LEARN KRAV MAGA – USKMA MEGA SALE!

Get the USKMA’s instructor dvds for free, the whole curriculum levels 1 through 5! Order any three of our books on the “store” page of USKMA.com and we’ll throw in the dvd’s for free. The dvds were made for USKMA instructors and include the USKMA’s entire curriculum taught by USKMA black belts and lead instructor, Mark Slane. Anyone can learn Krav Maga with these complete and easy to follow lessons. Level 1 introduces basic combatives, ground and choke defenses. Level 2 continues with combatives & ground and introduces defenses for bear hugs, carotid chokes, etc. Level 3 introduces more advanced ground, combatives and attack defenses. Also, knife, stick and handgun defenses are introduced. Level 4 continues with advanced combatives, ground and weapons. Takedowns and sweeps are introduced. Level 5 covers judo throws, takedowns, ground and advanced weapons including long gun disarms. This offer includes the Weapons Disarms DVD as well.

This sale package includes the books AMERICAN KRAV MAGA, the manual for all USKMA krav maga techniques, BE SAFE; SELF DEFENSE FOR WOMEN IN THE REAL WORLD, KRAV MAGA FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT (co-authored with SGT Brannon Hicks) and our newest DEFENDING THE BARREL & THE BLADE which covers all of the weapon’s defenses of the USKMA. Sold separately the six dvds come to $114. This offer includes reduced shipping (only $5).

To order simply go to USKMA.com’s “Store” page and order any three book. We will throw in the dvd’s, no code required. The link is; http://unitedstateskravmagaassociation.com/store/

While on our site check out the “events” page for upcoming law enforcement and level 1 instructor courses as well as Barrel & the Blade seminars!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR;

In 1999 Mark was a member of the very first group of outside instructors ever trained at the Krav Maga National Training Center in Los Angeles. He then went on to open one of the first half dozen Krav Maga schools in the United States. Mark became a black belt in November of 2003 with Krav Maga Worldwide, tested with the USKMA to Second Degree Black Belt in 2009 and to Third degree in 2012.

Mark has studied the martial arts for thirty years. He started his training in Tae Kwon Do and holds a fourth degree black belt in that art. In Olympic style Tae Kwon Do he won a national championship in sparring in the light weight division – 33 to 40 year old age group. He has taught martial arts to hundreds of students in various schools over the past thirty years and has coached and trained dozens of national medalists, national champions, U.S. team members and World medalists. He has also trained in boxing for several years with Olympic Gold Medalist, Jerry Page and has studied Muay Thai, BJJ, and Mixed Martial Arts as well.

Mark is also the author of Be Safe! Self-defense for Women, American Krav Maga and Krav Maga For Law Enforcement with SGT Brannon Hicks as well as Defending the Barrel and the Blade; The Weapon Defenses of the USKMA’s (due out in November) . He has had an article on handgun disarms published in Black Belt Magazine as well.
Mark retired early from his firefighter/paramedic job to devote his life to making others safer.
Mark founded the United States Krav Maga Association to spread Krav Maga throughout the
U.S. the right way. No politics or egos…Just real world self-defense training.

Mark lives in Ohio with his wife Tina and their son Shae.

Mark can be contacted at Mark@uskma.com.

UPCOMING USKMA TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

We have several training opportunities coming up this summer. Level 1 Instructor trainings will show how to run the USKMA system to get adults in the door of your gym and keep them interested, while learning the most battle tested self defense system anywhere! Law Enforcement training saves lives. 99% of the officers who go through our training tell us it I the best, most useful stuff they’ve ever seen. We are bringing Rory Miller (author of Facing Violence, Meditations on Violence, ConCom, etc.) to Jacksonville. Hit us up with any questions.

05/28/15 – 05/31/15
Level 1 Instructor Training; Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa YMCA

06/06/15
Rory Miller Seminar; Jacksonville, FL
St. Johns Krav Maga

07/06/15 – 07/10/15
Law Enforcement Instructor Training; La Junta, CO
Ortero County Sheriffs Dept.

