[/B][/I]
That exercise is used by one of my old instructors who at one stage was head of Australian Krav Maga under Eyal Yanilov.
The exercise is a desensitisation experience , only one of many drills , most of them are done from the fence position , but for a brief time this is done in close.
It is beneficial , in that the person will get somewhat used to being yelled and sworn at and will be able to remain calm under pressure and try and think tactically instead of freaking out when targeted by in your face aggression.
All the self defence gurus seem to be American on your list.
You might not believe it mate , but there are actually other people in the world that are doing good work in this area , not just Americans.
Yep, they happen to be American (US or Canadian); not surprisingly, I'm most familiar with them. I'm quite sure there are others in the world doing good work, though perhaps not getting the attention or publicity. You might note that I did say "starting point."
But I'll stand by my comments about your desensitization drill. You're practicing standing at zero-range, and letting someone be abusive. Why? Does it teach something useful --or is there another way to practice a response that will be beneficial and desensitize you? It might work as PART of a much larger program -- but especially as a stand-alone offering? Nope, not something I want to ingrain in my students. It's just like a lot of so-called scenario training. I've seen stuff set up to prove the instructors can stack the deck and beat the students... and, at the opposite end, scenarios designed solely to allow the student to succeed, no matter what they do. A scenario should be designed to allow the student to succeed, IF they do the right things. This isn't necessarily a cookie cutter response -- but there should be milestones and keys to define success. It's complicated and hard; much more than just "lets do something... you're walking down a dark alley, and a guy jumps you..."