As Krav Maga was developed for military use, when taught to civilians for day to day self defense instructors will teach you how to evaluate a situation and the level of threat, and how to respond appropriately.
It is essential that you receive training from a qualified Krav Maga instructor so that you become comfortable with close quarter combat, and do not panic or over react in a real life situation.
If you were to attack the eyes of someone because they were intimidating in appearance and they asked you for the time, you will quickly find yourself in all kinds of legal trouble.
When you train regularly you become familiar with being attacked, defending and counter attacking. The more instinctive it becomes the more likely you to respond correctly under stress if you find yourself under attack or in a potential violent situation.
This is an important aspect of Krav Maga training, as without exposing yourself to realistic threats and attacks and learning to respond instinctively, it is highly possible you may just “freeze” in a real life situation. You will learn how to defend, then prevent being attacked further by taking offensive action.
You can learn many Krav Maga techniques from books and DVDs, but in order to be able use them effectively in the heat of the moment there is no substitute for receiving proper training from a qualified instructor.
