Krav Maga and Me
The Five Unexpected ways an Israeli Self Defense Class Changed My Life

When I first started Krav Maga about five months ago, I had only a cursory idea of what it was, much less what I would get out of it. Many people know Krav Maga as an Israeli martial art however in reality it borrows many of its techniques from other disciplines such as Boxing, Wrestling, Aikido and Judo. It essentially takes the best (meaning fastest to learn and deadliest) parts of each martial art and distills it down to the bare essentials needed to defend yourself in an attack situation.
Endurance
“Even I, a woman of short stature and below average musculature could pick it up.”
Knowing that Krav Maga was developed to suit all body types and is used by women in the Israeli military gave me a bit of assurance that even I, a woman of short stature and below average musculature could pick it up. As I progressed with the classes, I was astonished to discover the immense impact the practice had on my body and mind.
The first thing I noticed was the increased endurance that I obtained as result of Krav Maga practice. Going into Krav Maga, I was going to the gym a maximum of twice a week, mostly doing boot camps, weightlifting and light cardio. I was by no means in peak physical condition but I had no idea what was in store for me when I found myself in my first Krav class.
The warm up itself nearly winded me, never mind the actual sparring. There were a good couple of months where I would refrain from making plans directly after Krav as I would cordon off that time for a nap. The cardio endurance that Krav instills in its practitioners eventually worked its magic on me. Over time, I found myself increasingly able to handle the intensity of the class. The naps decreased. There were even times where I had MORE energy after class than I had going into it. I found myself not only able to socialize after class but also game for more exercise. When I found that I could go dancing in the evening on the same day after I had a class, I was pleasantly surprised by how far I had come. With greater endurance, I find myself having greater energy stores and fewer energy slumps.
Strength
The second thing I noticed after starting Krav Maga was the increase in physical strength that emerged once I started doing it regularly. Though I was already doing some weight lifting prior to starting Krav Maga, I really noticed a significant increase in my muscle tone as result of coming to class regularly.
The conditioning for Krav is very core heavy so much of the warm up is focused on strengthening the abs. As I am one of the lucky few that never really struggled with belly fat, this is an area that I typically ignored in my solo workouts. Same went for upped body in general. I always did a few pulls ups, dips and on occasion TRX work but never really devoted a solid chunk of time to it. Once I started Krav though, I realized the impact a strong core has on having high impact precision hits not to mention its pivotal role in any kind of ground get up situation. Once I noticed this, I made a concerted effort to work my upper body and middle with the same intensity I had previously devoted to sculpting my lower body. That effort, in combination with my Krav trainer’s killer warm up routine, which included knuckle push ups among other tortures, eventually increased my overall strength

“There were even times where I had MORE energy after class than I had going into it”
Community
One of the things that initially intimidated me about joining a Krav Maga class was that most of the other attendees were men. Though the class I take is a “drop in”, there were and still are a lot of regulars many of whom have extensive martial arts experience. Though the occasional woman does show up, so far I have been the only one consistently going. It’s intimidating enough to engage in hand to hand combat with guys, add to that being the only woman there initially made me feel quite vulnerable.
I was pleasantly surprised that my group ended up being quite supportive and helpful. Literally every single man I spar with has been willing to show me moves that for them are clearly review. I think that Krav Maga, with its laser focus on survival as opposed to technique for technique’s sake, attracts the kind of people that are generally concerned for others and willing to help in any way they can. They seem to understand intuitively that whatever time they contribute to my development could very well translate into the difference between me surviving an attacker or not. This willingness to help is what makes the Krav Maga community so strong. This learning focused vibe is one of the things I was pleasantly surprised by and one of the big reasons I keep coming back every week.
Stress Release
“I found myself calmer and better equipped mentally to deal with whatever obstacles came my way.”
Without a doubt one of the main things that I personally gained from practicing Krav Maga is a safe place to blow off steam. I’ll preface this point by saying that I first started Krav Maga at a really pivotal point in my life. I was faced with difficult choices about my future in both personal and professional realms of my life. I reached a point where I was really frustrated with the direction my life had taken and realized I basically only had myself to blame. In many ways I was exactly where I needed to be based on the choices that I had made. It was time to make new ones.
Starting Krav Maga gave me an opportunity to let out all of my frustrations in a physical way. In class, you are encouraged to use your full strength to strike and kick. This is extremely cathartic. When I was giving it my all physically, I didn’t have the mental space to ruminate about my problems as I often had a tendency to do. Whether you are trying to get through the grueling warm up or dodging punches during a boxing drill, Krav brings you squarely in the moment. After class, I found myself calmer and better equipped mentally to deal with whatever obstacles came my way.

Confidence
The super unexpected side effect of doing Krav is the confidence I have gained as the result of my training. Certainly the increase in endurance and strength has given me more confidence physically but what I didn’t anticipate was the confidence I would gain mentally by doing this. I think that Krav Maga offers this benefit because it deprograms years of socialization that teaches girls and women to play nice, be nice and worry about the feeling of others (read men) before their own needs. In many cases this programming to be nice at any cost causes women to ignore and justify red flags or their own intuition about people which leads them into situations that are unsafe. Knowing I have the power to defend myself and more importantly the right to do so has made me a lot more assertive in all areas of life.
