Page 544 - Complete Krav maga : the ultimate guide to over 250 self-defense and combative techniques

or the thrill of terrorizing another human being. Whatever the particular

motivation, the gunman who threatens you generally does so to elicit some
desired response, not simply to execute you. This affords us the opportunity to
make a defense. In advanced training, you may deal with situations in which the
gunman may indeed be drawing a weapon simply to fire. But this belt level deals
with basic gun threats in a robbery/takeover scenario.

Reaction

If you ask people what the defender is “racing” against when trying to make a
defense, most people will answer, “The act of the gunman pulling the trigger.”
This is incorrect. The defender is not racing against the trigger pull. If that were
true, every gun defense would fail.

The defender is, in fact, racing against the gunman’s overall response time: the

recognition that he should pull the trigger plus the trigger pull. Therefore, gun
defenses, especially the initial redirections, must involve the least detectable
motions possible. The techniques that follow adhere to these principles, yet offer
defenses against every common type of gun threat.

Cavaliers

“Cavaliers” are wrist locks. Why do we call them cavaliers? This was Imi’s
word for them. He thought they were fancy moves, and the word “cavalier”
sounded fancy to him!

Groundfighting

More-advanced techniques are covered to improve your position while on the
ground.

Takedowns

Krav Maga, as a system, doesn’t teach many takedowns and, admittedly, some
other systems teach takedowns much more thoroughly than we do. There are any
number of takedown possibilities, including single-leg, double-leg, and trip
takedowns. Since Krav Maga’s mandate is to keep the system simple, we present

only three basic takedowns here.

Before continuing, it’s important to discuss context: Why train to take someone