I own this book and am fortunate to teach Krav maga for a living.I share that information to put my opinions in perspective as I teach these and simmilar techniques every day.

I think the book is well presented and gives a deeper understanding into the techniques, principles and overall strategy than most others.

This book make a great companion for the serious student who wants more than a simple how to book. I have not seen any other books that cover the strategy of unarmed defence versus weapons in this detail.

I would reccomend buying this book with the american book 'complete krav maga' (Levene). The 2 would offer the potential student a great combination of theory and illustration.


In reply to the posting about the gun technique, I can see where you are coming from but this is the danger of learning from a book.To many subtle movements are lost The krav gun defence works well if done correctly, redirect/control the weapon,get off the line of fire, forward pressure, immediate counters etc but this is hard to show in a book.

I once saw Avi Nadia demonstrating Krav Maga gun techniques (incorrectly) and showing they did not work. He did not apply the basics ( no counters or forward pressure) and made the same mistakes a novice would make.This may have been deliberate (he was trying to show his own kapap system was better) but the point is a good krav practioner who had actually trained would know how to do it correctly.

if you start learning life threatening technique, dont learn it from a book find an instructor.

This book bases defenses on our natural instincts and reflexes. Even so, practice is necessary to gain meaningful results. The key is that the book aims to present techniques that are easy to learn and hard to forget.

I found 20% of the book to be helpful as a review of what I was learning in class. The book was worthwhile for that alone. The other 80% represents a range from a preview of what I will be learning to stuff that is and will always be well beyond my competence. However, it is 100% interesting.

The photos are generally clear and helpful. The consistent dress of the attacker and defender make it easier to understand.

My sense is that many of the reviewers are looking for the same perfection they strive for in martial arts in a book. Unless written by the master under whom they study there will always be conflicts and inconsistencies. But this alone does not make the book flawed.

The book is a helpful reminder of what I learned some time ago and need to practice or correct.

Will the book take you out of your off the couch and prepare you for deadly combat in 10 days - no. Will it help you absorb and improve what you are learning and have learned in class YES. Well recommended

This book gives a very detailed explaination of the Krav Maga martial Arts. However the reader MUST understand that reading this book will NOT make you a Krav Maga expert... you need to participate in sanctioned Krav Maga instruction.

These martial arts techniques will truly work in real-life self-defense situations. You'll actually be able to learn Krav Maga from this well-organized book.

Before you Krav Maga fans downvote this review just because it is critical, I would be grateful if you'd hear me out. I think that no matter how heavily invested you are in this system, you'll probably agree with me, and if not, please leave a comment, and I'll be glad to reconsider.

I'd be glad to give this book five stars if it had a different title. But the title states that this book will show *you* how to defend *yourself* against armed assault. The fact is that the vast majority of persons whose eyes fall upon this book-- and perhaps this review-- should not try to do what it depicts. For the vast majority of us, these techniques are suicidal, period. The only reason the book is presented as a manual of defending *yourself* against armed assault is that the market absolutely dictates it. A book on how experts and professionals might defend themselves would not sell enough copies to cover costs, and so you would probably never hear of it, and you certainly wouldn't see it on the Sports shelf of your local mega book chain, which is where I found it.

As the book states, Krav Maga was devised by a champion boxer and wrestler living in a violent place and time. It is taught to Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and other top-notch professionals. Knowing this, you need to ask yourself a question: "am I a champion (or even competitive) wrestler or boxer or a top-notch professional soldier or policeman?" If the answer is "yes," then by all means, try the techniques shown here. If "no," then you might want to reconsider.

The book provides many excellent examples of what I mean. For instance, look at the frontispiece illustration for the section on knife defenses. It shows the Krav Maga practitioner countering a knife attack with a punch to the jaw. Now, if Grandmaster Imi Sde-Or punches a guy square in the jaw, the guy is probably going down. But if you or I punch a guy square in the jaw-- that is, if we lesser-trained couch potatoes and desk jockeys are lucky enough to land such a punch on a determined attacker-- it might just hurt him enough to make him mad. A boxer's punch is a devastating weapon, but very, very few of us are boxers.

