Self-defence for first responders
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Getting to the point to protect your self By Morné Mommsen, BED HRD (NWU), IKMA, KMCS, kickboxing and firearm instructor/coach, Midvaal Fire and Rescue and Warrior Combative wrong reasons and they are most probably not affiliated with a fighting association such as the South Atlantic Karate Association (SAKA), World Association of Kickboxing Organisation (WAKO) or World Krav Maga Association or any other wellknown associations; if so, stay away. Most who present Krav Maga will only make use of the name and did not train under the leaders of Krav Maga, such as World Krav Maga Association. Rather approach a wellknown martial art institute within your area. Krav Maga is NOT Mix Martial Arts such as MMA and entail much more than MMA can currently provide.
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t is sad to read about fellow emergency workers being killed for doing their job. When will South Africa management start to realise that South Africa is becoming the capital world for crime? Police officials, traffic officials, security officials, ambulance services and fire departments are all being targeted by the very same industry we try to serve and protect, which include urban civilians and farmers and their workers.
programme that promote a good fighting fitness programme (not gym), basic fighting methods (not Krav Maga) and after a few months of hard work reaching a level of fitness and understanding the basic fighting principles, then you will be ready to advance to a more forceful level of self-defence. Let me explain.
I personally think that no training will be able to protect you against these types of attacks because we are narrow minded, meaning we focus purely on the patient or victim we assist and we don’t focus on the overall environment. These types of attacks are fast and are performed at a maximum forceful capacity.
What to do? Will always be the question, and everyone is looking for a quick solution towards this problem, meaning that some will attend a self-defence seminar, or attend one- or two-day self-defence classes, or start searching for answers on You Tube and “think” they are now fighting experts. It takes a lifetime of hard work every day to achieve a grading belt and just to be told you not ready yet, what makes you think you can do it in a day or two.
Do we have a solution for this and the answer will be “YES”? If you follow a long-term training
There are many within South Africa that promote Krav Maga or mix martial art sports for the
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As a Krav Maga instructor (Warrior Combative) and a kick boxing student, I can with all honesty state that if one focuses purely only on Krav Maga, you will not be able to fully protect yourself. The reason for me making such a statement is as follows: As an example, I will use kickboxing as my platform but you can relate to any other approved martial art sport • Kick boxing or approved martial art sport will teach you how to stand (fighting stance) correctly and properly (the basics, not teach by Krav Maga) and • Will teach you the fundamentals of fighting and • Will teach you how to correctly punch and • Will teach you how to correctly kick and • Will teach you how to bob and weave correctly and • Will teach you how to do a sparring session properly and correctly and • Will teach you all you need to know about fighting correctly. Krav Maga is too advance and complicated to start with and Volume 6 | No 3
