This type of attack is one of the less common ones.

It is classed as a circular type stab and as such you would defend this by blocking the attacking arm with your forearms. As soon as possible either grab the attackers arm and gain control before counter striking.

Watch the full video of Defending Back Handed Stab

Please leave any comments you may have.

Part 1 will be dealing with straight attacks.

For the purpose of simplicity straight attacks can be descibed as any type of punch, kick, strike etc that moves towards your body in a straight direction from any angle. (In reality some attacks are a mixture of straignt and circular and a slighly modified version of the defense described here may be appropriate.)

Examples of straight attacks can include straight punches at various heights, straight stabs, front, side and back kicks as well as straight bat attacks.

Redirection, Control & Counter

The basic principle for dealing with straight attacks in Krav Maga is to move your body off of the line of attack while redirecting or intercepting the attack with a limb (hand, arm, foot, leg,) or common object. Lastly counter-strike and escape.

The line of attack can be described in the following diagram:

The attacker (in blue) throws punch/kick etc towards the middle of the defenders body (this could be from any number of other angles also) The defender, at the earliest possible moment, if possible, reaches forward to intercept the attack while simultaneously moving his body from the line of attack.

The foot work for the movement is shown below:

As a general rule, most of the time the defender moves off of the line of attack by moving diagonally forward towards the direction of the foot that is furthest forward. In this example that would be the left foot. In some circumstances, such as when defending an attack from an angle other than directly in front, the defender may find it more natural to move the rear leg first. (obviously this is reversed if the right led happens to be furthest forward!)

The rear leg then follows quickly in a slight circular motion until it has also cleared the line of attack.
(A common mistake I often see is for the defender to either move their rear leg first or just move the front leg and leave the rear still on the line of attack.)

The basic steps can be seen below:

The only main difference between this attack and any other straight one is the position of the hands when defending.

We have filmed a full video of this technique which is available on Krav Maga TV

In part 2 of this series we will be discussing circular attacks

We would love to hear your comments and suggestions for new videos and tutorials so please post a comment

Jamie

Then take your food with you!

So many people rely upon having to find food during the day, this usually results in 2 things, 1. they eat infrequently causing the metabolism to slow and 2. the eat what is convenient, usually junk food as its quick and very easy to find

The answer is get a little more disciplined and pack a lunch that you can eat throughout the day, you can then choose better food and better times to eat, try this for a week and you’ll notice a big difference with your levels of energy and mental alertness and over a period of weeks weight will drop off!

Wayne

We were learning and practising defending front chokes and after running through the standard variation from a standing and pushing positions, I had the students practice defending the front choke while being held up against a wall.

Although this only made a slight difference to the technique used for defending (mainly thelack

of leaning back while ‘plucking’ the opponents wrists) it was enough of a variation to keep things interesting.

The students either performed a standard type of defence from this position or as a variation used the wall to slam the attacker into after escaping from the choke hold.
Check out the video of a drill similar here

Defending yourself using a wall

I run a Gym and Krav Center and find that the best time for me to train is before work so I tend to train around 7am. This is not a great time to find a training partner!

I start with conditioning exercises then I finish with around 20-30 min every morning mon-fri of Krav Techniques

I take 2-3 different groups say defending stick attacks or 360, next I imagine and attacks from a variety of angles and defend against this imaginary opponent, a bit like Karate Kata’s or Forms, only with Krav we are imagining and defending a realistic attack!

I feel that this type of training can be as beneficial as training with a partner as your visualisation has to be very strong, its also great for conditioning.

Try this every morning for a week and see the improvement at you next class

Wayne

I have recently started incorporating some new bodyweight exercises into my training to increase overall strength and to have a change from my normal strength training routine.

I have always trained with weights since the age of about 14 when I had a plastic and sand weight training set at home.
I consider strength training important for a healthy body and it also helps with improving the amount of power delivered when kicking punching and grappling.

I have experimented with all sorts of weight training programs over the years, and the ones that I consider the best for real overall body strength always incorporate the use of the core muscles in conjunction with the arms and legs (see also the core training article on this site).

I know many of you are familiar with some bodyweight exercises such as push ups and squats, and you may be saying to yourself, big deal, I do these all the time and they are easy. The trick to making bodyweight exercises a good option to build functional body strength is to try to make the leverage worse so the exercise gets harder.

Let me explain this point a little more. When you perform any motion your body trys to make it as easy as possible by using as may joints and muscles as possible and by giving you the best leverage advantage – think leaning backwards when performing a biceps curl in the gym to ‘cheat’ a little extra weight up.

The next time you try a punch up try to elevate your legs, or use one leg on the ground or get your partner to hold onto your feet. Try to keep your body aligned and you should feel your whole body contracting to stabilise the motion.

Here are a few of the exercises I have added or am training towards:

Handstand push up
Planche Push Up
Single Arm Chin
Front Lever
Various types of plank

I find all of these very hard currently but they are getting easier!

There are so good websites available on bodyweight training, Google it and see what you can find. List any links to good site in the forum by clicking the link below.

Life should be cosy and comfortable for us all, and for the most part, if we are lucky it usually is.

However, the reality is that it is becoming increasingly likely that you or someone with you, a friend a colleague or a family member will become the victim of an assault, or a violent crime of some kind.

Knife threats, attacks, muggings are all a real possibility in the current environment, and unfortunately statistics tell us they are only on the increase.

Training in Krav Maga sets the balance of power much more in your favour, learning how to read a situation before an incident happens, to be able to punch and kick correctly to defend yourself dealing with knife threats attacks, being able to deal with a drunk grabbing you, a fight starting etc.

Train in Krav Maga!

A few weeks into your Krav Maga training your confidence will grow, and most importantly perhaps, you awareness will be heightened and your decision making processes will be much improved, this in many cases will have a positive benefit in all areas of your life.

Train, get fit and feel safe Krav Maga style!