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One of our students had to sort out a drunken idiot at a South London station just before Xmas. The guy was having a go at a an innocent passer-by: our friend, who wishes to remain nameless, intervened and knocked him to the ground with a tasty right hook. He helped the moron up and had words with him re the error of his ways, the would-be tough guy went off mouthing about how he was going to stab our friend…the usual garbage.

A few lessons here. (i) Our friend was disappointed that under pressure he opted to punch the guy rather than something more sophisticated, he’s learned a good few third party protection techniques over the years with us; this disappointment being accentuated by the intense pain he felt in his knuckles after he’d smacked the guy. Thing is, under pressure many of us will revert to chucking punches at someone which is why we teach people how to punch properly.

(ii) Punches can be pretty useful weapons, our friend’s knuckles were sore for a little while but the yobbo was in a much worse state. You won’t feel the pain in your knuckles until afterwards but it will be very sore so try to avoid punching to the head more than once with the same fist – 2 hits at the very maximum.

(iii) Get out of there as soon as possible. Our friend did a good job in general but shouldn’t have hung about – the guy could have had a mate, started to fight again, maybe with a weapon. He also got a chance to know our friend’s face – not good if he plans on some kind of revenge. If this sort of thing does happen at a place you regularly visit, such as a railway station, best to avoid the guy getting too good a look at you – get in and out very quickly and assume the worst by varying your journey patterns for a month or so afterwards if possible.

Anyway, Happy New Year to you, stay safe and warm in 2010.

Stewart

Definitely more trouble around this time of year with the significantly larger numbers of drunk people about and, lest we forget, crooks have their Xmas shopping requirements so their nefarious activities rise as well. I’ve spoken to 3 students over the last week who have had to deal with situations either with drunks or people fixing up for street robbery. I’m glad to say they all came out in good shape. Particularly chuffed with one of our newer students who intervened to help a lady who was was being foully abused by 2 drunken idiots on a bus: they started on him and he managed to put one of them in hospital with multiple stitches required after delivering a stomp kick to the face. I know it’s not cool to sound like delighting in somebody getting their face stomped, but in this job you hear about a lot of crap that happens to people so you lose any liberal instincts re crime and punishment.

Interesting, and worrying, thing about nearly all the confrontations that I hear about about is that it takes the good guys a while to get the necessary aggression going to survive the situation. I guess that the fact they do is a testament to the them and the training but I’m still concerned that the bad guys have an advantage because they enter situations in an aggressive frame of mind from the outset. You can’t graft gonads onto a giraffe, as my old karate teacher used to say, and it is tough to turn nice people into sociopaths -albeit temporarily – but we’ll work a lot in 2010 on how to turn on the aggression quickly.

Stewart

I’m very pleased to announce that we have 7 new instructors after a very successful course just completed at the Diesel gym in Limehouse. It was very tough for all of them and not everybody who started the course completed it but those that did achieved a lot. some feedback below from 2 of the experienced martial artists that did the course:

With a traditional martial arts background in Kung Fu, I had little experience and practical knowledge of ground fighting. I also found that a lot of the techniques within my armoury were ineffective against more powerful opponents. UKM has helped me to be more direct, cut the fancy stuff and use techniques that focus on dealing with an attacker in the fastest, most effective way. This Martial Art does not rely on physical strength, but rather on technique and speed.

I would highly recommend the UKM instructors course to all experienced Martial Artists looking to consolidate their knowledge with a combination of proven effective techniques. The course is really physically and mentally challenging! Anyone looking for an easy ride are in for a shock… Prepare to shed blood, sweat and tears.

Stewart and Leo are world class instructors and the experience of training with them was invaluable. Their high expectations and attention to detail truely motivates you to raise your game!!! In addition, both guys have a great sense of humour and made each day of training really enjoyable. The 5 days flew by quickly… and I can safely speak for everyone when I say we will be back for future courses

AJ Abella
The Urban Krav Maga course was excellent covering all stand-up ranges and on the floor. Armed and unarmed, its the whole package. In the street you can call on these practical skills to get you, friends or family out of any situation.

