"Many have the will to survive; few have the will to train to survive."
It is because of that idea right there and because of my awesome first experience at Krav Maga-Milwaukee yesterday that I am vowing right now to not only try it again, but to do it long enough that I feel comfortable in the techniques and ready to defend myself should the unthinkable actually present itself to me one day.
I get to try a lot of new things because of this site, and as fun as most of them are, I know I probably won't be able to do them again, at least not for quite some time, since I always have to be thinking about the next new thing to try out.
Krav Maga, however, turned out to be different …
Kurt Lakatos, the owner and head instructor of Krav Maga-Milwaukee in Brookfield (it's pronounced Kr-ahv Ma-GA, not Kraaav MA-ga like I was saying it at first) recently found my blog and contacted me (love when that happens!) about his facility. He invited Dave and me in to give Krav Maga a try.
From the official website: "Krav Maga is the official self defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces, and has been taught to hundreds of law enforcement agencies and thousands of civilians in the United States. Krav Maga is a simple, effective self defense system that emphasizes instinctive movements, practical techniques, and realistic training scenarios."
We got up bright and early yesterday morning in order to get to Brookfield for the 8:00 a.m. class. Once there, we met Kurt and another instructor, John, along with about 10 or 12 students who had obviously been there before.
(Note: several of these pics are from the Krav Maga-Milwaukee website.)
We changed into our gym shoes and headed out onto the mat, still tired, but ready to stand there and be instructed in Krav Maga techniques.
Stand there? Silly me. We had to warm up!
Music – loud and fast, the kind that pumps you up – came through the speakers and Kurt yelled for us to start running in a circle around the room. No problem, I can run. We did about ten laps and then when John yelled "switch!" we had to stop and slap the mat and reverse our running direction. He did this about eight times, some one right after the other, and suddenly I felt like I was back in grade school gym class, feeling slightly panicky because I was getting out of breath.
Immediately after the running portion, we were told to pair up and simply try to touch the other person's shoulders. Dave and I stayed on our toes, circling one another with our hands up, trying to touch and block at the same time. We were told to switch partners and so we did, about five times or so, before we were told to now try to touch the other person's knees.
That was more difficult since you had to be closer to the ground and try not to get your face in the way, and once again, we switched partners about five times before we were done.
By this time, we'd been going full-force for ten minutes or so and I was just dying already! I like to think that I'm in shape, but I was just not prepared to be pushed that hard so early in the morning!
As we did about ten minutes of stretches along with some push-ups (I did mine on my knees) and some ab work, I coughed quite a bit and just couldn't catch my breath. For a minute or two, I thought I might have to go sit down! It was a little embarrassing, but it was my own fault – Kurt had told us to take it at our own pace, and I certainly hadn't. Now I realize it really would have been ok to take it down a notch – we all have to start somewhere!
Once our 20 minutes of warm-up was done, the group of students went to one side of the room with Kurt to learn some new moves and practice with one another while Dave and I went to the other side to work with John. We learned correct fighting stance, and we learned how to do a basic jab (with the left) and a basic hook (with the right.) We also learned how to do a front kick.
I felt pretty comfortable with the kicks and punches because I've been doing Tae Bo for years, which involves a lot of kicking and punching. I was used to stopping the kick or punch at a certain point, though, since all I've ever kicked or punched was the air. Since we got to punch and kick pads, I punched harder and followed through all the way – and the extreme soreness in my arms and shoulders today tells me that it was a lot different than what I'm used to!
The last thing John taught us was how to react when someone is choking us. There are no rules in Krav Maga – the number one goal is to protect yourself and get home safely to your family. This isn't karate or tae kwon do where you get in a ring and do elaborate, complex moves on your opponent. Krav Maga is about survival, plain and simple.
When he put his hands around my neck, I was to put the fingers on both of my hands together in sort of a hook position and very quickly "pluck" the attacker's arms away from my neck. Instead of grabbing the attacker's arms, which isn't effective, I was to get as far under his arms as I could and in a very fast motion to get them off of me.
We then learned the second lesson of Krav Maga – continue to fight until we can stop the attack. At the same time I plucked the attacker's arms off my neck, I was to kick him in the groin. Then I elbowed him in the face with one elbow, then the other, then I grabbed the outside of his shoulder and kneed him in the stomach. After that, I pushed him away, which would allow me to run.