07/27/15 – 07/30/15
USKMA LEVEL 1 INSTRUCTOR TRAINING; Fairbanks, AK
Alaska Krav Maga

E mail us at Info@uskma.com for details

HE SEEMED NICE…

From my book, Be Safe; Self Defense For Women In The Real World

There have been so many women after an attack who have stated “but he seemed so nice.” It is only later, when they have time to analyze, that they realize they had an “uneasy” feeling about the attacker. The “uneasy” feeling is called intuition. We as humans alone justify ignoring intuition. We think things like “I’ll seem rude” or “I can’t live in fear” or “I’m just being silly, he seems nice.” Animals don’t do this. If they have even a remote feeling that something is wrong, they run! Can you imagine how many fewer deer there would be if they sat around thinking “I’ve been eating here everyday for a month, nothing has gone wrong, I’m just being silly with this uneasy feeling.” How many less rabbits if they thought “I can’t live in fear. He seems like a perfectly nice fox. I can’t appear rude.” No animal ever thinks “it’s probably nothing.” We have a lot to learn from creatures that always follow intuition! Listen to yourself every time. The root word of intuition is “tuere” which means “to guard, to protect.” Intuition is knowing without knowing why we know. Our brain is miraculous, it picks up things subconsciously that we don’t think we notice. It picks up facial signals that last a fraction of a fraction of a second…picks up words that are said that we didn’t really listen to. Always remember that intuition is 1) always a response to something and 2) always looking out for your safety.

The scumbag seems so nice because nice works. Nice has been perfected. He knows nice will get him what he wants. Gavin DeBecker in his must read book THE GIFT OF FEAR states “Remember, the nicest guy, the guy with no self-serving agenda whatsoever, the one who wants nothing from you, WON’T APPROACH YOU AT ALL. You are not comparing the man who approaches you to all men, the vast majority of whom have no sinister intent. Instead, you are comparing him to other men who make unsolicited approaches to women alone, or to other men who don’t listen when you say no.”

The scumbags have a plan. They are good at the plan. The plan has worked for them many times. If you know the plan you can see it when it is being used on you. The nice guy things he does all have a reason. The following things are what to look for and to recognize.
–He makes it sound like you are part of a team with him. He uses “we” a lot. “We seem to be abandoned by our friends,” “We are in the same predicament,” “Now we’ve done it,” etc. He knows that this is hard to rebuff without you feeling like you’re being rude. Notice when this happens and realize that it is always done for self serving reasons and that it is always inappropriate for a stranger to talk this way to a woman who is alone.
-He is going out of his way to be charming and nice. A smile is the most used way to mask emotions in the world! Nice does not equal good, ever. Nice is a strategy, not a trait we’re born with. Charm is the same in that it is a strategy. When someone is using charm don’t think “He is really charming” but think “he is trying to charm me, why?”
-He will give you too much info. Instead of saying something like “I’m just waiting on a friend” he may say “I’m just waiting on a friend. The guy is always running late. Shoot, just last week….” When you or I are telling the truth we don’t feel like we have to use extra info to back up what we are saying. When someone is lying it may sound credible to us but it doesn’t sound that way to them, so they keep talking. Always remember that whoever this yappy, charming person is they approached a strange woman who is alone!
-He will put you on the defensive so that you have to prove yourself. He may say “oh, I guess you’re a rich snob who doesn’t talk to us commoners” so that you will prove to him that you are a good person by talking. Again, think about why a stranger would say such a thing to a woman who is alone.
-He’ll do something for you. Buy a drink, pick up something for you, help you with a heavy load, anything so that you may subconsciously think you owe him. Always be thinking “he approached me” and “I didn’t ask for any help.” Nice is an act!
-Not listening to the word NO. This is a biggie that is common sense, and we ignore it. If he asks if he can grab that package you dropped and you say “no” and he picks it up anyhow and says something like “well, I can’t leave a lady in such a predicament, etc.” we may think that he’s just being nice. We ignore the fact that we said “no” and he didn’t listen. The problem is we’ll say “no” several times, and it gets a little weaker ever time. We might as well just say “I’m a victim and you can control me” when we do this!
-He will say “I promise.” “I’ll just carry this to your car and leave, I promise.” Why do we fall for this? Do you go around saying “I promise” all the time? Promises are used to convince us of intention. Think “why does he need to convince me of intention?” when you hear this word.

A stranger who approaches a woman while she is alone may be a good person, but probably not. A good person doesn’t approach a woman when she is alone, we know it scares her. Always, always keep in mind that anyone who does approach you is a major danger and that charm, niceness, etc. are the weapons he is using to harm you. BE SAFE!

THE TARGET PRINCIPLE

In my travels I often get to look in on various classes that are being taught across the nation. What I see in some martial art and even self defense classes leaves me shaking my head in disbelief. I’ll see brand new students practicing samuri sword defenses, three on one weapon attacks, knife on knife, jump spin kicks, etc Most of those newbies I see practicing such things in class can’t even punch correctly, move or block a punch. Why in the world the instructor wants to take up practice time on these things instead of what the students are most likely to need for real world violence is just baffling. I would think that if you had a report of all of the attacks thrown at someone in the past few weeks a punch to the head would out number a samuri sword attack by about a million to one!

