I first heard of Krav Maga 5 or 6 years ago during a Defensive Tactics class I took through my department. I liked Krav Maga immediately because it was very straight forward and easy to learn. Previously, the department had taught Taisubaki. All I remember is position one; position five and twist, twist, twist. All of which flew out the window as soon as you hit the jail. There were no kata’s to learn, no forms to memorize. I didn’t have to imagine myself as some animal or grip the floor with my toes in order to remain balanced.
As Darren Levine says in the book, “Krav Maga for Beginners,”
“…you won’t find anything “zen” in Krav Maga. We don’t mediate, or find our center, or work on our chi. There’s a place for such things in one’s life, but you won’t find that place inside a Krav Maga school.”
I remember coming home that night after class and looking for a Krav Maga school in the Temecula Valley. There was only one, Premier Martial Arts and it was located down off the I-79. I lived in Murrieta and frankly, I made the excuse that the school was too far to drive, too far out of the way, etc. Honestly, I was afraid it was going to be a hardcore, in your face, full contact, butt -kicking festival in every class. I had visions of black eyes and bloody noses. I’d never been in a street fight in my life. I’ll admit, I was intimidated.
Fast forward to December of 2008. I’m working in a different jail, with different partners. I’m 5 or 6 years older and starting to feel it. My knees are hurting and m wind is non-existent. I lift weights, so I’m pretty big and fairly strong, but my stamina is zero. I’m packing about 10 extra pounds; my blood pressure is beginning to skyrocket and I’m lethargic and depressed from too many hours on the job and not enough sleep.
One of my partners approached me one day and said, “Hey, I hear you’re interested in Krav Maga.” I went off on him! I started rambling about how there was a school in Temecula and how I’d always really wanted to go and what a great system it seemed to be and why I liked it so much. So my partner replies, “I’ve been taking it for a few months now. They opened a school in Murrieta. I have passes for a free month if you’d like one.”
This time I was all over it. Unbeknownst to me, my partner had really been talking up Krav Maga for a few weeks at work and had gotten lukewarm responses at best. He was pretty gun-shy about giving me the pass. He was afraid I wouldn’t show; afraid I would flake. He kept asking me, “Now you’re sure you’re going to go? If you’re not going to go, I’ll give this pass to someone else.” I said, “Dude, I’ll be there. I swear. When is the next class? I’m there.” He still looked dubious, but handed over the pass and told me there was a class the next morning.
Absolutely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life! I kick myself every day for not starting 5 or 6 years ago because I’d be a black belt by now! There are absolutely no negative aspects to Krav Maga from my point of view. That’s not just lip service, those are words born from almost 17 years experience working in custody and jail environments. Those of you in this line of work, know. Those of you not in this line of work, even those of you who work in a patrol, may have difficulty fully appreciating the situations we find ourselves in.
Basically, my work days for the last 17 years have consisted of dealing with killers, rapists, thieves, druggies, child murderers, gangsters, the mentally ill and thugs of every ilk. I do this in a locked cage, without any weapons except pepper spray, maybe a flashlight, and my body’s own weapons. For you patrol folks, imagine the biggest, craziest, most violent jerk you ever arrested. You may have spent 6, maybe even 8 hours with this person. Now imagine spending 12 hours a day with him and a 150 or so of his cronies for weeks at a time. Welcome to my world.
Those of us in lockup environments don’t often have the luxury of being outdoors. We don’t see sunlight. We don’t get to take an hour lunch at a nice restaurant. Sometimes we don’t eat at all during our shift. We walk through a high power housing module with one partner, where the numbers are stacked 40 to 2 against us. We walk inside the cage, the door closes and 12 hours later we walk out only to do it all again tomorrow. Sometimes, depending on the time of year, we come to work in the dark and then we drive home in the dark; having not once seen a ray of sunshine.
These stressors take their toll. We eat too much and it’s always fried, processed junk. We drink too much coffee and soda. We exercise too little because we are always so tired after working a long shift. The last thing we want to do after working 12 hours is go run or hit the gym for an hour.
Because of these factors, we become overweight if not downright obese. Our blood pressure goes up and our stamina goes down. Depression is very prevalent, although we never talk about it. To talk about depression is weakness. We have difficulty sleeping because we switch between day shift and night shift every 3 months for years on end, so our bodies are never quite sure what we’re doing.
All the while, the clientele we deal with are working out in their cells for 3 or 4 hours a day and planning ways to hurt us. They are being fed 3 square meals a day and getting plenty of rest. We watch while they sleep. I know inmates who can do squats for hours; pull-ups that I wouldn’t believe unless I saw them do it and hundreds of push-ups. I could do about 20 push-ups on a good day, maybe 2 pull-ups and I got winded just running to the fridge for a beer. You laugh, but it’s sad because there is very little exaggeration there.
It’s June 2009 now. I’ve been taking Krav Maga diligently for about six months. I’ve lost very little weight, but I’ve lost a ton of inches. All the weight has gone from my gut and love handles, to my chest, shoulders and legs. I can do cardio for an hour and a half straight. And I’m not talking about jogging. I’m punching, kicking, wrestling and throwing people around. I’ve learned how to effectively throw a punch and many other strikes. I’m learning how to fight multiple combatants; which in a jail setting is very, very important. I’ve become more aware of my surroundings. My functional strength and stamina have improved enormously. I’ve lost size in my arms, but I’m much stronger today than I was six months ago.
My fitness level has improved and my health has improved along with it. My blood pressure is way down. I’m taking my food to work now instead of eating all the fried, processed food served there. I have much more energy. My hand-eye coordination has improved as well as my balance. I’m not nearly as depressed as I was six months ago. I attribute that to the fact that I have much more confidence in myself and in my abilities than I have ever had before.
I used to be the guy who carried a gun with him EVERYWHERE he went. No matter where I was, or what I was doing, I was armed. Going to the beach? Gun in my bag. Picking up the kids at school? Gotta have a gun. Running to the grocery store? Don’t forget my gun.
Now days? It’s still a good idea to assume I’m strapped, but it’s much less likely that I will be. I know I can take care of myself now. If someone threatens or attacks me, I don’t need to wave a gun around to protect myself. I’m not a small man. I’m 6’4” tall and weigh over 200 pounds. But I’ve never been terribly confident. I’ve never been in a street fight in my life. I used to get bullied a lot in school. Those things stick in the back of your brain for a long, long time.
When you read the literature on Krav Maga schools, they all say things like, “Krav Maga will increase your confidence” and Krav Maga this and Krav Maga that. It’s absolutely true. You pay your monthly dues; you get to take unlimited classes and you get to wear a pretty belt. But the added benefits you take with you go far beyond what you learn in the classroom.
Krav is good for your job because it helps to keep you safe. Krav is good for your family because it helps you to keep THEM safe. Krav is good for your health. Krav is good for your state of mind. Krav is good for your confidence. Krav will help you to live longer and happier in a multitude of ways.