Stewart Mc Gill is and excellent teacher with his own way of teaching; he breaks down techniques, so you as a student can pick it up real easy, and at your own pace. Leo Negao is another positive factor in the Urban Krav Maga organisation. He really knows his stuff, and can adapt his ground game to the street. As guys who know real fighting will tell you , the ground is not a great place to be; but if you you are there Leo will show you how to make the best of a bad situation and get up quickly and safely.

I would recommend it to anyone,

Jimmy Kelly

New DVDs now available, described as “world class” by Fighters Only magazine. the DVDs cover fighting on the ground, defending the knife and third-party protection. See here for purchase info:

http://www.kravmma.com/?page_id=3

And our instructor in Edinburgh, Peter Bilitsch is doing a seminar up in Central Edinburgh next weekend, see the below for information:

Urban Krav Maga Self Defence Seminar in Edinburgh (limited places available)

12 – 4pm (with breaks), Sat 14 Nov 09 at Edinburgh Martial Arts College

Learn as quickly as possible to defend yourself against the 10 most common street attacks.  The core syllabus also contains a range of techniques especially applicable to female self-defence, grappling (stand-up and on the ground), fighting/sparring techniques and weapons defences.Participants will be taught how to read a situation and react/respond accordingly, even if they’ve not experienced the exact same thing in training. Improvisation is an important element of the training.

What is Urban Krav Maga?

Krav Maga is a generic Hebrew term meaning “contact combat”. Urban Krav Maga was founded by a group of instructors experienced across various styles of Krav Maga and other fighting systems and is based on defences against the 10 most common street attacks in the UK.  UKM is the only Krav Maga style that has been asked to provide a British Combat Association Masterclass, as well as the only style to feature a stand at the Seni Martial Arts Show in London next May.  We produced a highly acclaimed 6-DVD set recognised as one of the best Self-Defence products on the market.

10 Most Common Street Attacks in the UK (in order of frequency)

1.    A push, hands to chest, normally followed by attacker striking first to the head.     (DEFEND WITH 4 PRE-EMPTIVE MOVES AGAINST ATTACKER)

2.    A swinging punch to the head.

3.    A front clothing grab, one handed, followed by punch to the head,

4.    A front clothing grab, two hands, followed by a head butt.

5.    A front clothing grab, two hands, followed by a knee to the groin.

6.    A bottle, glass, or ashtray to the head.

7.    A lashing kick to groin/lower legs.

8.    A broken bottle/glass jabbed to face.

9.    A slash with knife (most commonly a 3 to 4″ lock blade knife / kitchen knife).

10. A grappling style head lock.

Peter Bilitsch, Urban Krav Maga Instructor

peter_bilitsch@yahoo.com

http://www.urbankravmaga.com/

http://kravmaga-centrallondon.co.uk/

Details – Urban Krav Maga Self Defence Seminar

When:            12 – 4pm (with breaks), Sat 14 Nov 09

Where:            Edinburgh Martial Arts College, Unit 1 Abbeylane, Edinburgh EH8 8HL

Cost:              £30 (pre booking essential with Edinburgh Martial Arts College or via PayPalpeter_bilitsch@yahoo.com

Just back from a couple of very well attended seminars in Northern Ireland with Leo; this follows our British Combat Association seminar in the middle of September.  We’ve shot the new DVDs this month as well so it’s been a hell of a time. Proud to say that we are the only Krav Maga Organisation in the UK to have (i) been asked to provide a British Combat Association masterclass (ii)  produced a high quality and widely acclaimed DVD set and (iii) formed a highly successful link up with a prominent Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt and MMA practitioner in Leo Negao. This has helped make both our ground-fighting and stand-up techniques second to none. Groundwork in particular is not regarded as a strongpoint in regular Krav Maga so this improvement had to be made.

We’ve produced a DVD set with Leo covering groundwork, defending threats and attacks from knives and close protection. See here for the promotional clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g04hM2jjFE

The DVD set will be available in early October, I’ll keep you posted.