When high ranks in other systems and arts come to our gym and take level one classes they are amazed at how basic the techniques are. They see very easy techniques that they have known for years but they still can’t get through a class at first. Easy basics mixed with aggression, stress and exhaustion is what our level 1 and 2 classes are all about.

In the USKMA we use what we call the “Target Principle” when it comes to teaching self defense. Think of a target. The bullseye represents the most common attacks, the basics that need mastered for those common attacks, movement, targeting and getting body weight into combatives. This is where we should spend most of our training time as this is what will be needed to survive in ninety nine percent of real world attacks.

After these are mastered we can start moving out to different rings on the target. In level three we hit knife, stick and handgun defenses. These are needed but they are not the “bullseye” techniques of punching, movement and body weight transfer. The less common an attack is the further out on the target it should be (the less important they are to practice).

The attakcs and defenses on the last ring of the target are the Hollywood Ninja BS defenses for attacks that we’ll never see. When we get to level 5 and Black Belt we do some really cool things. We do multi person, multi weapon attacks, high jump spin kicks, machine gun defenses, etc. Fun stuff to learn but not worth spending a ton of practice time on and absolutely only done when the basics are mastered.

If you are teaching (or a student for that matter) think about the target principle. Put most of your time in the bullseye, not the outer ring. The bullseye’s easy stuff will save your butt, the outer ring crap will get you hurt. BE SAFE!

KRAV MAGA FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

Our new book, KRAV MAGA FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT (Co written by SGT Brannon Hicks and Mark Slane), is now available on Amazon. Below is the description followed by an exert. BE SAFE!

Learn the defensive tactics system developed for and by the Israeli Defense Forces as taught by the United States Krav Maga Association’s lead instructor and third degree Krav Maga black belt Mark Slane and SWAT team trainer and LE defensive tactics instructor, SGT Brannon Hicks. Everything for law enforcement officers is covered from basic search and cuffing to deadly weapon defenses. Krav Maga is easy to learn, easy to remember, and above all, effective.

“The main thing to remember as instructors is that to teach only techniques is a SIN! To save a life (your own or someone else’s) the technique is maybe 40% of what the officer needs. How many dash cam videos have you seen where the officer in the fight is doing anything that even remotely resembles his/her training? I would guess not very often. It is almost as if we survive in spite of our training, not because of it. Much more important than the techniques that are taught is the attitude and philosophy that is being taught. The attitude must be “I am going home today no matter what.” We must teach aggression, a fighting “never say die” spirit and we must put all training into realistic scenarios. The drills in this book must be done to get proper training. We cannot just teach techniques as an end all but must practice the techniques under stress, while exhausted and under realistic circumstances. If we train a handgun disarm, for example, always with the partner standing like a statue with the handgun pointed at us it is an entirely different feeling on the street when the attacker is punching us with the gun, slapping us, cussing and screaming. If we had never had an attacker come at us like this we haven’t trained for it, we won’t have a plan and it will not come out of us. If we train properly we will have the “been there, done that” feeling that we need to stay safe. Another example is with our knife defenses. If we’ve only practiced these static in a gym it will be a completely different feeling when the attacker is slashing and moving and when there is blood involved. If there is a knife involved there will be blood spilled…and blood is one slippery substance. Have most of us ever trained for this? Train knife defenses with KY jelly slathered all over your arms. Now when there is blood in the real world you are ready for it….things work differently when we attempt our defenses on slippery appendages.

We in Krav Maga are constantly watching dash cam and surveillance videos as we want to see what real attacks look like so that we can mimic them in training. We absolutely want to be training for what we will actually face on the streets instead of training techniques in a gym that look cool. We recently had a prison guard tell us that extracting a prisoner from a cell is always an adventure. The prisoner is usually naked, soaped up and tries to be as hard to grab and hold on to as possible. We asked him how they trained extractions and he told us they train with the guy playing the prisoner in a red man suit which…was easy to grab hold of. It was an epiphany for him when I said “Spray cooking spray or something slippery on that damned suit!” Nobody had ever thought to make the training like the real thing before that.

Finally, when you train your officers, don’t let them assume that the only time that they will be attacked is when they are on duty. Training that always relies on the officer going to their belt for their weapon, Mace, Taser, etc. will get them hurt if they happen to be attacked on an off day when they are at the grocery store with their family. Train smart, train often, train hard and be safe!”