Of course, any combination of moves that works to stop the attack is what a person should do – this is just the combo we practiced. I practiced on Dave and then he practiced on me. Guys are supposed to wear a protective cup in Krav Maga, but Dave didn't have one. I tried to be careful, but I got too excited and kneed him in the groin a few times and even elbowed him once in the jaw. Oops.
When Dave and I were practicing on each other, we only pretended to choke the other person. John told us to really choke each other so that we could understand what it would feel like to have to snap into action to protect ourselves. We still couldn’t really do it, so John stepped in and choked me. Like, really choked me!
The feeling was incredible – that adrenaline and protective instinct immediately kicked in and my arms were up, getting his off of me. Then John told Dave to choke him and Dave did, as John said "harder, harder" until Dave was cutting off his air and John was ripping Dave's arms off of him. It was so cool, and a bit frightening! But that's the point – if someone attacks you, they're not going to be nice. And you need to be ready for that.
For the remaining ten minutes of class, we joined the group once again for an exercise. Kurt said he normally wouldn't put new people in such a situation, but we were game. One person held two punching bags like they were grocery bags. That person would turn around while Kurt told a different person in the group that he/she would be the attacker.
The person who was up would turn around and start walking toward the group. All of the people would surround the person with the "grocery bags" until the attacker came forward and attacked. It was up to the other person to drop the bags and fight back. Of course, no one actually punched or kicked someone else, they just simulated it, but there was plenty of physical contact still.
I really didn't want to do it but John assured me that he'd be the one to attack me and he would go easy. I walked on down with my grocery bags and when the group circled around me, I have to say it was pretty intimidating. To think of what that would be like, to really be attacked – it's terribly frightening!
John went for my neck and I did the combo we'd practiced and everyone clapped. It felt very empowering. Dave went next and two guys stole his bags while John attacked him from behind. Very scary.
After class was over, Dave had to leave and go to work for a few hours and I stayed awhile and talked with Kurt. What a nice guy! John, too. I was very impressed with them and the facility.
Kurt started Krav Maga-Milwaukee in March of this year and is still working on getting the word out. His is the only Krav Maga training center in the greater Milwaukee area, and right now he has about 20 students. Classes are held three times per week, but Kurt says he has plans to add some more as well as a fitness program for those who want to learn some of the moves and get in shape, but not be quite so intense.
He went over the pricing with me – it's $110 per month if you go month-to-month and $95 per month if you sign up for a full year. There are discounts for students and those in active duty (police officers, soldiers, etc.), and there is a family plan, too. One person pays full price and the others are then 50% off.
It's definitely more expensive than a gym membership, but it also gives you something that the gym can't: the ability to know what to do should you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation. And that is priceless!
Dave and I agree that the class was unlike anything we've done before and we think it'll be hugely beneficial for us to train for a full month and possibly longer. Kurt says that unlike many forms of martial arts, it doesn't take years to get accustomed to Krav Maga and know what you're doing. It's a form of training that fits in well with people's busy lives because it only takes about three months to be skilled at it, as it's based on one's instincts.
Kurt offered to give us a private class if we can get 6-10 people together for it. We will be asking some of our friends, but we understand it might be hard because not everyone would be up for something as intense as this, and also, not everyone lives right in the Milwaukee area like we do. So I'll put it out to some of you, too – if you'd like to join Dave and me for a trial class of Krav Maga, email me at erinnevicosi [at] hotmail dot com and we'll see if we can get something set up.
Also, anyone can come in and try a class for free to see what they think, so if you don't want to do the class with us, you can still contact Kurt and come in for a trial.
Our plan is to hopefully do a private class sometime in December and then come January, we're going to enroll together for a month. We had plans to get a membership to the WAC once the new year gets here, but we'll just put that off for a little while.
Being physically active is something that is very important to me, and I wish it were important to everyone. You only get one body and it can do SO many things for you if you just take care of it. But Kurt said something else about staying physically fit that I had never even considered: you owe it not just to yourself but to those who love you to stay in shape and be fit. You owe it to them to take care of yourself so you can live longer and also so that you have a better chance of being able to defend yourself should something bad happen.
Definitely something to think about ...
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