We had a great class last night exploring some variations on the Krav Maga basic groundfighting curriculum. Many thanks to Dave for sharing his experience and insights with us.

Dave reminded me of something I had learned in another life as a Marine infantryman training MOUT in the late ’90s, and that perfectly encapsulates what we do as Krav Maga practitioners. Three essential elements in an ambush or room entry or—we’ll now say—even basic self-defense are:

Surprise
Speed
Violence of Action

I’ve written several articles that parallel this. Here are a couple of them:

• The Importance of Explosiveness
• The Importance of Aggression

Photo credit: U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos, on Flickr