What do you think?
Rate this book
Krav Maga for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to the World's Easiest-to-Learn, Most-Effective Fitness and Fighting Program
LEARN THE ULTIMATE DEFENSE AND FIGHTING SYSTEM FOR BEGINNERS
As the official fighting system of the Israeli Defense Forces, Krav Maga has
been battle-tested and has been proven successful. Its emphasis on instinctive
movements and efficient counterattacks makes it an easy-to-learn and highly
effective program for anyone—male or female, large or small, young or old.
Krav Maga for Beginners presents the system’s fundamental techniques, its most useful real-world moves and its comprehensive fitness program. Whether you are looking to improve your fighting skills or gain the confidence to escape from a personal assault unharmed, Krav Maga or Beginners provides everything you’ll need to reach your fighting goal.
With over 360 step-by-step photos, Krav Maga for Beginners makes it easy to learn the world’s most effective self-defense and fighting system:
•Escape Danger
•Counterattack
•Neutralize & Defeat
As the official fighting system of the Israeli Defense Forces, Krav Maga has
been battle-tested and has been proven successful. Its emphasis on instinctive
movements and efficient counterattacks makes it an easy-to-learn and highly
effective program for anyone—male or female, large or small, young or old.
Krav Maga for Beginners presents the system’s fundamental techniques, its most useful real-world moves and its comprehensive fitness program. Whether you are looking to improve your fighting skills or gain the confidence to escape from a personal assault unharmed, Krav Maga or Beginners provides everything you’ll need to reach your fighting goal.
With over 360 step-by-step photos, Krav Maga for Beginners makes it easy to learn the world’s most effective self-defense and fighting system:
•Escape Danger
•Counterattack
•Neutralize & Defeat
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2008
124 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 22, 2019
This book makes clear distinctions between Krav Maga and martial arts. There is no spiritual component to Krav Maga, no manipulation of qi or prana. Krav Maga is a highly evolved system of self-defense originally developed for the Israeli military. The goal is to neutralize assailants and get on down the road.
This book is a strong 3.5. The warm ups, the mental and physical conditioning exercises are easy to follow. There is well explained theory throughout, and later in the book when they cover attacks and defenses, there’s a FAQ for each move which is pretty cool. I got some great pointers on stance and punches, but this book is better suited as a supplement to a live class than as an instructional manual.
The essence of Krav Maga is training a practitioner to fend off armed and unarmed assailants from a neutral stance. To do this, you have to practice with multiple training partners to learn to identify the primary threat but remain aware of other potential risks. The more you train, the easier it is to overcome all the fight, flight, or freeze stuff happening in your brain during a potentially violent encounter.
Even though I’m a traditional martial arts kind of girl, I appreciate the brutal efficiency of Krav Maga.
This book is a strong 3.5. The warm ups, the mental and physical conditioning exercises are easy to follow. There is well explained theory throughout, and later in the book when they cover attacks and defenses, there’s a FAQ for each move which is pretty cool. I got some great pointers on stance and punches, but this book is better suited as a supplement to a live class than as an instructional manual.
The essence of Krav Maga is training a practitioner to fend off armed and unarmed assailants from a neutral stance. To do this, you have to practice with multiple training partners to learn to identify the primary threat but remain aware of other potential risks. The more you train, the easier it is to overcome all the fight, flight, or freeze stuff happening in your brain during a potentially violent encounter.
Even though I’m a traditional martial arts kind of girl, I appreciate the brutal efficiency of Krav Maga.
March 17, 2015
Great companion book for those who are starting training in Krav Maga. - Many Krav instructors will teach you the techniques, but won't tell you "why" due to the limitations of class time. This book will outline what you learn in detail. A must read for anyone who's starting off training in Krav Maga.
August 25, 2017
Bought this book to study for the exam. It could have done a better job differentiating which combatives were for level 1 and level 2. I'm not sure if what's on the exam is global or local, so maybe that's why. Also, some of the more detailed chokes are a bit hard to understand in 2-3 black and white pictures. I guess that's why you go to class. :)
I passed, so that's a plus.
I passed, so that's a plus.
