Repetition and Krav Maga
Repetition and Krav Maga – How do I get better at Krav Maga? Is there something I can do at home out of Class to help me improve my Krav Maga? These are two common questions I get asked frequently, my answer “Do Krav Maga” this is often met with a strange look of “Well yes but there must be something else I can be doing” unfortunately there is no magic pill, special routine or secret formula to becoming the best you can be.
Becoming proficient or skilled at something requires repetition, hence the saying Repetition is the mother of all skill or practice makes habit!
Definition – The act of repeating, or doing, saying, or writing something again; repeated action, performance, production, or presentation.
We could equate this to sports specific training, as in the sense of, if you want to get better at a particular skill set, you practice that skill set. Of course there are other things you can do in order to make yourself better, things like Conditioning, Speed work, hitting the Heavy Bag, Running etc. These all develop attributes which will help you become a better athlete or Kravist. But in terms of becoming better at Krav Maga, and I don’t mean physical technique, I’m talking about your Timing, Movement, Technical Proficiency, Reacting under Pressure and Body Placement, this comes down to one thing – Flight time AKA putting the repetition in.
I will always remember when I started teaching 9 years ago I had a student that was in his second class, we were doing some Combative drills on the pads and his words were “I’ve done this before” like he was above that now, he wanted more complicated stuff to do! As a relatively new coach at the time I maybe couldn’t explain why he was doing it again (I think I was in shock). That moment was a learning curve for me, it made me realise how important repetition is.
Years later when I was training In Thailand I experienced first hand the benefits and value of training repetition, as I witnessed pro Thai Boxers at work, throwing the same Round Kick they started throwing when they were eight years old, only now it was sharper, crisper, it was, as far as a kick was concerned Perfect. Then again this was seen whilst training in Israel.
In Krav Maga there is a good amount of repetition, and this is for a number of very specific purposes, the first being so the student gets the drill time in, perfecting the movement and becoming comfortable with the technique. The second being the same reason as a soldier we would spend countless hours practicing and perfecting our Contact Drills, so that when we came under fire, it would be second nature for us to react under Fire. In Krav Maga this is what we strive for, and train for, everything we do is aimed at being able to perform under pressure in stressful conditions, we can only achieve this if the physical techniques are relatively simple and the repetition of those techniques is high, after all, the mother of all skill is repetition.
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Jeff Hollows – Krav Maga Newcastle