Furthermore, the jaw is a much bigger, heavier bone than most people think, and many people who succeed in punching it wind up with broken bones in their hands. This is a huge problem even among police, whose level of training and readiness is generally far above the average person's.

Don't get me wrong. If you are a good amateur boxer, chances are that you can hit a moving attacker with enough force to shatter the bones in his face. But if not, and you try what this book depicts, then you are putting yourself in the position of trading licks with a guy who is stabbing, not punching. In short, unless your punch is a lethal weapon, you are choosing to engage in a fight at an extreme disadvantage, where your life depends on the outcome. It is Bambi versus Godzilla, and you are Bambi. Does that sound like a good decision?

As I look at the pictures, I want to ask the defender some questions. "If you didn't notice that the attacker had a knife until he got close, then how is it that you are not already stabbed and dying? And if you did see the knife attack coming from a distance, then why on Earth did you not maintain that distance?" Put yourself in the defender's shoes and try to answer this interrogation. All the answers I can think of sound pretty lame.

Also bear in mind that no matter how much this is touted as self-defense for civilians, it is a basic fact that police and soldiers have completely different priorities than most of us when it comes to confronting armed and homicidal persons. No amount of verbiage and logic and argument will ever change this fact. It follows that what is best for the IDF is not necessarily best for Joe Commuter. No "system" can simultaneously address the needs of both. As far as I'm concerned, that is a thing that speaks for itself.

So if I were to evaluate this book solely on its ability to teach self-defense to the average person, as its title implies, then I would give it one star, and that only because there are no zeros. Teaching people like me to grapple with knife-wielding maniacs can only get us killed, and for what? Nothing.

On the other hand, as many others have pointed out, the book serves very well as a manual for someone who is devoting himself to Krav Maga classes-- and indeed is not at all practical otherwise. It's also a valuable source for those of us who like to look at various fighting systems as spectators and students. For these purposes, the book is perfect, and so I can't very well give it a big fat zero. The best I can do is average the two ratings and say that it's a fine book, but you should only try putting it into practice if you meet certain very special qualifications.

Again, if I've said anything inaccurate or upsetting here, I'd be glad to hear about it and reconsider.

Being the author of several books on the martial arts and fighting, I am always looking for books of exceptional quality to add to my library. If I have a book in my library, it's definitely worth owning. One such book is Imi Sde-Or and Eyal Yanilov's, "Krav Maga: How to Defend Yourself Against Armed Assault."

This book starts out with a basic definition of Krav Maga and the basic principles behind the self-defense system and the techniques in which it encompasses. I am a firm believer in the underlying principles being far more important to a particular technique than the technique itself, and I am glad to see that the authors of this book feel the same way. Throughout the entire book, each section begins with the basic principles on which the techniques are based and how they are to be applied. This is a true sign of an excellent martial arts/self-defense book.

The next chapter takes a look at various ways of holding a knife during an attack. As well as, a few defenses that can be used against an imminent knife attack. These defenses are primarily against stabbing attacks. One negative comment that I must make concerning this book is the authors' use of high section kicks to the head as a counter to a knife attack. Although I will be the first to admit that it is possible, it is not something that I personally would recommend that anyone try, even if you are extremely adept at high section kicks. It would only take one small mistake for you to end up a hen instead of a rooster, if you know what I mean.

The following chapter goes over several various techniques that can be used when you are threatened by someone with a knife. This is quite a bit different than being attacked by someone with a knife, and is some cases, is a lot more dangerous. This is followed by a chapter on various defensive techniques that can be used if you are attacked by someone yielding a stick.

