Contact Combat Institute

Facing Truth – Can you really defend yourself?

Administrator — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 04:57:58 +0000

I like the tough questions. A lot of times, they’re so incredibly simple and the answers so important that I feel ridiculous for not having thought about them enough. It’s easy to get caught up in the details of proper execution, technique and my own ideas of what people need to hear and to completely forget the very important, big picture questions that separate the great instructors from the good instructors, the “trainer” from the coach, and the guy who knows what he’s talking about from the guy who is just transferring information.

On an individual level, the single most important question a trainee can ask of herself and her instructor is: “Will I be able to defend myself and those I love when the time comes?” This is a question I’ve considered, debated internally, struggled with, and answered affirmatively and negatively all within the last couple of years. It’s a question that has acutely focused my training and my teaching and I truly think is the culmination of nearly 10 years of fight and Krav Maga teaching/training. Can I really do this shit?

The answer to that question is what it’s all about folks. I’ve been asked this question in some form or another a few times over the years. Up until recently, I don’t think i had given anything more than a standard Krav Maga instructor answer. Something to the effect of practice makes perfect/the techniques work for everyone. This is not an entirely truthful answer and I’ve heard instructors tiptoe around the real answer for as long as I’ve taught self defense.

Anyone can defend themselves from a larger, more experienced attacker successfully. The reality is that it takes MUCH more than a handful of techniques from “the most battle tested defensive tactics system in the world”. The mental and emotional aspects of winning the type of encounter for which we train are far more difficult to train and teach and should be the primary focus of ANY self defense training. No amount of technique training alone can prepare you for the violent reality of an attack. A larger, stronger, more aggressive attacker will kill you mentally and emotionally way before the rape, robbery or abduction.

If there is any doubt that you will be able to act violently, decisively and aggressively when the time comes, your instructor and you have to redirect your energies appropriately. If your instructor can’t provide this, find another instructor.

The Question has to be answered in advance. The decision about how far you can go in defense of yourself or your loved ones must be made before the situation presents itself. Under attack is absolutely the wrong time to be deciding if you’re ready or if you will do what it takes to ensure a favorable outcome.

Jason, Marina and Henry Rollins

Administrator — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:10:50 +0000

“The iron never lies to you.” – Henry Rollins

Jason and Marina are two very dedicated early morning Contact Combat Institute Strength and Conditioning trainees. They hit it hard with us at 5:30 AM and the training carries over into the rest of their lives. Great job, guys! The couple that lifts together….

Take the time to read “The Iron and the Soul” by Henry Rollins. You won’t regret it.

http://rosstraining.com/blog/2009/12/04/iron-and-the-soul-by-henry-rollins/

Easy day at Xtreme Krav Maga

Administrator — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:39:00 +0000

Enjoy videos of some of our beginning students doing my favorite drill.

Intensity

Administrator — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:16:50 +0000

“No one can believe that I am natural. The most important drug is to train like a MADMAN – really like a madman. The people who accuse me are those who have never trained once in their life like I train every day of my life.”
-Alexander Karelin, 12-time World Champion

Intensity – the quality or state of being intense; especially : extreme degree of strength, force, energy, or feeling

Realize the importance of training with intensity, whether you’re punching a pad, under a barbell or training to win deadly force encounters. The right mix of a good coach, good training partners, and most importantly intensity in focus, action and attitude will take you to levels that will surprise you. You’ll crave the feeling, others may become frightened of you, but you will become an absolute monster. NO ONE accidentally squats 600 lbs. NO ONE knocks people out left and right because they’re lucky. And NO ONE picks up a grown man off the mat and throws him over his head because of genetics http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfDDXpjFtP0.

It happens through sacrifice, focus, and intensity. Get it done.

Congratulations to all Level 3 Candidates at Xtreme Krav Maga (www.xtremekravmaga.com) today! We put on a grueling test including Bas Rutten MMA fighting drills, Level 1 and 2 techniques and single and multiple attacker stress drills. Excellent work.

“I’ll buy a gun.” is not the right answer

Administrator — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 03:07:51 +0000

“Amatuers talk about hardware, professionals talk about software.” – Dave Grossman.

