Has the Recent Popularity Helped or Hurt Krav Maga as an Art?

[Jonathan Randall]

Has the Recent Popularity Helped or Hurt Krav Maga as an Art? The flood of books, tapes and seminars? Has this popularity helped or hurt Krav Maga in general? Thoughts?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

In one way it is good because you have a greater opportunity to train in Krav Maga. The down side is that many of the newer Krav Maga teachers have only had minimal training. (some as little as a weekend) So there is a great variety of what kind of training you could get.

Krav Maga is a very good art and if you get to train with a proficient practitioner it is worth your while to do so in my opinion.

 

[dok]

speaking generally :

I'm not sure how Krav Maga can be 'hurt' by popularity or lack thereof. Its just an art, all that matters is how its practiced. If its being practiced cheaply (it is), that doesnt diminish what the real practicioners are doing. It may affect public perception - but thats such a vain and cheap thing to begin with.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

speaking generally :

I'm not sure how Krav Maga can be 'hurt' by popularity or lack thereof. Its just an art, all that matters is how its practiced. If its being practiced cheaply (it is), that doesnt diminish what the real practicioners are doing. It may affect public perception - but thats such a vain and cheap thing to begin with.

While I understand and respect your point, Brian makes a good one as well. The growth of unqualified instructors, while at first just damaging the perception of the art as you write, will eventually, IMO, drive students away from the real ones in the same way that the growth of commercial and sport TKD harmed many traditional schools. Just a thought.

 

[dok]

While I understand and respect your point, Brian makes a good one as well. The growth of unqualified instructors, while at first just damaging the perception of the art as you write, will eventually, IMO, drive students away from the real ones in the same way that the growth of commercial and sport TKD harmed many traditional schools. Just a thought.

Thats a very fair point.

 

[MJS]

Has the Recent Popularity Helped or Hurt Krav Maga as an Art? The flood of books, tapes and seminars? Has this popularity helped or hurt Krav Maga in general? Thoughts?

Pretty much every art out there has some sort of tape, dvd or book, so KM is really no different. Does it help promote the art? Absolutely! Like anything, seeking out a qualified inst. is the best way to go IMO. As simply as KM is to learn, I still feel that its not simple enough to learn from a tape or book.

As for the mass production of instructors...honestly, I'm not sure how long the inst. classes go, but I personally don't feel that one can call themselves an inst. after say, 2 weeks.