Aizik, a former commando in theIsraeli special forces. During his service,he fought in the Yom Kippur War, where hewitnessed rsthand what does and doesntwork. Aizik coupled the lessons he learnedin battle with the knowledge he accumulat-ed in the traditional martial artshe was aseven-time national judo and jujutsu cham-pionto create CKM.

For a system to be effective, Aizik de-termined, it has to be simple enough foranyone to learn and perform under stress.More important, it has to work againstuncooperative attackers. CKM shines onboth fronts, which leads to

The second lesson of street ght-ing: Creating the greatest amount of dam-age in the shortest amount of time is thekey to survival.

Unlike what you see in the movies,good self-defense isnt composed of ashy



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THE RHINOMoni Aizik (left) extends his arms and

shouts, I dont want to ght, so witness- es can hear.

The opponent becomes more aggressive, which causes Aizik to begin closing the gap and to raise his left elbow to shield the side of his head and cup his hand over the back of his head for additional protection. His right hand is positioned in front of his face for offense and defense.

Continuing his forward motion, Aizik makes contact with the enemy and slams his palm into his nose.

He immediately follows up with a series of debilitating face rakes,

then disengages.

moves. Avoid high kicks, acrobatic tech-niques and complicated disarms. Instead,concentrate on tactics that are simple andstraightforward.

Scenario: Youre at an ATM at night.You feel a gun jammed into your back by acriminal whos demanding your money. Asyou formulate your response, fear, shockand adrenaline kick in, making it impos-sible to remember any of the complicateddisarms youve seen in demos.

The third lesson of street ght-ing: Under extreme stress, any techniquethat involves more than two gross-motorskills will likely fail. If said technique iscomposed of more than ve or six individu-al moves, its even worse. When panic andadrenaline take over, confusion is the rstthing to set in. Its why Aizik emphasizessimplicity.

Most of the techniques he teaches areuniversal. They work when performed with

your left or right hand and to the front andback. Example: the quick release, a CKMgun disarm. It can be performed when theweapon is pointed at your head, chest,back or either side of your body. It doesntmatter whether the assailant is holding thegun with his left hand, right hand or bothhands. Its a universal solution to a varietyof problems, which is important becauseunder stress, most people are limited toperforming simple, quickly accessed tasks.

Maximum DamageIn a karate tournament, one competitor

often feels out his opponent before un-leashing his favorite attack. Your mind-setmust be different on the street. Theres notime to waste; theres only action and reac-tion.

The fourth lesson of streetghting: As soon as someone attacksyou, strive to debilitate him immediately,preferably by making your defense thesame as your offense. Take advantageof any weaknesses you spot in his de-fenses, as well as any exposed pressurepoints. Proven techniques include gougingthe eyes, smashing the groin, striking thethroat, ripping the Adams apple and bitingany unprotected body part. If that soundsdirty, its because it is.

The fth lesson of street ght-ing: There are no rules on the street. Yourattacker wont hesitate to hurt you, so youmust adopt the same mentality.

Art of DeceptionOn the street, deception is your friend,

and psychology plays as important a role

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as technique. Never give your attacker ahint of whats to come until its too late.

One such tactic in the CKM arsenal isthe rhino, a great example of offensivedefense. If youre at a bar and a rowdypatron tries to start something, you cre-ate distance by extending your arms whilerepeating that you dont want to ght. Ifyoure lucky, the person will back away andleave. If he opts to take a swing, youre in aposition for action. You close the gap withthe rhino, which gives him an opportunityto eat an elbow or palm strike, after which

you unleash multiple nger rakes to the

AGAINST THE WALL

BOdy assist

The assailant (right) approaches Moni Aizik and begins to deploy his knife.

As soon as the Commando Krav Maga expert determines the type of attack his opponent will usein this case, a low thrusthe formulates his defense: an X-block effected with his palms facing his body.