It’s always interesting to hear gun people argue about the minutiae of what they think is a viable self defense option. Endless discussion about the right brand of weapon; the right caliber to carry; whether to carry strong side, cross draw, Mexican carry, in a pouch made out of your own skin; how many fractions of a second it takes you to draw from position X versus position Y. We’ve all gotten sucked into these conversations, which at the end of the day bear a striking resemblance to the “Bro Science” that’s so prevalent in gym and MMA circles as of late.

The reality is that the best gun/ammo/carry option is the one that you can effectively employ under the stress of a deadly force encounter. No “hardware” in existence can prepare you for the psychological and physiological responses that you will experience when in a fight for your life. Your training should reflect that reality and you should form a complete training picture that blends your hand to hand combat with armed combat seamlessly. This means lots of stress drills, being able to fight aggressively so that you can actually draw your weapon and becoming extremely comfortable and familiar with your weapon.

If you choose to carry a weapon for defensive purposes, remember that it’s only a tool, and that you are the weapon system. Train yourself as such. Focus on the software, not the hardware, because that’s what will save your ass.

Take some time to figure out what some situations you may find yourself will demand and train, train, train and then train some more.

What is Krav Maga?

Administrator — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:48:46 +0000

Krav Maga means close or contact combat in Hebrew. As a defensive tactics system, it was created by Imi Lichtenfeld, a boxer, wrestler, and gymnast, as a way to teach people of various backgrounds and athletic abilities hand to hand combatduring the highly dangerous and volatile times of Israel’s infancy. You can go to any Krav Maga school’s website and get this information, along with a whole host of other facts about it’s beginnings, it’s modern iterations and the authenticity of who is teaching what.

People are attracted to this kind of training for a wide variety of reasons: to get a great workout, to learn how to defend themselves, because they thought they wanted to be an MMA fighter, to hang out with like minded, hard working individuals, or any of the other reasons people walk through our doors. What you won’t learn about Krav Maga from any website, video or news segment, is what Krav Maga really is.

There is nothing really “new” about Krav Maga. I can tell you with absolute certainty that almost all of the individual techniques and strikes can be found in other systems or martial arts with little modification. Basically, if you want to punch hard and you perfect technique over a long enough timeline, you’ll eventually find yourself throwing a right straight. Same thing with a round kick, elbow, or knees. As long as you hit hard hit often and keep your hands up, you’ll mostly do it right.

The beauty of Krav Maga is that it is a system of very simple principles. Too often, students and instructors alike, lose focus on that particular point. The principles are as follows:

Address the immediate threat, then counterattack immediately, aggressively, and decisively.

Individual techniques should be retainable and work with natural instinct/ movements.

Techniques should have applicability to a variety of scenarios and work for anybody, regardless of strength, body type and athletic ability.

If what someone is teaching you doesn’t follow these principles, they quite simply are not teaching Krav Maga. It doesn’t matter if your instructor claims to receive monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly updates from “Israel” (whoever that is) because the principles remain the same regardless of the technique. If your “updated” technique includes a wrist lock in response to a lapel grab by a hostile opponent, it ain’t Krav Maga, even if it came from “Israel”.

No one from Wingate, the IDF, or elite counter terror units is calling anyone in St. Louis to give regular updates on hand to hand combat technique that should be taught. They are too busy defending their country from shithead cowards and probably spend the majority of their valuable training time on things like how to put a bullet through a suicide bomber’s brain stem before he blows everyone up and not how to defend against a choke, bearhug or mugging at gun point.

Once again, the sure sign that you’re talking to someone who is full of shit is their over emphasis on technique. It’s simply a matter of “amateurs talking about hardware and professionals talking about software” with techniques being the hardware and actual training under stress being the software.

No amount of technique work, no matter how up to date or “straight from Israel” will work when a bigger, stronger, angrier, possibly deranged attacker is determined to injure or kill you. As Sam Sade always says, “right straight, left hook (and I’ll add an ass kicking, highly aggressive, never quit attitude towards winning) solves a lot of problems”.

What it comes down to folks, is this: When evaluating your instructors and your system, think about what your goals are, find the guys who you like and whose intent as instructors match your goals. Look for the guys who will show you the door to hell and give you a peek, so that when you’re forced to go through it, your not completely shocked into inaction by how shitty it really is.