The next couple of chapters really bring out the meat and potatoes of Krav Maga. That is the sections dealing with defenses against an opponent armed with a firearm. The first section briefly explains the difference between a revolver and an automatic pistol. It then jumps right in on how to deal with threats from an attacker yielding a handgun, and how to disarm them. The second section deals with how to defend against attacks with a rifle, shotgun, and submachine gun. Although these things may seem a rarity in American society, they are all too real in Israel where Krav Maga was born. Therefore, I tend to believe that these can be effective. However, in my opinion, you should only try them as a last resort.

I found the next chapter to be quite unique, especially the section on how to deal with a hand grenade. I surely hope that I never am faced with a situation where this becomes an issue, but if it does; this book shows some very practical ways to deal with it. After the hand grenade portion, this section goes into a detailed look at how to handle a situation where you aren't the person directly threatened, but a third party is. For example; say a friend or loved one. Now I have numerous books in my personal library and have read even more, and I don't recall ever having read a book that dealt with this particular subject. Even though it was a brief section, I still found it very insightful and worthy of an entire volume on its own.

The authors also include a small section on the use of common everyday items that you can use as weapons to defend yourself against an attacker. The items mentioned in this chapter include the following: pens, forks, mops, pencils, keys, coins, etc.

The next two chapters go over some basic defensive uses of the stick against an attacker with a knife, and also against an attacker with a stick. As with all the technique chapters in this book, the very first thing that is discussed by the authors is the principles behind the techniques. This is followed by some basic defensive maneuvers that you can do with a stick to defend yourself against an armed attacker.

This next chapter, like the previous one on dealing with a third party being attacked instead of you, was very unique in that it deals with how to defend yourself against an attack by not one, but two armed attackers. Even though it was a brief section, I still found it very insightful and worthy of an entire volume on its own.

Now I have to admit to a bit of confusion concerning these next two chapters, "Principles Behind the Defensive Techniques" and "Dealing with a Violent Incident" would, in my opinion, been more effective right at the beginning, rather than at the end. But that's just me.

The book finishes off with separate sections devoted to various training methods, safety issues in training, and a brief history of Krav Maga. This system is one of the few newer systems to come around that was actually born and developed on the modern day battlefield. This was done by taking various components from other fighting arts and incorporating it into their own unique fighting system. This makes it a very effective means of self-defense, not only on the battlefield, but also on the street.

Krav Maga: How to Defend Yourself Against Armed Assault is straight from the horse's mouth. Krav Maga is a "combatives" system of hand-to-hand combat. I refer to fighting systems as "idiot systems" and "expert systems"-not very flattering, I know. The idiot systems are quick to learn and easy to retain and effective when used ruthlessly. The expert systems take a long time to learn and consistently dedicated refresher training to retain, but when mastered are more effective than the idiot systems. I prefer the idiot systems, myself. These idiot systems include combatives such as Krav Maga, Russian Sambo, and the various hand-to-hand combat systems used by the world's militaries. I must explain that my background is military-hand-to-hand combat includes both unarmed fighting and weapons used in close quarter combat.

NOTE: this is a book about self defense-"don't get hurt" and "act correctly" are two of its principles. My initial hand-to-hand combat training in the Marines had a different purpose-kill the other guy first because I was in a desperate situation and unarmed against an enemy who was duty-bound to kill me. This book doesn't specifically teach you how to kill-the emphasis is defensively removing the threat long enough to escape. The target audience of this book isn't the police officer charged with apprehending a violent criminal or the soldier confronted with an enemy who must be killed or disabled immediately (if not sooner)-this book is aimed at the private citizen who counters the assailant's attack. While I like the counters, and feel that they will work, a determined attacker will not be dissuaded simply because his pet technique fizzled the first time. Sometimes, as the text says, "if someone comes to kill you, kill him first." Krav Maga is a defensive art (Sambo is much more offensive) and the goal of "Defend Yourself Against Armed Assault" is "Become proficient, so that you will not have to kill."

Sorry. I won't be proficient enough to both avoid getting killed by multiple armed assailants and to stop deadly force assaults without really hurting them. I am not Superman. The techniques in this book do give me lesser force options because not every assault is a deadly force situation.