June 9, 2017
The “for beginners” part is important. This book does start from very basic principles, spending a brief time on the philosophy and history of Krav Maga before moving onto the physical aspects, more or less broken down into three areas
First, fitness, because if you’re not fit, you’re probably going to be slow and weak. Unlike a lot of eastern martial arts where the techniques and forms are part of a path which includes self-defense, the primary focus here is self-defense, explosive, powerful, and devastating to your would-be attacker.
Following fitness, we come basics (which it calls combatives). I come at things from a karate perspective, having studied two styles for some years now, and it’s a wonderful thing to see that there really are things that transcend arts and systems. A good punch is a good punch. A good kick is a good kick. Krav Maga may use different names for some things than I’m used to, but all of the basics are recognizable.
Then techniques (which it calls defensives). Again, from a karate perspective, I recognize quite a few of the techniques used here, but sometimes the perspective is different and sometimes the terminology is. I’m not familiar with every technique discussed in the book, but I do recognize a lot of them, and I recognize the book is showing me similar basic principles. The thing I like best here is finding something I recognize taken in a different direction. More importantly, all of the techniques presented are simple, quick, and easy to see and understand.
There’s a section on ground fighting, too. I was a bit wary of this before I got there. My opinion, and take it as you will, is that ground fighting is to be avoided if you can and ended quickly if you can’t. Thankfully, to my mind, the section opens with a quick rundown of things that are bad about ground fighting and how you want to avoid it but, if you’re forced into it, your objective is to get up as quickly as possible. The techniques presented are aimed in that direction.
Overall Rating: 4 stars. Looking past the basics and techniques presented, there are a couple of driving points in the book made that seem to be primary principles of Krav Maga. First, violent attacks most often occur when the defender is taken by surprise and is not ready or able to assume a “fighting” stance. Second, your objective should be to do whatever it takes to make “the attacker unwilling or unable to continue the assault”. This phrasing is used quite a lot in the book.
Both are refreshing.
First, fitness, because if you’re not fit, you’re probably going to be slow and weak. Unlike a lot of eastern martial arts where the techniques and forms are part of a path which includes self-defense, the primary focus here is self-defense, explosive, powerful, and devastating to your would-be attacker.
Following fitness, we come basics (which it calls combatives). I come at things from a karate perspective, having studied two styles for some years now, and it’s a wonderful thing to see that there really are things that transcend arts and systems. A good punch is a good punch. A good kick is a good kick. Krav Maga may use different names for some things than I’m used to, but all of the basics are recognizable.
Then techniques (which it calls defensives). Again, from a karate perspective, I recognize quite a few of the techniques used here, but sometimes the perspective is different and sometimes the terminology is. I’m not familiar with every technique discussed in the book, but I do recognize a lot of them, and I recognize the book is showing me similar basic principles. The thing I like best here is finding something I recognize taken in a different direction. More importantly, all of the techniques presented are simple, quick, and easy to see and understand.
There’s a section on ground fighting, too. I was a bit wary of this before I got there. My opinion, and take it as you will, is that ground fighting is to be avoided if you can and ended quickly if you can’t. Thankfully, to my mind, the section opens with a quick rundown of things that are bad about ground fighting and how you want to avoid it but, if you’re forced into it, your objective is to get up as quickly as possible. The techniques presented are aimed in that direction.
Overall Rating: 4 stars. Looking past the basics and techniques presented, there are a couple of driving points in the book made that seem to be primary principles of Krav Maga. First, violent attacks most often occur when the defender is taken by surprise and is not ready or able to assume a “fighting” stance. Second, your objective should be to do whatever it takes to make “the attacker unwilling or unable to continue the assault”. This phrasing is used quite a lot in the book.
Both are refreshing.
April 3, 2013
A very insightfull beginners guide to the Isreali martial arts developed by the Isreali military. This guide provides insight to those who wish to learn a martial art for self defensive uses in the modern enviroment.
March 21, 2014
You can't learn self-defense from a book, but this is an excellent resource for anyone who has just starting going to self-defense classes. Regardless of the style.
It's also a good book for the rest of us. Basic techniques are your bread and butter. Never let them atrophy.
It's also a good book for the rest of us. Basic techniques are your bread and butter. Never let them atrophy.
February 21, 2008
Still reading
February 17, 2009
good reference for the basics.
October 26, 2016
This book has an excellent description of the warm-up, fitness and cool-down required for Krav Maga training!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews