Krav Maga is a modern physical defence system developed in the years after World War Two. Its effective and powerful counter-attacks make it an excellent tool of defence, and for this reason it is widely employed by the Israeli security forces, as well as by Security Risk Specialists’ to train its guards.
The name ‘Krav Maga’ comes from the Hebrew words krav (קרב) meaning ‘combat’ and maga (מגע) meaning ‘contact’, meaning ‘Krav Maga’ is otherwise known as ‘contact combat’. This name underlies the core philosophy of Krav Maga, which involves the old maxim that attack is the best form of defence. And the best places to attack, according to this defence system, are the body’s most vulnerable points, such as the eyes, throat, joints, and ribs. Focussing on these places can allow a guard to disable an attacker with minimal force.
However, the philosophy of Krav Maga also teaches knowing when to attack, and counsels avoiding excessive violence. Rather, it uses violence as a means of eliminating violence, rather than to promote more. It is for this reason that it is perfect for defensive parties such as security guards, who always aim to minimise the amount of violence used when disabling thieves, vandals, or other parties intending to harm our clients’ properties.
Our SRS security guards are trained in Krav Maga, which gives them the edge over other guards and certainly over any would-be attackers. The training consists of 90-minute sessions every Tuesday, in which the core principles of Krav Maga are taught and practiced. These principles involve learning how to use violence to de-escalate threatening situations, and to defend against attacks by conventional weapons such as knives, as well as more unconventional ones such as bats, bottles, and even firearms. This training has proved invaluable to our security guards in their work around London. As knife crime in the capital becomes more and more of an issue, learning to disarm opponents with knives grows ever more important for our guards.
The picture below shows three pairs of guards learning to do just that. All three pairs of guards are practicing short blade disarming techniques. We can see this most clearly with Diego and Martin, who are on the far left, and Priotr and Juliana, who are on the far right. We see them using two different moves to ensure the knife is pointing in a direction which cannot harm them, while they maintain the upper hand over the attackers by twisting their arms into untenable positions. These moves neutralise the threat of the short blade, while ensuring our guards do not need to resort to excessive force and can stay well within the law. Regular training means the moves are ingrained in the guards’ subconscious mind, so can be most effectively utilised in situations of stress. This is because the training kicks in when the guards are under pressure, as the well-practiced moves have become second nature and can be effectively utilised.
The effectiveness of Krav Maga when fighting at close quarters means it is invaluable for the Israeli army. There are many situations in which the army needs to de-escalate violence without resorting to gunshots, and this self-defence system is an effective means of doing so. The four pillars of Krav Maga are considered to be:
- The physical
- The mental
- The tactical
- The technical
For the physical aspect of the training, strength is invaluable, but also the coordination to ensure all aspects of your body can work together. This is paired with the mental strength and composure needed to maintain a calm mindset in combat situations, to allow you to make the best decisions.
Finally, the tactical and technical elements may sound similar but are in fact distinct. The tactical element involves decision-making, including how to feint and trick your opponent into lunging the wrong way, to weaken his position. The technical, on the other hand, is about fine-tuning the moves in order to ensure maximum effectiveness: Krav Maga is not just about brute force.
These four pillars of wisdom underpinning Krav Maga make it the ideal defence system for both the Israeli army and Security Risk Specialists. Our regular training sessions and intelligent approach to defence means our guards are highly equipped to deal with situations involving force. They aim to use their training to de-escalate violence wherever possible when guarding our clients’ property.
The Krav Maga instructor surrounded by SRS security guards in one of our training sessions
