tshadowchaser said:
are there diferences in the way Kav Maga is taught to the milatary then civilians?
Best of luck getting accepted to teach the military.
Thanks ;-)
Krav Maga is borken up into three principle organizations in Israel - Kapap, IKMF and Israeli Krav Maga (Krav Magen, a derivative of Krav Maga, doesn't count). Each is headed by one of Imi Lichtenfeld's senior students, each of having slightly or significantly different material. These are all civilian organizations
All of them use a belt system as follows: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, black 1-5, black 6-10 (honorary ranks). The material starts from the simpler to the more complicated (e.g. Releases from chokes are for yellow belt, defending against gun threat is for brown belt). Unlike traditional martial arts where katas are executed for each test, when testing for a rank in Krav Maga, one has to show all the techniques for his new belt as well as all the techniques for the preceding ranks. In addtion, one must show his proficiency
in several rounds of hand-to-hand combat, their content dictated by the rank being tested for. For example, a test for orange belt requires a slow fist fight and a slow fight (hands and feet), while a test for black 2 requires a slow fist fight, as fast fist fight, a slow fight, a fast fight, a fight against two opponents, 2 rounds against an attacker armed with a stick and 2 rounds against an attacker armed with a knife. All fights for all ranks are full contact.
In the military, krav maga is taught on a need-to-know basis. If your position has nothing to do with combat (e.g. flight sim operator), you learn some basic strikes with a rifle as part of boot camp. If your job does require use of specific unarmed combat techniques, you're taught according to need. There are drills for Air Marshalls (such as neutralizing a greande threat or a man threatening a third individual/crowd), Riot Control units (neutralizing a rioter, use of a police shield and baton to quell riots), Special Forces (sentry takedowns with a knife/rope/bare hands), bodyguards/protective detail (defending a third person from an oncoming attacker) and techniques that should be generally known to soldiers, such as violent situations in a car (terrorists kidnap soldiers from time to time).
This material is also taught to civilian practitioners in the higher black ranks.
There are also games which civilian practitioners are taught (not sure about the military). One of my favorites is where four fighters surround a fifth in a semi-circle facing him while a sixth one stands behind him and points to one of the four surrounding him and that one attacks the center fighter. The central fighter has to block and counter. The sixth fighter alternates between his four comrades and can occasionally go for a choke/nelson/bearhug which the central fighter has to release himself from and continue fighting.
So to summarize, the basic difference is that the civilian training is more comprehensive and thorough, while the military focuses on what's relevant to the profession.
