MMA ( Mixed martial arts )

I have been training in krav maga and kickboxing for the last 3 years. I have tried to avoid posting in this thread as im a scrawny little 62 kilo stick of a lad and talking about fighting always seems to give me a total complex about being a shorty...but....

Heh - I'm 64kg, so I can sympathise. ;)

but kickboxing is much more sport based whereas krav is very focussed on quickly and efficiently removing yourself from a difficult situation using the most basic simple and logical techniques that can be remember quickly and under pressure. Kickboxing obviously helps get your body used to the physical aspects of throwing strikes etc but sparring and krav pressure testing a very different beasts.

I think I've already said my piece about the whole 'sport' label, but I'd be interested in hearing more about exactly what you do in Krav Maga to pressure test techniques. Krav Maga frequently pops up on these kind of threads, largely because people will point to "its from the Israeli military, so it MUST be effective."

When it comes to unarmed combat, "taught to the military" unfortunately does not automatically equal effective. Perhaps because they already have the infinitely more effective medium of guns, there has been an incredible amount of silly stuff taught in the military over the years, though things are looking up with the US adoption of modern combatives.

Is there any compliance in this Krav Maga pressure testing, or is the person on whom you're trying to apply the technique doing their very best to prevent you achieving it? That has to be present for an effective martial art, which is why regular, heavy contact sparring is an essential part of an effective martial art (though as discussed earlier, not everybody wants to learn how to fight, and there is nothing wrong with that, so long as the style doesn't pretend to offer more than it can deliver).