Knife
According to the division of ranks and belts as Imi decided on August 16th 1971, in the end of the first kravmaga instructors course, the Blue Belt in the krav-maga contains most of the defenses an armed opponent of the Israeli Budo art. The Brown and Black Belt already include only attacking techniques, meaning, the self-defense part in the krav-maga ends in the Blue Belt. In fact, it was the self-defense exercises of the Blue Belt that had turn the krav-maga so popular world wide.
This series of DVDs, brought to you by BudoInternational, shows for the first time in the history of the kravmaga, the complete and original way that Imi created. Learning Imi ' s original way is not an easy task, and it requires both physical and mental efforts. It demands from us to dedicate all our time to it. But, this is after all the meaning of being a martial artist, a krav-maga artist. When we stand in front of a man holding a knife in his hand and threatening our life, any mistake we make, as tiny as it will be, can kill us. This is why Imi decided that the defenses against knife will be taught in the Blue Belt, so we will be ready to apply the movements which compose these techniques without any fear, since by now we had already gained confidence in Imi, in his krav-maga and above everything- confidence in ourselves.
Imi ' s path during the process of creating the krav-maga was not easy, and before every technique he created and included in the krav-maga, he always looked for the best and most effective way to do the attack against which we are suppose to do the defense. Imi searched for a series of defenses against knife that will enable him to try all the possible knife attacks, beginning from the hardest one, meaning, the attack technique which demanded maximal concentration of force in order to do the stabbing movement with the arm and until the softest and easiest one for the attacker to finish his opponent. One example of this stab is the Dekirat Shisuf( slashing). Only afterwards, when we already had total control over the techniques of using the knife, he began teaching the defenses, following a conception that one who will succeed to know and to defend on the tatame against the perfect knife attacks he had developed, will be able to defend himself always. Imi always explained to us, his ten and only Black Belt students, that this conception accompanied the entire krav-maga creation process. The subject of Imi ' s ten disciples is widely talked about in J. Tuchman & G. Mayers ' official kravmaga history book“ Genesis- The History of The krav-Maga”, in the chapter“ The Ten Greatest”.
Imi based his defenses upon four possible attack positions. Of course, he said, that from this 4 positions we can develop many other situations. But, one who will know how to defend against these four basic options, will be able to defend almost against any knife attack. However, before we even begin to learn the principle of these defenses, we must first understand that those defenses are not like the ones we do against a punch or a kick. The knife is a very dangerous weapon and there is always the possibility we will get injured during the defense in the street or anywhere else. However, a cut or a light wound is not lethal. When doing one of Imi ' s defenses it is possible to see that in any case, it is our opponent who will pay the higher price.
Two great American writers, Jeffrey Tuchman and George Mayers, explained in their exceptional book“ Genesis- The History of the Krav- Maga”, how and why Imi based his entire art on 14 ground rules and what is the meaning, aim and purpose of each of those rules. How each one of the rules can help us to improve our physical abilities as well as the mental ones, and why these two aspects, the physical and the mental one, cannot be separated. The first and most important rule of alls is“ Minimum way maximum speed”. This means, among other things, that as shorter our body movements will be, the fastest they will become. And this, dear readers, is the key to victory.
Now let ' s try and understand the technique of knife attack in the kravmaga. The first stab is Dekira Regila( regular stab). This stabbing form is based on force. It is easy to learn and many prefer to use it because of the strength applied by the attacker in the movement which goes from above downwards. This is also why this stabbing is favorite among those who rather use brutal physical strength as the immediate solution. There is a theory that this form of stabbing as we know it today was actually developed and improved by instructors of the American Marines Corps.
The way we hold the knife here and the amount of strength we use give the illusion that the attacker is invincible. The stab itself is done by taking a step forwards with the left leg while the right hand goes up and then descents strongly on the opponent ' s shoulder. The combination of the step forwards movement and the descending hand movement gives the attacker a great strength which in theory seemed very hard to defend against. Despite that, and maybe
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