"How to Defend Yourself Against Armed Assault" covers counters to knives, guns, sticks, and hand grenades. Several "real-life stories" testify to the effectiveness of Krav Maga as a combatives system. The Page 93 and Page 108 stories of self-defense are compelling because they cover people foolishly misusing handguns and successfully disarming them without injury to either defender or careless person. Many self-defense problems do not require that the defender kill the attacker. Police use the force necessary to subdue and apprehend. Private citizens use the force needed to stop the assault-not always a "deadly force" assault, but will you stand still while someone pounds on you? In the two cases mentioned in the sidebars on pages 93 and 108 people were fooling around with loaded guns, not intending to hurt anybody.

Other sidebar antecedents: an armed soldier attacked at close range--and using hand-to-hand combat techniques to gain enough time and space to charge his rifle (military people usually have "unloaded weapons" when on sentry duty to limit accidental discharges, a practice that is often ignored in high-threat areas) and shoot his knife-armed attacker; a chess master who loses several chess matches to a "nobody" (the moral: "never underestimate your opponent"); Diane's use of a fire extinguisher beccause tear gas wasn't available; other Krav Maga success stories.

There is a chapter on expedient improvised weaponry and two chapters on using the stick as a defensive tool.


The illustrations are clear and concise. Each step in the technique is detailed. I could train from this book, given a training partner and a referee. The text gives instructions on training without an instructor, but I recommend an impartial referee both for safety and to improve training effectiveness. There is a chapter devoted to setting up a training program and training site. Safety is emphasized, though perhaps not as "safe" as litigation-conscious American commercial training centers and their legal advice would feel comfort with.

The history of Krav Maga is there for us amateur historians, too.

Many other books on hand-to-hand combat exist. I can train with this one. I would like an index, but I can use this as a defensive training textbook. My sole reservation is that I may need to move up the force spectrum when purely defensive techniques prove inadequate.

I picked this book up a couple months into my Krav Maga training, and it has helped me to learn some of the more advanced techniques. True to the book's title, there is really nothing on defeating an unarmed adversary, but that probably wouldn't have sold as well.

I'm a year and a half into my training, and I flip through the book about once a week and still find it very useful. I do not think it would be practical for someone who is not in a Krav Maga class. While the moves are "simple", there are subtleties in the moves that only a qualified instructor can teach.

For instance, a reviewer claimed that the defense for a gun held to the head would result with the gun pointed at the defender's groin. Not true! The defense is based specifically on keeping the business end of the gun away from one's body. The issue of endangering innocent bystanders is true and depends on the defender's skill.

I recommend Krav Maga training (this book alone is not enough)to people that don't have the patience to learn "sportfighting" or ritualized martial arts, and want an effective system for the street.

This is an excellent book.
Truly geared at Street Survival in many different settings.
The key is join a Krav Maga School & read book practice makes perfect.
Krav Maga shows you how to deal with all types of attackers & dangerouse situations in modern day living.
This is also an excellent programme for Women Children & People of all ages.
If you want cold reality in street survival this is the book for you.

First the good: This is a well-written, excellently illustrated work. The techniques are well explained and the photos really bring home the author's intent. It is easy to read, follow, and understand. Clearly no book, no matter how well written, is a substitute for competent hands-on training but this will make a great handbook for practitioners to refer back to. Krav Maga evolved from a soldier's art rather than from a civilian's as many traditional karate or kung fu methods. The techniques are straightforward and relatively easy to learn. Many are very practical.

Now the bad: I'm really, really leery of some of what is taught herein. For example, on page 34 a kick to the chin is shown in defense of a straight knife thrust. Sorry folks, but that's an almost certain recipe for disaster. First off, unless you are a superior, lightning fast athlete there is no way you can kick that high without eating steel since the attacker's wrist only has to move a few inches to slice or stab your leg, foot, or ankle while you need to cover several feet to hit his/her chin. Even worse if your timing is off you could be hit in an even more vital area. In 30 years of martial arts I've met and trained hundreds upon hundreds of practitioners. I know perhaps one or two who could pull this off. Perhaps there is some hidden intent that I don't understand or something got lost in translation from Hebrew but I'm just not buying this one...