Aizik redirects the mans weapon arm to his right.

eyes. Itll buy you enough time to disen-gage. Remember that your goal is not tostay and punish him; its to create damageand get away. Review the rst lesson ofstreet ghting.

CKM disarms also utilize the principleof psychological deception. If an armedassailant puts a gun to your head, youassume a submissive demeanor to makehim feel in control. Meanwhile, youre tell-ing him youll give him anything he wants.During the verbal exchange, you immedi-ately perform the quick release. Before he

knows what happened, the weapon is in

your hands. You then create distance andtake control.

Train the Way You FightWhen it comes to pure self-defense,

you should endeavor to make your trainingas realistic as possible. To that end, CKMhas dispensed with patterns and forms, aswell as with traditional sparring for points.Instead, practitioners work out in streetclothes and subject themselves to realis-tic simulations. Why? Because the sixthlesson of street ghting is to train the way

youll ght.

Meanwhile, his left thumb is on the back of the mans wrist to stop him from bend- ing it to reacquire his aim.

For students who may lack the arm strength to wrench a gun out of the hand of an assailant, Moni Aizik recommends using the upper body to generate additional power. To demonstrate, he allows his opponent to place the muzzle of the weapon against his chest.

Aizik moves off the line of re as he plac- es his left hand on the mans wrist and his right hand on the rearm. Note how he positions his right thumb on the hammer to prevent the gunman from yanking the weapon out of his hand and to keep his ngers away from the muzzle.

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Once the assailant has been rotated half- way, Aizik uses his torso to apply pressure against his elbow and force him to face the wall.

He nishes by slamming the mans knife hand into the wall until he drops the weapon. Afterward, he can pick up the blade and escape.

For maximum realism, think about howyoud assault someone on the street, thenset up scenarios to recreate those circum-stances. Use multiple assailants, rubberguns and knives, improvised weaponsand surprise attacks. The CKM conceptof pressure training will help you up theante: Devise drills in which the victim isslapped in the head or hit in the stomach topour on the adrenaline. Use vigorous exer-cises such as 360-degree spinning jumpsand burpees to induce fatigue and disori-entation, both of which can hamper you if

youre not accustomed to them.

To further increase the intensity, in-struct the students who are role-playingthe attackers to be uncooperative. Theyshould be aggressive and intimidating soyoull be motivated to get out of the situa-tion quickly.

For the ultimate in reality-based train-ing, introduce paintball guns and knivesdipped in red paintalong with the nec-essary safety gear, of course. Use what-ifscenarios in which the attacker drops hisweapon or is disarmed and deploys a sec-ond weapon. Train in the dark or outside

when the conditions permit. Learning how

to fall the right way on concrete or unevensurfaces will minimize your risk of gettingseriously hurt if you have to do it for real.

The seventh lesson of streetghting: If an attacker takes you down,you must debilitate him and get up withinve seconds. Why? Even if youre thegreatest grappler in the world, it can befatal to stay on the ground during a streetght. To ingrain that, have a partner whosrole-playing a bystander wait ve sec-onds before pulling out a rubber knife orgun and jumping in.

Cutting EdgeAizik realized long ago that self-de-

fense isnt static; its a constantly evolvingpursuit. Thats why hes adopted a scien-tic approach that entails always lookingfor ways to improve the system. How canthe techniques be made faster and bet-ter? How can a move be modied so a5-foot-tall woman who weighs 95 poundscan survive an attack by a man twice hersize? Such questions are constantly beingasked by CKM instructorsand they mustbe asked because thats the only way toensure that the system stays on the cuttingedge of self-defense.

About the author: Henry Kou is a Vaughan, Ontario,

Canada-based freelance writer whos trained under Moni Aizik for

six years. For more information, visit commandokravmaga.com.

He follows up with a face strike, after which he's free to use the gun on the assailant, if need be.

After pinning the gun to his chest, the defender rotates his torso counter- clockwise until the man's hold on it is broken.

He uses his left hand to turn his head away by pushing on his nose.

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