Evening everyone.
I am currently exploring options for personal self defence and close combat training in Calgary. Im not interested in things like mma or other sporting style martial arts (not that they arnt effective... just as a prepper I would rather train in a more real world experience then in a ring.) I am more interested in the martial art of Krav Maga, which if you are not aware is the israeli military official close combat discipline. I stumbled across a website for a local Martial Arts club in Calgary that offers Krava Maga, and another similar class for Traditional Close Quarter Combat. these two disciplines focus on real world fighting scenarios like knife or gun assaults, sneak attacks, and multiple attackers. They rely on the ability to quickly analize, defend, counter attack, and disengage as quickly as possible to allow survival, all the while inflicting the most damage as possible to your attacker in the minimum time frame.
here is the link for the club I found in calgary: http://www.integritytkd dot com
it is up on northmont drive. I was curious if anyone on these boards has taken any training there, and if so, what are your thoughts on it. I have browsed through the website and it appears to be a fairly safe starting point. according to his personal bio, the head instructor has extensive martial arts experience, and is also a commanding officer the Calgary Police Service Tactical team. Ive met a few of these fellows and believe me, they are intimidating even in a social setting.
I think I am going to take a drive up there this week to drop in on a class and see what it is like. I thought that I would pass this info along to any other preppers out there who are interested in self defence from an unarmed vs armed or multiple attacker perspective. Just my personal opinion but I dont see how a discipline such as karate or judo or even mma would be very useful in a shtf scenario, let alone a simple random street encounter. Sure you would do fine if it was 1v1, your attacker had no training of their own, and they were unarmed... but what if they were trained? armed with a knife? a gun? a bat? what if they had friends ready to jump in? I dont claim to be an expert in any martial training (actually... I have none to speak of), but I believe that Krav Maga would be the perfect prepper self defence technique.
here is the description of the krav maga discipline on their website: Commando Krav Maga (CKM) is a highly effective, easy to learn reality-based training for Gun & Rifle Disarming, Vicious Knife Attacks and Threats, Violent Strangles, Ground Survival, Fast and Brutal Striking Scenarios, Pressure Points, Violent Headlocks, Explosive Baseball Bat Attacks, Clinch Defense, Surprise Attacks, Escape from Unexpected Street-holds, Improvised Weapons, Crime and Terrorism Survival Skills, Grappling and Striking techniques, Pre and Post Conflict Tactics, Commando Training Tips and much more!
If anyone has any experience with this club or the trainers... or if they have any more perspective on martial training and self defence practices, please comment here, I would love to discuss them. Im not set on krav maga by any means, so if someone has a better idea and a place to get the training please let me know. Also if anyone knows of any other Krav Maga schools in the city please let me know (as the link above was the only school I could find in calgary)
Thanks,
Buggie
[edit] This is not a promotion or advertisement for the club... im looking for info on the school and krav maga in general, and also possibly sparking the interest of anyone who has every thought about a real self defence technique that can be used in real world scenarios... not an octagon in las vegas
See you all after.
Octagon fighting, as seen in the UFC, is close to the most realistic hand-to-hand one-vs-one fighting you can do, minus a few lethal strikes/grapples. Some of the rules are set up only to prevent permanent injuries and to provide sportsmanlike behavior (eye-gouging, throwing someone out of the ring, spitting, etc). However, trust me when I say that a gouged eye will not stop someone from trying to kill you - I've personally witnessed the aftermath of that exact scenario down in the Philippines in the late 90's.
Krav Maga is great. It is similar to UFC in that it is a fusion of techniques from multiple martial arts that can be executed swiftly and with lethal effect. The difference is that KM is truly intended for self-defense regardless if you're going up against 1, 2 or 4 attackers, and it emphasizes the efficiency of movement, too. No fluffy/exaggerated/fancy moves, just what works. UFC, on the other hand, is specialized for 1 vs 1. I've never been to that specific KM location in Calgary, but it does look promising. The Taekwondo aspect of their club has been around for a long time now, I used to see posters for it even years back.
Following the 80-20 rule (80% of the effects will come from the first 20% of the effort), the bottom line is that almost any reasonable martial arts training will benefit you against any inexperienced attacker/s. Heck, back in high school, I managed to fend off three carjackers with knives in a parking lot with only the limited skills that I knew at the time, which was competition-style Taekwondo (as opposed to self-defense Taekwondo). Given what I know now, which is a cross-discipline platform of Aikido and Muay Thai (which still isn't close to Krav Maga efficiency), I might be able to do the same to those carjackers even if they were not so inept.
Oh, and yelling/screaming bloody murder war cries will work a lot, too. 😀
The issue I have with mixed martial arts like UFC style fighting is the combinations of disciplines that are chosen. Most fighters with either study a stand up striking form like boxing or kickboxing (instead of something like muay thai) and a grappling form like greco-roman wrestling or jui jitsu. as you said Rabbit, these forms are all designed for 1v1 fights with rules in place to prevent real injury. But if I am being attacked after shtf, or even if it was to happen to me on the street somewhere, im not interested in putting the guy into a guillotine choke hold while his friends are stabbing me in the back. I would want to try to engage and disengage as quickly as possible. Thats why i lean more towards the krav maga then the mma training.
I will make contact with this group sometime this week, and maybe drop in on a class to check it out. I will let you guys know my thoughts on it incase anyone is interested.
See you all after.
Buggie,
It may depend on geography. Are you close to the Krav Maga school?? If so, then that is the best place for you to train. The closer you are to the school or Dojo the more likely you are to attend class. I have never attended Krav Maga, but I do have a respect for the IDF and the training they go through.
If you are located in the extreme south of Cowtown, I might suggest you visit Foothills Training Services in Okotoks. Sensei Tom, is very skilled in multiple skill sets, including Bujinkan, Arnis and tactical ground fighting. Yes, his Dojo also trains those in the octagon. But, if you have to travel great distance, then you will be less likely to go to class. Just human nature.
I agree with you, schools that teach skills for the battlefield are more likely to pass on skills to keep you alive post-SHTF.
Just my 2 cents,
Mountainman.
im located in the mid west area of calgary. The Integrity martial arts club works out of a gym on northmont drive, so its about a 15-20 minute drive for me. The foothills training center in okotoks is about a 30-40 minute drive, so the northmont location is closer. unfortunatley as I said earlier this is the only school in calgary I could find that offers this kind of training, but if I could find something closer to me I would definatley look into that option instead. I agree that if you have to go to far, the chances are that a person would probobly stop going after awhile to avoid the inconvenience.
See you all after.
Buggie, your points are well taken. KM will definitely be a major asset if SHTF, as they don't "beat around the bush" so to speak. 🙂 Good luck, and please report back on your findings in a few months.
Hey buggie are you wanting to get a group to do this or just giving info on it
Preparedness is like a condom , I've rather have it and not need it, rather than need it and not have it
I was just looking into it myself. I havnt been able to get down there yet but I plan to before the new year. I was just curious if anyone had any experience with krav maga or this school in particular.
See you all after.