IKMF Krav Maga DVD

Study The IKMF Krav Maga Curriculum At Home!

A Review Of The Practitioner 1 DVD

My search for a Krav Maga DVD started just after I attended a "live" Krav Maga training class in Ottawa. The instructor was affiliated with the International Krav Maga Federation.

Since I liked the live training so much I decided to look for and review any IKMF Krav Maga training materials I could find.

I will be posting my thoughts and opinions about the "live" Krav Maga training in Ottawa on a future page!

After doing some research I found a couple of Krav Maga DVD's available online.

I decided to look at the official IKMF Krav Maga DVD's for a couple of reasons.

1- I really liked the Krav Maga classes in Ottawa which were IKMF sanctioned

2- The IKMF Krav Maga DVD's are broken up to cover the curriculum of their different "Practitioner" levels. When you hear practitioner level, think belt or grading!

3- The Krav Maga DVD's are as close as you can get to the origin of Krav Maga since they are sold and produced in Israel. The IKMF has a direct lineage back to Imrich ("Imi") Sde-Or, the founder of Krav Maga.

I ordered just the level one practitioner syllabus DVD.

The shipping from Israel was fast! It didn't take much more than 6-7 business days for it to arrive. There is no extra costfor shipping.

It cost 29 Euro's this converts to about $45-47.00 dollars.

The complete set of seven DVD's is 160.00 Euro's or approx. $259.00 dollars.

The customer service and fulfillment of my order was fantastic and very quick. I had one minor issue with the order which they resolved right away!

The Practitioner 1 DVD would be an excellent supplement for someone who is preparing for their Practitioner 1 testing. As a stand alone distance learning training DVD it is lacking on the verbal instruction side of things. I'm sure this is intentional since Krav Maga is taught all over the world and in many different languages. Because of this the DVD's would have to be offered in multiple languages.

Since visual demonstration is a universal language the Krav Maga DVD for Practitioner One uses 3 different camera angles. The use of the three camera angles definitely helps a student view and absorb the techniques covered.

The camera angles used are from the front, the side and a bird’s eye view.

If you have prior martial arts or boxing training, learning proper technique from the DVD's will be a lot easier. I say this because things like hip rotation and footwork will be more second nature for you than a pure beginner.

If you are a pure beginner I would strongly urge you to attend live training sessions with a qualified IKMF Krav Maga instructor if you want to learn Krav Maga. Supplement that training with the IKMF Krav Maga DVD's and you will be off to a great start.

However using this DVD as a stand alone learning format will be challenging especially if you have no prior combat sport experience.

I applaud the IKMF for making these Krav Maga training DVD's because if you do not have access to an instructor you can still learn and practice from their syllabus.

The only thing about learning purely via DVD is that once you do get access to an actual instructor you will have to "unlearn" any bad habits that you have picked up along the way.

I liked the break down of each Krav Maga technique and all the angles used to shoot the video.

The Practitioner 1 Krav Maga DVD covers a bit of the history behind Krav Maga. Each technique is broken down on the DVD into a separate chapter which makes navigation through the DVD very easy.

The part that I liked the most was some of the training scenarios / exercises shown.

It covers "The Zombie Game" which is great for stress training and using all of your techniques in a multiple attacker type situation.

A list of the techniques demonstrated by Avi Moyal, Gabi Noah and Amnon Darsa on the Practitioner One Krav Maga DVD is as follows:1. A History of Krav Maga and Imi Sde-Or (Lichtenfeld)

2. Stances and movements

3. Straight punches

4. Elbow strikes

5. Hammer punches

6. Kicks

7. Combinations using the previous techniques

8. Outside defenses (360 defense)

9. Inside defenses vs. straight punches (360 defense)

10. Preventing

11. Pluck type releases from chokes

12. Release from headlock.

13. Getting up from being on the ground

14. Releases while trapped on the ground

15. Dealing with falls

16. Using common objects as weapons for self defense, i.e. using a back pack or duffle bag to defend against a knife

17. Simulation and tactics – the zombie game, targeting your techniques in a two against one type situation



To sum it all up I think the Practitioner One Krav Maga training DVD that I reviewed is best suited for someone already taking "live" Krav Maga lessons and is preparing for their Krav Maga P1 testing.

I did like the DVD and in the future I will return to the website and consider reviewing the Practitioner 2 DVD or the knife, gun and stick defense DVD's.

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