Overall: Don't get me wrong, there really is a lot of good stuff in here. However, there are techniques you know, techniques you do, techniques you train, and techniques you'd stake your life on. Choose wisely!

Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

First the good: This is a well-written, excellently illustrated work. The techniques are well explained and the photos really bring home the author's intent. It is easy to read, follow, and understand. Clearly no book, no matter how well written, is a substitute for competent hands-on training but this will make a great handbook for practitioners to refer back to. Krav Maga evolved from a soldier's art rather than from a civilian's as many traditional karate or kung fu methods. The techniques are straightforward and relatively easy to learn. Many are very practical.

Now the bad: I'm really, really leery of some of what is taught herein. For example, on page 34 a kick to the chin is shown in defense of a straight knife thrust. Sorry folks, but that's an almost certain recipe for disaster. First off, unless you are a superior, lightning fast athlete there is no way you can kick that high without eating steel since the attacker's wrist only has to move a few inches to slice or stab your leg, foot, or ankle while you need to cover several feet to hit his/her chin. Even worse if your timing is off you could be hit in an even more vital area. In 30 years of martial arts I've met and trained hundreds upon hundreds of practitioners. I know perhaps one or two who could pull this off. Perhaps there is some hidden intent that I don't understand or something got lost in translation from Hebrew but I'm just not buying this one...

Overall: Don't get me wrong, there really is a lot of good stuff in here. However, there are techniques you know, techniques you do, techniques you train, and techniques you'd stake your life on. Choose wisely!

Lawrence Kane
Author of 'The Way of Kata' and 'Martial Arts Instruction'

First the good: This is a well-written, excellently illustrated work. The techniques are well explained and the photos really bring home the author's intent. It is easy to read, follow, and understand. Clearly no book, no matter how well written, is a substitute for competent hands-on training but this will make a great handbook for practitioners to refer back to. Krav Maga evolved from a soldier's art rather than from a civilian's as many traditional karate or kung fu methods. The techniques are straightforward and relatively easy to learn. Many are very practical.

Now the bad: I'm really, really leery of some of what is taught herein. For example, on page 34 a kick to the chin is shown in defense of a straight knife thrust. Sorry folks, but that's an almost certain recipe for disaster. First off, unless you are a superior, lightning fast athlete there is no way you can kick that high without eating steel since the attacker's wrist only has to move a few inches to slice or stab your leg, foot, or ankle while you need to cover several feet to hit his/her chin. Even worse if your timing is off you could be hit in an even more vital area. In 30 years of martial arts I've met and trained hundreds upon hundreds of practitioners. I know perhaps one or two who could pull this off. Perhaps there is some hidden intent that I don't understand or something got lost in translation from Hebrew but I'm just not buying this one...

Overall: Don't get me wrong, there really is a lot of good stuff in here. However, there are techniques you know, techniques you do, techniques you train, and techniques you'd stake your life on. Choose wisely!

Israelis are only 5 millions peoples living in a very hostile area with 250 millions Arabs who fight them. So when i knew that i understood what means ''battle proven-method''. Of course the book cannot explain all the (important)subtile finishings but when i read that ''krav-maga is like hapkido or other martial arts'' I am laughing because the people who says that doesn't know Krav Maga AND doesn't know Hapkido and real other martial arts (or are jealous persons) ! The krav maga is the official hand-to-hand combat technic of a lot of western special forces such as french GIGN or SF of Swedish army and Poland Army etc... After the terrible 11/9 a CIA team came to Israel to learn Krav-Maga....So what more ?

