Monday, February 24, 2014

Krav Maga

Still Paleo but what more do you need to know (eat good Meat / Fish / Veg / Fruit / Nuts)

Krav Maga

This week we added kicking to our repertoire. With a partner we worked on a front kick followed by a spinning back kick. Luckily my karate knowledge helped a lot here as I already knew how to kick properly (although I am a bit out of practice ;) ). The main point is to get your knee up before you thrust your leg out, this way your thigh can be powering out the kick as the lower leg gives you the acceleration to deliver the kick with speed. We were connecting with the heel as well so quite a lot of power is delivered. Another great part of the power comes from the hips and how they open as you thrust in. I could probably write an essay about kicks luckily my brain has held the knowledge even if my body isn't up to speed yet.

I have added a number of leg exercises to my routine to develop speed and power of these kicks. We have a machine in the gym that enables you to perform knee thrusts with a weight. I need to do more of these. Kicks are one of my favorite weapons as you have much longer reach and your heel is somewhat harder than your little old fist. Plus not so many people are good at kicking, or defending against kicks.

I have also upped my flexibility training doing something everyday. I just follow some of the great videos on YouTube such as this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO84APlNN9s Which is great as it is what we used to do in my Karate class.

We also practiced spinning back fist / hammer fist... it had some power and I could see how it would do some damage, personally I find it a little bit flashy. Good to train it though.

Then we did some straw man training. Your partner stands with their legs apart and their arms out by their sides. We then got to practice combinations of kicks and punches delivering to the lower leg, upper leg, inside leg, groin, torso, sides etc. This was just very gentle improving technique and practicing hitting the right spots.

This was followed by sparring, this was our first time sparring so it was done with minimal contact. This allowed us to try different combinations, defense / attacks / counter attacks. I was pleased that I got to deliver a Mark Hunt (UFC) classic of using a left jab to disguise my incoming side kick. This worked really well with all of my opponents. I did have trouble dealing with the over hand right so I am studying this week some good defense / counter attacks.

Then the instructor for a bit of fun did a demonstration on disarming a knife / gun from an opponent. This was to give us a taste of some of the future lessons. Very interesting stuff, I will detail this more when we actually learn the techniques.

We then practiced the moves from the previous weeks which form part of the level 1 grading we will take sometime in the future.

Another excellent lesson and I learnt some good lessons about my fighting technique. In the coming weeks they will hopefully help me as the fighting becomes more real in our sparring.

Exercise

  • More flexibility
  • Lift heavy weights on chest and back day
  • Kettle bells (always)
  • Work on forearms using dumbbells and hand grips
  • Incorporate medicine ball into core strength training
  • Clean my bike up ready for March when I start cycling again
I started out Krav with some trepidation about learning something so savage but already I am starting to see there is a lot more to this martial art than meets the eyes. I have read a lot of blogs where people say Krav is not a martial art the same way that Jujitsu or Karate is, but that is simply wrong. It is a very practical self defense system and as all of the learning is done with a partner in many ways you are better prepared for actual fighting situations. For me I just love studying Martial Arts I do not feel heavily for any one in particular. If you train, train hard, learn the intricacies and above all enjoy it while getting a great physical work out, what could be wrong there.

In time I am going to walk into that Jujitsu club near by (if I ever get home from work in time) and have a go at that too.  

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