3 reasons why knowing Krav Maga will save your life if you're ever attacked

Krav Maga is a close-combat fighting style utilized by the Israeli Military to defeat enemies in hand-to-hand fighting situations. This fighting style was developed for disabling an attacker quickly and completely. Use these same techniques to protect yourself if ever faced with an attack.

• Many fighting styles have addressed this attack with techniques that simply do not work, such as knuckle strikes to the attacker's forearm or stomping on their toes. Krav Maga leaves no room for doubt with its approach to dealing with an attack from the rear.
• You are taught that the very first response is not to lean back, but to hunch forward while dropping your centre of gravity downward to establish a strong base.
• The attacker can then be thrown using simple footwork and mechanical leverage.

• Some defence ideas concerning knives instruct students to wait until it is too late, or after the knife has breached the barrier of their 40 centimetres of personal space.
• Krav Maga takes a more proactive approach and teaches you to "attack the attack."
• This means that in the instance of an overhead stabbing motion, the stabbing arm is hit from inside and below with a forearm strike, while the attacker's face is punched simultaneously.
• The technique then teaches you how to control the knife hand, and how to use leverage and positioning to strip away the weapon.

• Looking down the wrong end of a gun barrel is a very real possibility in some places.
• The Krav Maga way of handling the situation teaches that when an attacker holds a gun to you at close range, surrender is not the only option.
• Students are taught to assume that the gun will go off, and the first priority is to get out of the line of fire.
• At the same time, you direct the gun arm away, control it with both hands, and strike the soft tissue with precisely directed kicks.
• Finish the defence by disarming the gunman and disabling with more strikes if necessary.

In addition to these skills, Krav Maga teaches many more defences for being punched, kicked, bear-hugged, shoved or swept. Also, the cardiovascular conditioning that is part of the training is a weapon in itself, as you will be able to out run an attacker if necessary or fight for an extended period without tiring.

Sources:

http://www.kravmagafederation.com/krav-maga-origins.html

http://www.police.txstate.edu/Services/KravMaga.html