Krav Maga or MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)?

Krav Maga Books By Gershon Ben Keren

Krav Maga Yashir Head Instructor

Looking at Krav Maga & MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)

Many people when they are thinking about self-defense (the legal use of physical force to deal with violence), often find themselves making a choice between Krav Maga and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and/or sometimes BJJ (Brazilian Ju-Jitsu). If you are thinking about starting a martial arts program primarily as a means to defend yourself and/or your family these are some things to consider.

The Format and Structure of a Fight

Combat sports such as MMA and BJJ (including Boxing and Muay Thai) have a certain structure and format to the way that a fight is managed. If somebody is fighting competitively, they will usually know who they are fighting a head of schedule (or if in a tournament, they will know who is in their group of class), they will know the day and time of their fight, and they know the exact moment the fight will begin i.e., a referee will signal when it starts. This is in stark contrast with real-world violence, which isn’t consensual and doesn’t follow a predictable structure, and where there isn’t a referee to manage the confrontation. One of the most stressful and shocking things about being physically assaulted on the street or in a bar etc., is that you are thrown into the unknown. The rules and conventions of society have been thrown out of the window by the other party, and you have no idea when or how the fight will end, or what the other person is willing and able to do to you. Combat sports such as MMA prepare you to fight in a ring or a cage, where you know the various ways a fight can end. In real-life violent encounters there is no such predictability, and it is this that causes most people to emotionally crumble and give up when attacked. Krav Maga was designed, not for the ring, but for reality and teaches the appropriate mindset for dealing with this uncertainty and unpredictability.

Rules & Real Life Violence

The purpose of combat sports like MMA is first and foremost entertainment. Whilst the early MMA matches had few rules for the sport to be commercially successful it had to demonstrate that it was safe, otherwise getting licenses and hiring venues etc., wouldn’t be able to happen. Also, because initially there were no weight categories as well, fights depending on who was fighting, could end very quickly and a fight card that was scheduled to last a couple of hours could be over in twenty minutes. This meant that if MMA was to be able to translate to television it would need to be able to make fights more even, so that they would potentially last longer. A fight card could afford to have a few quick wins etc., but it was preferable that most went the distance. To try and ensure that happened, weight categories and certain rules started to be introduced e.g., no headbutts. In a real-life confrontation there are no weight categories and no rules, and so techniques have to be designed to work against larger aggressors who aren’t looking to fight fairly.

Weapons & Multiple Assailants

There are three assumptions that Krav Maga makes about real-world violence. The first is that when dealing with an aggressor it is assumed they have a weapon on them (even if that isn’t visible at the time). Secondly it is assumed that they have individuals/friends/associates in the environment who can come to their assistance. The third assumption is that they are “able” i.e., they possess the necessary fighting skills to be able to negate ours. Making these assumptions should primarily see you want to avoid and exit the environment i.e., why would you want to be in an armed, multiple attacker scenario with individuals who know how to fight? When making these assumptions, the goal should be to disengage from the fight at the earliest opportunity e.g., before your aggressor remembers they have a knife and think to pull it, or their friends realize what is going on and start to get involved. Any techniques and tactics used in real-life confrontations need to consider multiple assailants and weapons, something that doesn’t have to be considered in MMA matches and other combat sports.

Violence & Legal Considerations

From a legal standpoint – especially in a state like Massachusetts where there is no “stand your ground” law – in many cases you have a duty to retreat i.e., if you are able to disengage safely from a confrontation that looks to be turning physically violent you should do so in order to support any claim of acting in “self-defense” you may make. In fact, during a fight, if a safe exit/disengagement opportunity presents itself you are obliged to take it rather than to keep fighting. Anytime you are not in imminent danger, and you continue to keep fighting you become at risk of losing the right to act in self-defense. In a cage or ring fight, almost the opposite is true, as your goal is to press every advantage to win e.g., if in an MMA match an opponent turns away giving their back then this is a vulnerability that should be taken advantage of. In a real-life confrontation doing so could see a person lose their right to claim that they were acting in self-defense. MMA is about engaging with an opponent and winning whereas self-defense is about disengaging and surviving – the goal of Krav Maga i.e., only physically engage in order to disengage.

Conclusion

When it comes to dealing with violence context is everything, and whilst MMA, Muay Thai and other combat sports are good at developing fighting skills, they do so for a single specific context i.e., the sporting arena. Krav Maga training looks to not only develop fighting skills but also how these can be applied in a variety of different real-world conflicts, where use of the environment and objects within it may need to be used. If you are interested in taking a beginner class in authentic Israeli Krav Maga at our school (located 20-mins north of Somerville, MA), please use the button below.

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