...While there isn't a whole lot of technical information in this volume that differs much from things already written in other self defense books (after all, there are only so many ways to hit an attacker with an elbow while tuning around), this work is one of the few "non-traditional" martial arts studies which presents its information in a progressive SYSTEM. The material presented here covers a range of topics which one would generally have to find in a number of different books by various authors. Although the technical information is basic (that is to say, not complex), this is not a book that was written for stupid people. The presentation and coverage is thorough enough that advanced martial artists and individuals with no specific previous training who would like to build a base of knowledge for no-nonsense self defense training can benefit from reading this book. Although my own background is in "traditional" martial arts, the materials here are remeniscent of the short courses taught to military and police, without the militaristic formality.

Each topic (unarmed, knife, baton, gun, etc) includes a detailed theoretical explanation, and then offers photographic sequences to clearly illustrate the points. There is no ceremony, and no wasted space in this book. The ideas presented here are logical, the manouevres straight forward and simple, having been developed with the idea that any person regardless of athletic acumen, whether a clerk or a soldier should be able to effectively apply them quickly and easily. There is sound advice on using every day items for defense, sensible methods of conduct and dress, dealing with violence, and mental training. The authors do not dwell on deep time-consuming philosophical ideas, although as with most martial practices, Krav Maga does have a basic ethical thesis: don't get hurt, act modestly, act correctly, and become proficient (page 3-4). As with every defensive art, the thing which will make you most successful is practice, practice, practice.

For history buffs, the section about the authors includes an interesting if short recounting of the training and experienced of Imi Sde-Or, including photos of his father, Samuel Lichtenfeld, and Imi as a young man in Europe (pre-1940), showing an incredible physique developed through athletic persuits including wrestling and boxing (pages 223-227). Sde-Or died in 1998, co-author Eyal Yanilov is his successor. The inclusiveness and price of this book make it an attractive find.

I recently bought this book because I was hearing a lot about this self defense system. I've been practicing Wing Chun for about 4 years now and I think this is a good book that emphasizes on good close quarters defense. It is a very good good to buy if you practice ANY martial art style. The late Imi Sde-Or and Eyal Yanilov did a tremendous job writing about this system. I STRONGLY recomend this book.

Krav Maga is an OK system - it is not 'the' system, there is no 'the' system. Krav Maga is trendy though - just like Gracie jujutsu.

Some of the stuff is workable, some of it isn't. Relying on punches to the head is a good way to break your hands in the real world - ask Mike Tyson - he did.

The book leaves a lot to be desired and is rather thin. The content is ok - but poorly presented.

Krav Maga is a breath of fresh air in a world of commercial "get your black belt in 6 months" martial arts studios. Self defense and martial arts overlap but may be different in their ultimate purpose (e.g. winning the next tournament vs. surviving on the street). For people interested in protecting themselves, this book provides valuable insight. If you can take a Krav Maga class near you, the training will help to compliment the insights of this texts...A whole new sense of personal freedom and awareness awaits you.

This book by Krav Maga founder Imi Sde-0r and instructor Eyal Yanilov is very good with a lot of good insight about the nature of a real fight. The introduction is very good by being concise and artculating the facts about self-defense as well as the written material at the end.

The photos and self-defense senirios are also very good. Having taught Police Defensive Tactics, I can say that he covers unarmed defense against weapons in a very thorough manner.

The weakness is that he starts with complex items and it is at the end that some of the basic techniques are shown at the very end of the book. It should have been reversed and this incoherenec is a little troubling. All in all a very good primer on "true self-defense." The extreme "nay sayer" reviewers of this book hold either unrealistic ideas about fighting or stupid prejudices.

There is nothing new in this book that has not been taught before by other self defense systems or martial arts instructors and CQB instructors such as Col. Applegate (taught in 1943), Fairbairn, Sykes. This system is nothing more than an eclectic blend of martial arts with a Israeli label. This is not to say that some of the techniques are without merit. These techniques are designed to face an armed adversary, which in the middle east it is a high probability, not in the U.S.A. at least not yet. If you feel the odds are against you for facing an armed attacker, then carry a gun and learn some unarmed self defense techniques. Again, this book has some merits for soldiers and anti-terrorist troops. For the civilian interested in self-defense there are many more books published which have more to offer the reader. Pass on this book and check my listmania on self-defense boooks.

