You might think that the big three of Krav Maga would be wrapped up in the principles of Krav Maga, and you’d be right. But, you might not be as correct as you have imagined.
For the next three weeks, I’ll be writing about the big three – Kinesthetic Awareness, Deep Knowledge, and Intention/Mindset. This week, I’m covering Kinesthetic Awareness – the ability to navigate space (and time) and the awareness of how we move in relation to the world (or attacker) around us.
For most Kravists, this issue remains an area of focus where significant improvement in moving towards mastery can be found. Consider for a moment the vast amount of information necessary to accurately and optimally move with another human being – both in concert with and in opposition to – during a self-defense situation. Consider three vital examples of low hanging fruit in this area of thought and study:
- Managing and optimizing space during a violent encounter with the objective of using space to create a myriad of advantages for the defender while simultaneously creating disadvantages for the attacker. To begin to understand this concept, assess the distance between the feet of the defender and attacker in any one moment, the distance between the defender and attacker at the hips, and the distance between the defender and attacker at the shoulders during close engagement. Pay close attention to structure, capacity to move in multiple directions, counter attacking potential in terms of range, and center of gravity (and/or connection to the ground).
- Managing and optimizing angles during a violent encounter with the objective of using angles to create a myriad of advantages for the defender while simultaneously creating disadvantages for the attacker. This process occurs moment by moment and is best thought of as the process of pointing or centering your weapons at the attacker while simultaneously denying the attacker the same opportunity. This is relevant in multiple distances.
- Managing and optimizing the vertical line during a violent encounter with the objective of using angles to create a myriad of advantages for the defender while simultaneously creating disadvantages for the attacker. In essence, this concept allows the defender to attach him/herself to the attacker (position of control) and create differences in relative strength by controlling the attackers access to full strength and balance up and down the vertical line (feet to the head).
While this may sound easy, it isn’t. The capacity to understand, feel, and manage this quickly evolving process in real time takes practice. To improve, try to isolate one concept, pay attention, track results, get feedback, and stay in discovery mode.
