Page 8 - Complete Krav maga : the ultimate guide to over 250 self-defense and combative techniques

Foreword

BY BAS RUTTEN

Hey everybody, listen up: This is El Guapo speaking—Bas Rutten, former UFC
heavyweight champion, three-time King of Pancrase, and now spokesperson for

the International Fight League. If you’ve ever seen my fights or trained with me
in mixed martial arts, you know that I only teach techniques that work in the
ring. The same is true for the street—I believe in only doing things that work.

Krav Maga works. I know it does, because the very day I met one of Krav
Maga Worldwide’s instructors, Amir Perets, he loaded a pellet gun and told me
to put the gun to his chest. He said, “If you see me move, you pull the trigger.”

The next thing I knew, he had the gun in his hand—and he repeated it six more
times. It was incredible to observe, and it was simple to do.

Amir later introduced me to Darren Levine, one of the authors of this book.
Darren trained in Israel with Imi Lichtenfeld, the creator of Krav Maga. Imi
personally asked Darren to be the U.S. chief instructor. If you heard of Krav
Maga at all before picking up this book, it was most likely because of the efforts

of Darren and the organization he put together.

Darren and I hit it off right away, because he thinks about fighting and self-
defense the same way I think about fighting in the ring. Of course, he’s not as
good-looking as I am, but you can’t have everything!

Darren told me a great deal about the system taught by his organization, Krav
Maga Worldwide, and I admit I was initially quite impressed. The system is

simple and easy to learn. You don’t have to be a mixed martial arts champion to
perform its techniques. But what I like most about Krav Maga is that it has all
the answers. In fact, I gained so much respect for both Darren and Krav Maga
that I attended a martial arts trade show with him in 1999. He was the keynote
speaker, and once I heard him talk, I became even more impressed. Darren has
the ability to explain the Krav Maga system so that it is both easy to understand

and obvious.