KRAV MAGA & HANDGUNS

Handguns are such a hot button topic in America as politics mar any logical discussion.  On one extreme you have the group who believe that handguns are responsible for all the evil in the world and on the other end you have those who think all men, women and children should be carrying one, no matter how much common sense that person may lack.  In the USKMA to be able to test for black belt a student must have passed the NRA gun safety class required for concealed carry in Ohio.  This surprises some people but our thought is that if we are learning handgun disarms and training for the possibility of facing a handgun we better know as much about them as possible.

A handgun can definitely make you safer but it can just as easily put you and your family at risk.  The average handgun owner who bought a handgun for home protection has shot only 30 rounds from the box of 50 that came with the gun the day they got it and haven’t touched it since.  If we are to have a handgun in the home for protection we have a major, major responsibility.  Anyone who owns one needs to be an expert with it.  They need to have gone through safety classes, put hundreds (if not thousands) of rounds through it and know the gun inside and out.  It needs to be stored where a child cannot get to it.  Not hidden, stored.  A child can find anything hidden and they will go through your bedroom sooner or later out of curiosity (a shock to some parents).  Most safes and lock boxes will keep children from the handgun but, unfortunately, make it difficult for you to get to if needed for protection.  Anything with a combination or key will be very hard to access when you have experienced the adrenalin “dump” because fine motor skills go to pot (See our past blog on the dump).  What I recommend is a safe made by Gun Vault.  It has a cut out for your fingers where you just press the buttons that you have pre-set.  Press the buttons to access several times a day to get muscle memory for when you really need access.

Many handguns have been used against their owner by the bad guy.  If you have a handgun you must absolutely mind set what you will do in any situation (see our past mind setting blog).  You must set in your head when and under what circumstances you will fire the handgun.  If you cannot pull the trigger and shoot another human, don’t have a handgun.  When the scumbag figures out that you can’t shoot him he will then take the gun from you and a very bad situation will get worse!  Again, mind setting and planning is of paramount importance.

Handgun ownership is an individual’s decision.  Nobody can decide for you.  If you do decide to own one be smart about it.  Become an expert on the handgun that you purchase and know exactly how, and under what circumstances, you will use it.  Take the time for mind setting and pre planning or the very thing that you bought to be safer will make you much less safe and can even lead to tragedy.

Reading List

Hi all, I’m in Tucson running some training this week so the blog is going to be pretty short & simple.  Here is my official reading list for the summer for those interested in self defense & self protection;
–Strong on Defense by SGT Sanford Strong.  This book is mandatory reading for our instructors!
–Meditations on Violence by SGT Rory Miller.  Also mandatory reading for our instructors.
–Teaching our kids to kill by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
–Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
–Deep Survival by Gonzales
–Inside the Criminal Mind by Slanton Samenow
–Beggars and thieves by Fleisher
–Games Criminals Play by Bud Allen
–Sharpening the Warriors Edge by Siddle
–The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker, Matt Kissel says it’s a must read!
–On Killing by Col. David Grossman
–On Combat by Col. David Grossman
–One Shot, One Kill by Hathcock
-Anything by JJ Bittenbinder
-The Bible.  Some cool self defense stories like the guy who killed a giant with a sling shot, etc!!

REAL WORLD VIOLENCE-INTERVENING

I am all about helping others….it just needs to be done smart.  SGT Strong in his book Strong on Defense talks about the many times in his career he pulled up on a man dying in his wife’s arms after playing the hero, and how heartbreaking that was.  First and foremost unless you are a cop or firefighter never take any risk for material things, even your own.  In my real world violence lecture I talk about how much smarter women are then men.  If a woman is in a house and hears someone messing with her car or other property she will stay behind locked doors and call the police.  If a guy is in the same situation he will rush out to confront the thief.  How can we possibly know what we are walking into?  It could well be three or four of them with weapons who just don’t give a crap about life and have killed before…for less.  Property isn’t worth being the hero over!!

There are things worth risking life and limb for.  It seems that most of America doesn’t want to risk anything for anyone.  In SGT Strong’s book he talks about a woman who was abducted and tortured for weeks.  She escaped once from the scumbag’s car on a highway as she was being moved.  She ran down the highway and he chased her, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back to the car.  Not only did nobody stop to help, nobody even called the police!  There are times to intervene…but it is dangerous to do so.  I’m not talking about standing up for a lady’s honor in a bar because some biker slapped her on the rear.  You aren’t the protector of the world.  However, if someone is being seriously injured, even if a stranger, it is probably time to jump in.

