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Showing posts from November, 2013

Banglore ATM robbery attempt - Lessons

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Bengaluru ATM robbery attempt  - Video Quite a few friends asked me what were the options for the victim, Jyoti Uday   Well, the first option is 'personal safety" .. Period. Even though, as a KravMaga instructor I teach defence against knife threats and knife attacks, we first tell the student " Its not worthwhile to fight against a knife to save your money" .  Money can be earned again but not life. See what happened to the poor victim Jyoti. She is in the hospital with grievious head injuries. Even though doctors say her life is not in danger, she may probably have serious physical and mental trauma for the rest of her life So, to save a few thousands Jyoti paid a much higher price. Please be clear about the priorities. Self-defence is NOT about fighting. It is all about survival. There are 2 kinds of crimes. 1) Crime for gain 2) Crime of Passion This ATM assault and robbery attempt is obviously a crime for gain. A criminal is not keen to

GROSS MOTOR SKILLS vs FINE MOTOR SKILLS in Martial arts training

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Which is effective in a fight - Gross motor skills or Fine Motor skills ?  This is an argument going on for ages, amongst martial arts instructors. Much has been said on both sides. Now I am adding my own thoughts to this argument, with the benefit of having practiced Karate and KravMaga and the hind-sight acquired after having taught KravMaga to civilians and police. Actually experts say  there are 3 levels of motor skills - Fine, Complex and Gross . Here is my simple description which explains the 3 motor skills in the context of fighting (click for readable view) . To make it even simpler – 1. Practice = swimming on dry land  2. Sparring = swimming in a shallow swimming pool 3. Actual fight = trying to survive in rough waves, blindfolded! See how  complex skills fail in an actual crisis, even for trained police men! "So, I need NOT learn fine movements?!" Let me clarify that I am NOT against teaching Fine motor skills. The more time spent i