Krav Maga?

tallaght01

Hi guys,
As someone who hasn't the foggiest idea about martial arts, sorry for wandering in on your forum :P

Basically, I'm looking for some advice. I'm looking to take up some form of martial arts.

I'm hitting 30, a bit of a wuss, and a bit overweight. I'd like to get fit again, and learn a new skill at the same time. I don't really want to do competitions, or get my **** knocked in every week sparring against blackbelts, and I'm not particularly interested in becoming a martial arts expert.

It would, however be nice to able to defend myself if it all went tits-up at some point. It would also nice to be fit again.

I've had a look around on the net at different styles of martial arts, and krav maga seems interesting.

I wonder if anybody could tell me anything about it? I read somewhere that it's more suitable for people who already have a martial arts background, whilst I read somewhere else that it's suitable for beginners. Others say that you spend all your time learning techniques, so u don't get much of a work out because there's less sparring involved.

it's all confusing, so I was hoping somebody could shed some light on here, as I've been browsing and there always seems to be somebody willing to help a clueless newbie.

I won't be practising in Ireland, though. I'm moving to New Zealand with work for the next year or 2, so I'm hoping to start traing in whatever martial art I decide upon when I'm there. If it goes well, I'll keep it up when I come back home to Dublin.

Any info would be much appreciated. Many thanks guys

Nothingcompares

tallaght01 wrote:

Hi guys,
As someone who hasn't the foggiest idea about martial arts, sorry for wandering in on your forum :P

Basically, I'm looking for some advice. I'm looking to take up some form of martial arts.

I'm hitting 30, a bit of a wuss, and a bit overweight. I'd like to get fit again, and learn a new skill at the same time. I don't really want to do competitions, or get my **** knocked in every week sparring against blackbelts, and I'm not particularly interested in becoming a martial arts expert.

It would, however be nice to able to defend myself if it all went tits-up at some point. It would also nice to be fit again.

I've had a look around on the net at different styles of martial arts, and krav maga seems interesting.

I wonder if anybody could tell me anything about it? I read somewhere that it's more suitable for people who already have a martial arts background, whilst I read somewhere else that it's suitable for beginners. Others say that you spend all your time learning techniques, so u don't get much of a work out because there's less sparring involved.

it's all confusing, so I was hoping somebody could shed some light on here, as I've been browsing and there always seems to be somebody willing to help a clueless newbie.

I won't be practising in Ireland, though. I'm moving to New Zealand with work for the next year or 2, so I'm hoping to start traing in whatever martial art I decide upon when I'm there. If it goes well, I'll keep it up when I come back home to Dublin.

Any info would be much appreciated. Many thanks guys

hey, forgive me for being a little nosey but don't you work in a hospital? is that a reason why you want to be able to "defend yourself"? in case a patient or somebody went a bit mental and attacked you?

I won't question your motives that's none of my business but i genuinely think the only way to become proficient in something like defending yourself from someone who is trying to attack you and being able to restrain someone is regular, functional training over a long time.

So in brief, start learning a combat sport like Judo, Bjj, Wrestling, (all grappling martial arts) or Muay Thai, Kickboxing (full contanct) or boxing (all striking martial arts). Or, take up MMA (aka ultimate fighting, cage fighting etc.), a combination of both. Train 3 times a week for 3 years and you'll have a basic standard to help you out of a tough situation but no magical ability, no martial art training will make you harry potter.

Again I'm being presumptive here but if you're expecting to be told you can take up "martial art X" and do a couple of weekend courses and a couple of classes here and there and be able to beat people up you're delusional.

No good sports club/martial arts school will allow you to get beaten up by "blackbelts" or more experienced members of the club. However, you do need to spar to improve, you need to spar against better people to improve more quickly.

You know yourself, there are no quick fixes. Get strong, get fit and take up a martial art that you enjoy (give as many as possible a go) and that you can work into your schedule.

tallaght01

I think you've taken me up wrong. I do a bit of kiddy A+E, but mostly I'm a neonatal doctor. Most of my patients are extreme premature babies, so I run a low risk of being attacked by them.

I never said anything about doing a few weekend courses or bing able to beat people up (or about becoming ??Harry Potter??). The point I was really making is that, with the hours I work I'm never going to be able to dedicate myself wholly to a hobby, but it would be nice to learn a skill and get fit.

John Kimble

Hey Tallaght01, I've been doing Krav for nearly a year and I definitely reccommend it. I haven't much of a martial arts background (maybe a few years) and to be honest, it doesn't matter. There is a lot of technique involved, but also a lot of sparring. You certainly get a good workout from it. I was very unfit when I joined and while it's tough going initially, you'll reap the rewards soon enough. There's not much else I can say about it, perhaps check out YouTube for some clips of it in action. Also check out www.expertvillage.com for some basic tutorials.
www.kravmaga.ie should have some contacts if you want to investigate further.

paddyc

Most of my patients are extreme premature babies, so I run a low risk of being attacked by them.

paddy

Odysseus

Nothingcompares wrote:

hey, forgive me for being a little nosey but don't you work in a hospital? is that a reason why you want to be able to "defend yourself"? in case a patient or somebody went a bit mental and attacked you?

As a health care professional myself I just want to make the point that health workers get attacked on daily basis. Where as a weekend KM class is not going to stop that, if you compare it to the CPI training we are offered once every three years by the HSE, I would go with the KM classes every time. However, I would suggest that it is regularly updated. Part of my work involves providing a psychological service to health professions who have been attacked, and in a lot of cases there can be a severe quality of trauma associated with been attacked in the line of your work.

kravist

In terms of Krav Maga..
The reality is that there is a shortage of instructors in the country, therefore regualr classes are limited.
In an attempt to cater for the need, weekend/1 day seminars are an option. You get a lot of posts here on boards about these weekend seminars claiming to slove all you personal protection needs. If people want to believe that, thats their own business.
What IS good about Krav is, there is no ritual..ie: you get straight into techniques that are effective and simple to learn.
I was training in Budapest during the Easter with Eyal Yanilow, IKMF Director and he told the joke/fabel whatever you want to call it, about the "Donkey" going to the university for 20 years. Just because he attends for 20 years, it doesnt mean a "Donkey" will graduate! "he's still a donkey"
How you employ those same techniques will be dependant on your training, obviously the more you train, the more efficient you become.
However , as systems go and im basing this observation on my limited knowledge of Karate, you do get straight into it. There are no competitions, but if training is good, you'll probably get the odd bang/bruise.
In New Zealand, you problem will again be locating an instructor. go to the IKMF website and do an instructor search. I know a Kiwi instructor in Perth...some bloody good that is to you!!
best of luck with it either way!

Scramble

If you know whereabouts in New Zealand you are going to be based then I would do a google search on martial arts or combat sports and see what that turns up.