I have upgraded my review to 4 stars - I did not think I would create such controversy.

I have to apologise if I seemed overly critical in the last review because I have over 15 years experience in specific anti-gun and anti-knife techniques so when I looked at Krav Maga I didn�t think �wow something that really works!� I thought �mistake, bad foot work, wrong position elbow, what if attacker does this, telegraphed movement, approach from wrong side� etc..

However after thinking about it, compared to what other books are out there it is quite good. Certainly what I have learnt in my training I have NEVER seen in any book. For me KM was nothing new. It was a good read and interesting and gave me an insight into the psychology and social history behind its development. Maybe I should write a book � seriously, maybe I will.

Kjetil Moland you asked what techniques I advocate against guns, knives and sticks � I recommend techniques similar to Krav Maga � but when I saw the KM techniques I picked them apart, I forget that what I know is not widely practised. I made specific points in my other review. THERE ARE SHORTCOMINGS IN THE TECHNIQUES IN THE KRAV MAGA BOOK. If you can�t pick up on them then you need more experience. Coat your practise knife in paint and see where you get cut. Karate, Taekwondo, Ju Jitsu, Judo, kickboxing, thaiboxing are inferior to KM for real world self defense (although Ju Jitsu should not have been too bad) they all have their own strengths but in all that I have seen of those you mentioned I have never seen adequate real world techniques taught. 4 of those you mentioned are purely sport and the other 2 are a combination of sport / traditions and none of them strictly taught without any pure real-world self defense practise are adequate for the real world � you should know that.

p24 Stab to the Stomach from the Side, Oriental Hold, Forearm defense. Anyone skilled with a knife will immediately twist with the knife and slash the veins along your forearm, retreating and driving the blade down into your throat. Even if the attacker has no knife skills and just lunges at your stomach, you would be lucky if the knife was short enough to not hit you regardless. Either way you have put yourself in the path of the blade. Do you honestly believe that after blocking with your right forearm you are able to then move your right arm and grab the same position on the attackers wrist with your left hand while he stands there not moving? He has a huge knife, any movement he makes with his arm is leveraged with the length of the blade. Slash your forearm, hook it up into your armpit or bicep, not to mention your throat, the knife wielding attacker has the advantage of reach speed and leverage (not to mention the sharp edge) and the KM guy is basically saying �don�t stab my gut, stab my throat instead�.

You would be far better off initially trapping the arm by deflecting it to your right, leaving you on the outside of the attacker (on his right hand side past his arm) and able to break his arm at the elbow or drive him down.

However after criticising that technique I will say this: what they show IS instinctive, simple, easy to apply even in for example a really crowded place with people all around, easy to learn, and most importantly could well save you especially if the person attacking you is just some ordinary guy with a knife trying to stab you, and not a trained killer (with a cool head, knife skills and a deliberate intent). More likely than not, if you practise these KM skills, then in that situation your trained reflexes will save you and give you the edge over the attacker (the last thing he would expect is a competant counter attack).

Also I would point out that many martial arts, if you had learnt them instead of KM, you would have the reflexes to block the initial stab but you probably would not instinctively grab the knife etc... like KM would teach you. The traditional martial arts generally do not give adequate training for real world events. KM does fill the gap quite a bit. I am sorry if I seemed overly critical before but remember I didn�t look at KM and think �gee I never saw this before�

If you do not think you can defend yourself against knives, guns, sticks (or grenades � something I hope I never encounter) then you would probably learn a great deal from this book � and then you must practise it a lot as realistically as you can. Get it, get a friend, practise practise practise � experience is the real key. Practise until it is second nature and then practise some more but with chaotic unpredictable opponents (not just rehearsing) (like the reviewer who mentioned going all-out with pads). Tell your partner: "Take this knife and kill me or die."

