Krav Maga Tactical Survival. Gershon Ben Keren

your assailant’s movement so that your strikes produce an effect. If you kick someone as they are moving back, a lot of your power will go into pushing your attacker backward, adding to their movement rather than being absorbed by them. This may be your intention; however, if you want to inflict pain and damage on them, it will not be effective to kick them as they are moving backward.

      Kicks can be delivered at close range, but they will generally be more effective at long range. Many systems will break down their techniques by range, saying that there is a kicking range, a punching range, a grappling range, etc. In reality, this is not the case, as a grappler can shoot in and tackle you from what would normally be considered outside of kicking range, and if you are dealing with a skilled Karateka from a style such as Kyokushin, they will be able to round-kick your head when you are in “grappling” range. The notion that different types of techniques are restricted by range is an erroneous one. That said, certain types of techniques are easier to deploy at particular ranges, and the front thrust kick is one that works best from distance, when an attacker is moving toward you, onto your kick.

      The issue affecting the use of this kick is that most fights in reality start extremely close, denying you an easy opportunity to deploy such a kick. However, there are situations (albeit rare), where assailants do come at you from distance, as well as times when you can create the distance (more common) that will allow you to make such a kick.

      If you have the space and time to back away from an assailant, you should. Getting to safety should be your number one priority in any situation. There are, of course, times when there is space between you and an attacker, but not enough space to be able to move away safely. In such situations, your better option may be to engage and take away the timing of your assailant’s attack. In such cases, take a step forward toward them to start your movement into the kick.

      As you do this, transfer your weight onto your left leg and start to bring your right leg through in preparation for launching a thrusting kick.

      As you raise your knee up, slide on the foot of your supporting leg. This will transfer your weight forward, adding momentum to the kick. You shouldn’t hop or jump, but instead slide the foot forward as part of your forward movement, making sure it stays in contact with the ground.

      What gives the kick its potency is the timing. You want to still be moving forward as your foot impacts into your assailant; however, at the moment you extend your leg and drive/push into your attacker, you will need to root the supporting leg so as to have a solid platform to drive off from. The closer you are to your assailant when you connect with them, the deeper you can drive your kick.

      Once you make contact, root your supporting leg and extend your kick, driving your assailant back. By turning the foot so that your toes are pointing to the side, rather than at your assailant, you will drive your hip a few more inches toward your attacker, adding to the thrust of the kick.

      PART II

      Armed and Unarmed Self-Defense Scenarios

      De-escalation

      When you find yourself dealing with an aggressive and emotional individual, you should start by asking yourself a simple question: is this a premeditated situation or a spontaneous one? In a premeditated act of aggression/violence, your aggressor has planned and/or orchestrated the situation and has an outcome in mind. They may, for example, be a mugger who has acquired a weapon, chosen a location, selected a victim, and is looking to take their wallet or purse, etc. In a spontaneous act of violence, the aggressor did not enter the situation with any plans to become aggressive. Rather, your actions or behavior—whether real or perceived—caused them to become angry and violent; perhaps you spilled a drink on them, or cut them off in traffic, or cut in front of them in line. The wrongdoing may be imagined or perceived on their part, but their belief in the injustice means that they have become aggressive and therefore dangerous. One of the big differences between spontaneous and premeditated acts of violence is that in spontaneous acts of violence, your aggressor has no predefined outcomes; they don’t know what they want from the situation—unlike a mugger or sexual assailant, who has very clear objectives that they are looking to achieve.

      In premeditated acts of aggression, you have two choices: you can either acquiesce to your aggressor’s demands or you can resist them—that is, fight. If a mugger wants your wallet, you can give it to them, or you can attempt to deal with them physically; trying to talk them out of mugging you is not an option. Because an aggressor in a spontaneous act of violence doesn’t come to a situation with a particular outcome in mind, you will in all likelihood have the opportunity to present other non-violent solutions and alternatives. If you have inadvertently spilled a drink on someone, they won’t know what will make the situation right for them; they may feel in the moment that they have no alternatives but to act violently against you. If the option is presented in the right way, however, they may come to accept that other non-violent routes are open to them, such as accepting a replacement drink from you, having you pay for their dry cleaning, etc.

      The only way an aggressive individual will be able to consider these alternatives to violence is if their high and volatile emotional state can be reduced, so that they are able to consider non-violent solutions to the situation. This is the goal and purpose of the de-escalation process.