When you do have to intervene, there are things to keep in mind.

1)      Just like with self protection when it is go time you go with all you have.  You go extreme and you go ballistic.  If you think that your response may be too extreme you shouldn’t be intervening.  Keep the pressure on and go until you and whoever you are helping are safe.  This is usually when the scumbag is knocked unconscious!  We aren’t looking to restrain or put in a “come along” type of joint lock.  If that is all that needs done nobody was in very much danger.  What are you going to do after you have them in a joint lock….walk them to the courthouse?  What do you do when his buddy shows up, let go and have two to worry about?  Unless you are law enforcement, a bouncer or a school teacher don’t “control” with a joint lock!  Do major damage with the goal being get the heck out of there.

2)      Keep the attacker in sight but don’t have tunnel vision.  It makes sense not to take your eyes off of the threat.  Watch his hands, are they going to his pocket for a weapon (keep in mind that every scumbag carries at least a blade)?  Is he heading for the pool cues?  Does he appear to know how to fight?  Although you have to watch him you can’t have tunnel vision and see only him.  Everyone, even scumbags, have buddies.  When you jump in they will jump you.  Again, go hard with the goal being to get yourself and the victim out of there.

3)      Be safe.  Anything goes.  If you are in a fight to save a life (and it’s yours that you are trying to save as well when you insert yourself into the problem) anything goes.  If the situation calls for it hit them with the car you are driving.  Pick up a brick.  Use whatever you can get your hands on.  Again, if you think what you are doing may be too extreme, the situation wasn’t bad enough to put yourself into.

When you have no choice but to put yourself into a bad situation to save another; be smart about it.  Look at the threat as targets.  If you look only at targets it doesn’t matter how big they are, how mean they look or even what they are doing to you.  You see targets that need hit…and hit them as hard as you can.  Remember to constantly be looking to disengage and get yourself and the person you are helping to safety.  BE SAFE!

Krav Maga’s Philosophy

“Self defense is recovery from stupidity or bad luck.”

“Self defense is a short list of techniques that may get you out alive when you’re already screwed”

“If it’s complicated it’s not self defense”

Krav Maga is simple.  Simple to learn, simple to remember, simple techniques….so the philosophy is pretty simple to grasp!  When it comes to self defense there are just a few things to keep in mind.  1) If somebody needs hit they need hit as hard as you possibly can!  Teddy Roosevelt said something to the effect that “it is a sin to hit softly.  Don’t hit at all if possible but if you must hit, hit with all your might”.  We agree.  We spend a lot of time in class working on striking.  We want everyone, no matter their size, to have knockout power.  We train for knockout power but we don’t take it for granted so….2) if someone needs hit once, they need hit many, many times.  The thought here is if someone needed hit they were a threat to us.  One strike may not have neutralized the threat.  The threat needs pounded until it is no longer a threat.  3) Don’t stop hitting until you are safe.  We are safe when they are unconscious.  We can never pause to see if we’re being effective.  Pausing is a break and recovery time for the bad guy.

The philosophy of our Krav Maga techniques (choke defenses, headlock defense, etc) are pretty simple as well.  1) Get rid of the danger.  If a choke is on we have very little time before it will damage our trachea.  A learned motion is always slower than a natural motion, this is why Krav Maga uses natural body motions.  In the case of a choke there is pain on our throat so our hands are moving to the pain automatically.  This is why we use the “pluck” technique.  Our hands are doing the defense before we even know someone is there.  2) Always use a simultaneous counter attack.  In that choke defense scenario we may pluck the attacker’s hands off but then what?  He puts them back on us, hits us or draws a knife.  This is why as we are plucking the choke we are sending a front kick at the same time.  An attacker doesn’t choke with his legs crossed, he is asking for this groin kick!  3) Go off like a bomb!  Maybe the groin kick devastated the attacker, maybe not.  We aren’t going to wait to see.  After the groin kick we send an elbow as we land forward then we grab hold and knee and front kick the bad guy into oblivion.

Really the philosophy of Krav Maga can be summed up in two words.  BE SAFE.  When people hear that I teach Krav Maga they say “oh, that brutal stuff”.  I always say “not brutal, effective”.   I don’t see it as brutal.  I didn’t start the attack.  When someone wants to hurt you or your family what is “brutal”?  Everything goes and anything less won’t keep you safe.  So….BE SAFE!