krav maga and the art of parking 
BY MOSHE KATZ
CEO
ISRAELI KRAV INTERNATIONAL

March 19, 2021, Israel 

Real violence is scary. You want an instructor who admits that. Now we can begin our training.

You walk out of the restaurant, it was a lovely dinner, you are smiling, your friends, or your family, are beside you. The evening has a light chill, the moon is glowing. All is well with your world. As you approach your car you notice several street thugs, they are leaning on your car, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. They are laughing loudly and having a good time. Your stomach knots up. What do you do? Call Ghost Busters? Go back inside the restaurant for another cup of coffee? Call the police?

If you are in the movies the answer is obvious; calmly confront them and if a fight breaks out you will take on all of them at once, totally impressing your friends and family. But this is reality; what do you do?

During our Tour and Train sessions in Israel, we spend a great deal of time on this. We cover gun and knife defenses. We cover empty hand attacks and defenses. We cover multiple attackers. Our program is called; Defense In and Around a Car. Here we will only touch upon a few ideas. They are mostly non physical ideas, preventative ideas that will hopefully prevent the scene we opened the blog with. We want to prevent the bad situation from happening. When all fails, that is when we use our Krav Maga defenses; vs physical attacks, gun, knife, rope and long weapons. 

Choice of Location to Park - This is a major issue. When you park you must not only look at the location in terms of the current danger but also in terms of the future danger. While a large public parking lot, or a spot on the side of a street, might seem like a good idea at 11 am, what if you are returning later, perhaps 9 p.m. The situation might be very different. It might be far more secluded and dangerous. You must always think ahead, is this safe now and later, what is this part of town like after dark? Often it is very different. 

Do the "Rent a Car" Scan - When you rent a car you must take a little walk around the car and see if there is any damage. Any damage will be noted and therefore you will not have to pay for this damage when you return the car. I.e. you are not responsible for this damage. Do the same thing when you return to your parked car. Take a little walk around the car, does everything look Kosher? Is everything OK? or is something different? Something different, such as an open window, may signal danger. Perhaps someone broke into your car and is now waiting to attack you. Perhaps someone tied empty coke a cola cans to your car to make a noise when you drive, causing you to stop the car and get out, exposing you to danger. Look for these little hints.

Trees, Physical places where one can hide - When you are parking you should like for places where a criminal can hide. For example, a large trash bin, or a bush. As you open your car door he can lounge at you from behind, take you, or your car, or your belongings. Beware of all potential dangers.

Hour of day/night - As mentioned earlier the time of day is crucial, and this must always be taken into account. If you park in the safety of your underground office building parking lot, that is safe. But if you decide to work late on a project, and you leave late at night, you might be the only car in the parking lot. You enter alone with no support. There can, and often is, someone lurking around looking for just such an opportunity. Beware the night, beware being the lone person in a parking lot.

Before we even begin training in the Krav Maga defenses in and around a car we must address the situational awareness it takes to avoid trouble before it begins.

Training in and around a car, Tour and Train

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