As we have often stated Krav Maga is more about attitude than technique. Real life effective self defense begins with an attitude, a decision; I will not be a victim; I will resist and fight back. Some people I meet have been so victimized by societal norms that they can no longer even think this way. They come to a Krav Maga seminar, usually a free one on a college campus or sponsored by a community, and ask me, "But won't it just get them angry if
Nothing would make a criminal happier. This is exactly the attitude they are hoping for; scare someone into giving in without a fight.
Now while in rare cases there is little choice, in most cases a little resistance can go a long way. In a real life situation you will have to use your own judgment. In general I believe the more an attack goes unanswered, the more likely it is to be repeated, soon and often.
In yesterdays Maaleh Adumim's local paper the following item appear, "Pizza delivery boy fights back, thwarts attempted robbery." Two criminals call in a pizza order, Matan, the local delivery guy, arrived at the address but no one was home. He mounted his motorcycle to return to the pizza shop. "I put my helmet on and started to reverse when I felt I bumped into something. I turn around and saw two criminals wearing hoods and masks, only their eyes were visible. One of them covered my mouth and the other tried to steal my money pouch. I only had about 800 shekel ($220). I resisted. I got off the motorcycle and moved his hand from my mouth. I was very scared but I hit one of them with my helmet in the face. He began to wobble and fall down. His friend tried to stabilize him but I pushed him and he fell down. I pushed him with the motorcycle and was able to get away. He tried to run after me but people in their homes heard shouting and came outside. They panicked and ran away.
An off duty female police officer was out doing her evening exercise walk; she saw what happened and called it in. The police arrived quickly.
From this story we can learn several important lessons for Krav Maga street defense.
Attitude – The delivery guy clearly was not a Krav Maga expert, yet he decided not to be an easy victim, he resisted and succeed.
Attitude over Technique – Again, he was clearly not a Krav Maga expert but he improvised, he used what he had; he used his motorcycle helmet and hit the guy in the face. The criminal did not expect this and could barely stand up afterward; he needed assistance just to stand. So after one surprise blow he could barely stand, let alone fight! One technique did the trick.
What Happens Next - People often ask me, "So say I succeeded in my initial self defense won't they just keep coming at me?" I answer, run into a crowd, attract attention, people will come out. In fact, that is precisely what happened here. Although it was at night, not in a crowded area, nonetheless the shouting brought out the neighbors, just the sight of them caused the criminals to panic and run away. The neighbors did not nothing but open their doors and come out to see that the shouting was all about, that is all it took to scare off our tough assailants. And, as it turns out an off duty police officer was out for her nightly walk, she acted quickly, had her cell phone handy, and called the police.
Bottom line; most often if you do something it will get things going, others will respond. Someone will call for help, someone will intimidate the attackers. Now the Pizza Guy feels empowered and the criminals are feeling like plucked chickens. And again, it was not a fancy back spinning jump kick, just basic common sense, and a bit of Israeli take no nonsense attitude.