“What if I am walking down a dark alley with $20 bills hanging out of my pockets and I’m attacked by 27 Ninjas with Uzis? What do I do?”
I just read this and wanted to share:
“What-If-Monkeys” by Marc MacYoung
The article author says a lot and says it well, so I don’t want to add to the general topic. I do, however, have a few things to say regarding what-ifs as they specifically relate to Krav Maga:
One of the main reasons I believe in Krav Maga, as someone who both trains in it and teaches it, is that it applies as few techniques/solutions as possible to as many scenarios as possible. For example, we often make defenses based solely on the angle of an attack rather than the specifics of it (is it a fist, foot, weapon, etc.?). This speeds both the training time and the reaction time to a surprise attack by limiting the available options (see also Hick’s Law). That said, the system doesn’t “force” techniques to work in situations they clearly won’t. While the tools in the Krav Maga toolbox are both few and versatile by design, the system doesn’t claim to have a set of secret super moves that will work against any opponent in any circumstance. Maintaining situational awareness, training your reflexive responses, and training to see within the fight will aid you best in most scenarios.
As trainees in a “reality-based” system, we need to address both general and specific scenarios, and obviously train them as realistically as possible. So, I post this not to discourage anyone from asking any question. (Nor am I insinuating that too many 27-Ninjas-type questions are being asked in class!) We love exploring scenarios with students when appropriate, especially when we see them “get it”. It’s important to understand, though, that:
Violence is extremely mutable. Those mutations occur from situation to situation and second to second depending on circumstances. As such, attempting to micromanage and have exact pre-planned responses to every possible scenario is unrealistic. Such an attitude hinders mental flexibility and inhibits the responder’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This inability increases the danger to the would-be responder.
—Marc MacYoung
OK. But what if there are twenty-EIGHT ninjas?
I would have asked that in class but a) I’m afraid Patrick would hurt me, and b) I live at work now and can’t come to class until something gets resolved. 馃檨 It’s kind of a Rapunzel situation, but with programming. I miss Krav.
Hair grab defenses are Level 3. 馃槈
This doesn’t make any sense: ninjas don’t carry uzis 馃檪
Everyone knows ninjas can be fought off with everyday kitchen items:
http://purpleslinky.com/offbeat/the-10-best-kitchen-implements-for-fighting-off-a-ninja/
So i apply all newly encountered turns of life to dogs, and therefore i view Krav Maga as being bitework for dogs, but taught to humans. i feel as though an aquaintance with plausible tactics against physical harm is a benefitial pursuit. being a difficult animal to kill has worked for large canids throughout time, so why couldn’t it work for me? given ample instruction and repetition and guidance, given practice and/or training, couldn’t i be learning something really valuable? couldn’t i be garnering a really good skill? obviously i am both discouraged and keen to do better each time i’m shown how poorly i fair being headlocked, choked, etc. but could one someday become good at scrapping?