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Martial arts, in the broadest sense, is one of those things which along with religion and sex, seems to provoke lots of diametrically opposed opinions. In the case of martials arts this is usually in the form of "my style/instructor/sensei/guru/sifu is the best in the known universe and your style is total pants! And its been going on for a long time. In the seventies, it was Kung Fu, mastery of which guaranteed success against any number of foes - especially on islands where conveniently the criminal mastermind owner had forbidden guns. In the eighties it was Ninjutsu which enabled you to become invisible, throw sharpened star shaped bits of metal around and dress in snazzy black pyjamas But both of these arts found themselves hyped in the media to the point where even the most credulous American was wondering "are they for real?" and the ninties saw kick-boxing and Muay Thai shoulder their way into the ring No clever weapons, no swords or stars, just fists, feet and elbow, the street form was about doing maximum damage to the opponent the ring form slightly more constrained. So what of the twenty-first century? Step forward Krav Maga (Hebrew: "Close Combat") Developed by Jews during World War 2, its a pragmatic fighting style that emphaises the no rules concept of martial arts. Students are taught basic concepts that they mix and match according to their needs. Its not pretty or flowery but focuses on doing maximum damage to the opponent using whatever comes to hand, including expedient weapons, like stones, sticks and passing people!
So what is the best martial art? The answer is of course the best martial art is the one that suits you and what you want to get out of it. No all fighting styles actually need to be geared towards fighting. You can train for fitness or simply the skills needed to archieve a form or kata without ever having to worry about exactly how you administer that death-dealing choke hold. In Kung Fu there are numerous weapons which you are unlikely to ever use in anger, but represent significant investment in developing the skills to use them effectively. In Muay Thai, the bag work drills will keep you in good shape without the need to enter the ring and even Ninjutsu can teach camouflage and cover without having to eliminate various Samurai. But most people coming into the field for the first time, will be interested in just how 'deadly' the art is? So the question which gets asked is which is the best
Years ago I read a series of articles in a magazine (Fighting Arts International Issue 38 et al ) about a martial artist and door security man (read 'bouncer') called Gary Spiers. In the series Gary recounted several fights and his personal fighting style developed from years of practical experience working doors at clubs and pubs. Gary thoughts on what was the best martial could be paraphrased as "It doesn't matter what the style of the kick is, if it hits you in the balls, you are down!" A tai-chi master with twenty years of practice under her belt and a knowledge of chi and the human anatomy could tie up a would-be mugger or attacker with ease. Given time and practice almost any art will work. Someone like Gary, who died in 2001 aged 57, would have slipped easily into the Krav Maga framework because in many senses, Krav is not unique, people who find a living minding doors and those who study and try to develop self defence technique would see many similarities with what they teach and the Israeli style. But the difficulty coming in teaching.
My introduction to martial was through 'Kyokushinkai', a hardcore karate style that emphaisied full contact in fighting and went in for hand and feet conditioning through bagwork and breaking. Kyokushinkai was a good art to learn, it got you used to the notion of getting hit and still continuing to fight - another Krav Maga principle. But aside from the inner circle of dedicated kohai. Most would-be students would come stay for a session or two and then not return. The training was simply that tough. If the intention of the 'semapi' was to teach students karate, then he failed.
I've taught a number people self-defence techniques, many of which resemble the Krav style but the essence of real combat is difficult to pass on to the average student. Krav students - at least in the videos I have watch so far seem quite happy to engage in full contact fighting with only the minimum of contact and the assumption has to be the people seen were Krav Maga's version of black belts. The 'get stuck in and trust your instincts' is good for an experienced fighter who will quickly asorb and adapt their techniques, but for the inexperienced person, who may not have gone toe to toe with an attacker since primary school, Krav or any full contact martial art will be a frightening experience. Many of my female students over the years lack any form of fighting skill, the first thing is usually to teach them to throw a punch and a kick.
Self-defence is the aim, so like Krav, I emphaisis short range kicks with the knee and the instep, fist and palm strike to the face and groin and the use of improvised weapons wherever possible and it was interesting to see how similar are the techniques used by Krav. Unlike Krav, I don't have much use for training using an M16, but I will be adding some of the knife defences which look simple and effective.
Most of my students have been keen to learn anti-assault/rape techniques and those are as much about awareness of the situation as technique. I was horrified to read in the Hastings local paper a few ago of a young girl who was raped on her way home But then I read the article: it was 2am, she was coming home from a party; had been drinking and was wearing a ipod, she was crossing the cliff and was on her own. There is so much wrong with that, that its difficult to know where to start. Let me be clear, there is no such thing as "asking for it" but there are nasty people out and its them that I teach my students to defend themselves against. Not being drunk on your own in the middle of nowhere with no sense of hearing in the early morning is likely to be a starting point! Krav's tactical awareness is about being in the right place to kill the enemy, what I teach is about watching people, how they move, how they hold themselves, the way they move. A would be rapist is likely to give away his intentions in lots of ways, all are an edge for the attackee. Krav and self defence both stress aggression and the simple act of responding forcefully to an attack may be sufficient to halt a rapist in his tracks. Anyone interested in hearing more, contact me. I am always happy to give private lessons or check out the Krav Maga school in your area...
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