How to find a good Krav Maga School
Guidance from the British Krav Maga Association
We get a lot of questions about Krav Maga, sometimes hundreds each day. Many revolve around finding a good Krav Maga school or Instructor. So we decided to post a general guide on ‘How to find a good Krav Maga School’. We should disclose that we run Krav Maga Instructor Courses, and license Krav Maga Schools, however the advice on this page relates to any Krav Maga Instructor, school or organisation.
Why it matters...
Krav Maga is different.
People look for Krav Maga because they want a simple, no nonsense method of self protection. They buy into the history, the 70+ years of front line evoloution. With the public consistantly choosing Krav Maga over martial arts, some individuals began claiming to teach Krav Maga after attending 3 or 5 day certification courses.
This is a problem both for the consumer who is not getting what they are paying for and for the Krav Maga community who are being targeted by poor imitations of Krav Maga which will inevitably damage the reputation of Krav Maga.
1. Understand the Martial Arts Industry
The Martial Arts industry is completley unregulated. There are few consistent standards and fewer legal requirements. Any individual can claim to teach Krav Maga or any other martial art should they wish. As an unregulated industry, the martial arts sector is vulnerable to individuals who simply claim what ever they please. With no regulatory body, there is no agency to enforce any consistant standards or monitor those breaching them.
2. What's in a name
Amit Porat – Former IDF Military Krav Maga Instructor teaching for British Krav Maga
Whist the term Krav Maga is generic, the system of Krav Maga is specific and highly consistant across the major organisations. However the name ‘Krav Maga’ sells and many attempt to cash in on this process by calling various martial arts systems Krav Maga.
We have seen a pleathera of Krav Jitsu, Krav Kickboxing, MMA Krav Maga, and so forth. These systems have very little to do with Krav Maga and the founders of these systems typically have no credible Krav Maga background.
3. Look for a credible organisation
The standard of Krav Maga is considrably higher amongst the major Krav Maga organisations. Typically these organisations train an instructor over 18 – 23 days and have strict quality control over certification. They have the appropriate skill set to assess their instructors against the curricula. Some of the style specific organisations have evolved to become National Governing bodies. These organisations are externally assessed, have to achieve a wide range of requirements and should deliver training to a national level.
In the UK the Main organisations are British Krav Maga, the International Krav Maga Federation and Krav Maga Global. Credible organisations with a smaller UK presence include the British Federation of Krav Maga (FEKM) , Haim Zut Krav Maga and the Israeli Krav Maga Association.
4. Check out the Instructor
After you have identified the nearest Krav Mag School check them out on the net. Where did they train ? How long is the Instructor course. Look for reviews and any feedback written by customers. Check out popular sites like free index or simply Google the school/instructor name and add the word review.
5. Look for schools that specialise in Krav Maga
Avoid schools providing a broad programme of Martial Arts including Krav Maga. Typically you will see a Krav Maga sessions sandwhiched between Kickboxing, MMA, Kids classes and what ever else is the ‘on trend’ system of choice. These are commonly referred to as McDojos on account of the franchised commercial approach and mediocre training.
The chances of getting quality professional coaching in authentic Krav Maga in a l;ocation like this is not good. In fact we cant think of a single exception to this rule in any school across the UK.
In summary
If you want Krav Maga look for the real thing, not a copy cat version. Simply put, you’ll benefit from the evolution and history and you’ll know that you are learning the same system taught to soldiers, Law Enforcement and at risk personelle across the world.
Krav Maga remains the worlds most battle tested self defence system and is still taught and used for front line troops nearly 70 years after it was pioneered.
There is no other system of hand to hand combat in modern history with a similar pedigree. That fact alone gives an insight into the value placed on real krav maga by those who need it the most.