Dip the practice knife in paint. Use a water pistol with food dye in it. Make no excuses. And don�t go thinking KM is the be all end all just because you�ve never seen techniques like these before. Everyone loves to think their martial art is the best and to pretend to themselves that because their technique is superior they will be OK � don�t fall in that trap, practise, learn what is useful and what works.

Good luck and may you never have to use these skills.

I also recommend �Bouncers Guide to Barroom Brawling� - an accurate account of street fighting, however it does not have many illustration or specific techniques like Krav Maga does.

Most of the techniques require that your assailant is off balance, over-committed and incredibly stupid, with only one arm no ability to use their legs, head or indeed skill with their chosen weapon, no peripheral vision and often intoxicated with religious zeal. This may be the case in Israel but sadly is not so in other parts of the world.

Now that is one insulting statement I just made so I had better elaborate. I did enjoy this book and it does have some value, I just worry it might be a bit dangerous especially for beginners.

It is quite well written, I did not find the photos difficult to understand like one reviewer here commented. As far as being a book is concerned it is quite well put together and good value. It is the actual techniques that are dodgy.

It really does assume the attacker is over committed, off balance or just plain stupid. Most of the Krav Maga counters are themselves very easy to counter, the Krav Maga guy putting himself in an off-balance, over committed position not to mention exposing himself in the most extreme ways. How does wrestling a gun so it points at your groin sound? No good? Alright, someone stabs at your midsection - lean forward as far as you can and offer them your throat. Provided they are a lunatic stabbing madly in religious fervour, you'll be fine. Although most people will simply stab you in the throat.

Many of the anti-gun and anti-knife moves approach from the open side instead of the blind side, telegraphing the move and prob. will leave you dead. Some of the anti-terrorist moves are likely to leave the poor hostage dead, usually from wrestling the gun so it points at yourself or the hostage.

I do not suggest trying to grab the barrel of a gun to stop it revolving and hence firing a second bullet: the first bullet will prob. kill you (as you've just wrestled the gun to point at a vital part of your body), the flash will burn your hand and many gunners oil their guns making it IMPOSSIBLE to hold it still. I know this from a friend with a burnt hand and a hole in his leg. You're better off jamming your hand in the hammer instead. The grenade tactics are OK but if you mistake a bomb trigger for a grenade, you're history.

Overall it is interesting (if brief) in its coverage of all these weapons such as grenades, machine guns etc... but not effective. In my opinion dangerously inadequate, very bad technique, unfoundered on actual experience. Again, these are insulting statements so I would like to point out that the "real life examples" they use to justify their techniques are garbage stories like "when the grand master was 13 his brother pulled a gun on him and he hit it and it went off and he was unhurt" and stuff like that. NOT real life examples of combat for life and death on the street, just idiots stuffing around and accidents, they neglect to mention that the REASON the gun went off in those examples was BECAUSE they hit it. Just plain stupid. The obvious lack of experience astounds me.

The reason Israel is not known for its martial arts is because they are really really bad. I find it difficult to believe anything in this book would stand up to anyone other than a person standing still for the photo. However I did enjoy reading it - it makes you think about your existing skills, it gives an insight into another M.A culture, it is interesting for any instructors out there with spare time and money to have a look.

But for ~anyone~ who wants to learn serious self defense techniques this is absolutely NOT the book to get, stay away unless you are already experienced and just want an interesting read. I hope I have not offended anyone with this review - if I have then don't get mad at me, get some other skills and compare them for yourself.

You no longer have to travel to L.A. or the "Big Apple" to get a taste of the increasingly popular self defense and fitness method called Krav Maga. This new book gives you some valuable tips on how to protect yourself on today's mean streets from armed attackers. And its written by the late creator of the system and one of his students- who happens to be the head of one of the major Krav Maga organizations! I liked this book because of its no nonsense approach to personal protection- from safety in training to getting mentally tough. Other books I thought were in the same league are "The Close-Combat Files of Colonel Rex Applegate" by Applegate and Melson; "Krav Maga for Klutzes" by the Personal Shield Foundation; "U.S. Marines Close Combat Manual" from Paladin Press.