Premier Martial Arts Lee's Summit

Premier Martial Arts incorporates a combination of techniques found in four effective disciplines: Krav Maga, Kickboxing, Submission Grappling and Kali which provide students with a realistic personal protection and fitness system for a modern world.

ISRAELI KRAV MAGA — REAL WORLD SELF PROTECTION
Krav Maga is a generic Hebrew word meaning “contact fighting.“ The word, maga, means “contact“ and the word, krav, means “battle“ or “fight“. In Krav Maga, there are no rules. Krav Maga is a self defense and fighting system, not a sport. All the techniques focus on strategies and effectiveness in real-life conditions and situations. The attacks and defenses in Krav Maga training are designed generally for close quarter, possibly life threatening situations. The goal of training is to neutralize attacks, counter attack for self protection purposes and escape rapidly and safely as possible. Though self protection is the main goal of Krav Maga, the techniques, conditioning and drills make Krav Maga the ideal training for self defense, fighting, or fitness.

Krav Maga (“contact combat”) is an eclectic hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel that involves striking techniques, wrestling and grappling, mostly known for its extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks, and is taught to regular and special forces in Israel. It was derived from street-fighting skills developed by Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler, as a means of defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava in the mid- to late-1930s. In the late-1940s, following his immigration
to Israel, he began to provide hand-to-hand combat training to what was to become the IDF, who went on to develop the system that became known as Krav Maga. It has since been refined for civilian, police and military applications.

Krav Maga has a philosophy emphasizing threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers, and aggression. Krav Maga is used by IDF Special Forces units and several closely related variations have been developed and adopted by law enforcement and intelligence organizations, Mossad and Shin Bet. There are several organizations teaching variations of Krav Maga internationally, the name in Hebrew means “hand-to-hand combat.”
krav (קרב) meaning “battle” and Maga (מגע) meaning “contact.”

Generally, there are no rules in Krav Maga, as it is a defense fighting technique which is not regulated, but utilized to keep the user safe and incapacitate the opponent by any means necessary. Men and women generally undergo the same drills. It has no sporting federation, and there are no official uniforms or attire, although some organizations do recognize progress through training with rank badges, different levels, and belts.
General principles include:

• Counter attacking as soon as possible (or attacking preemptively).

• Targeting attacks to the body’s most vulnerable points such as the eyes, jaw, throat, groin, knee etc.

• Neutralizing the opponent as quickly as possible by responding with an unbroken stream of counter attacks and if necessary a takedown/joint break.

• Maintaining awareness of surroundings while dealing with the threat in order to look for escape routes, further attackers, objects that could be used to defend or help attack and so on.

Basic training is a mixed aerobic and anaerobic workout. Protective pads and other personal protection equipment may be used during initial training. Scenarios are used to train personnel for situations typically encountered in street patrol or combat situations. Training scenarios teach students to ignore distractions. Other training methods to increase realism might include blindfolding or exercising trainees to near exhaustion before dealing with a simulated attack, as well as training outdoors on a variety of surfaces and restrictive situations.

Training can also cover situational awareness to develop an understanding of one’s surroundings and potentially threatening circumstances before an attack occurs. It may also cover ways to deal with potentially violent situations, and physical and verbal methods to avoid violence whenever possible.