People often try to compare popular combat sports with Krav Maga, arguing heatedly about which system is “better.” These debates (usually between men) often confuse people who are genuinely seeking realistic self defence, especially women. At the extreme ends of these arguments, you’ll hear claims like “Krav Maga is useless because no one uses it in the UFC” or “combat sports are pointless in the streets.”
As someone who admires both combat sports and teaches Krav Maga, I want to offer a more grounded perspective. The biggest issue on both sides is the assumption that skills that look similar must serve the same purpose. They don’t.
Why Comparing Them Is Like Comparing Two Types of Vehicles
Both modern AWD EVs and a typical 4WD truck are vehicles, have the parts that are named the same and perform the same function in both vehicles, and indeed can be used to take you from A to B. However, top sport EVs can reach speed of 100km/h in just over 3 seconds, but can't go off road. A 4WD truck is simply not designed to accelerate extremely fast, but can tow heavy load and go off road. Differences between two vehicle classes are generally understood, so you don't see passenger EVs in hunting and fishing trips, and you won't see a 4WD ute on the racetracks, nor there are silly arguments about which one of the two is better. People understand design goals behind each vehicle type and choose based on what they want to do with them.
Krav Maga: Designed for Survival, Not Competition
Krav Maga is essentially the earliest form of "mixed martial art" created for the self defence and survival. It borrowed the most effective simple techniques from the combat sports and martial arts while developing unique weapons threat and attack defences over time. While Krav Maga leverages movement, striking, takedowns etc. commonly found in combat sports, the focus is on relatively simple small range of techniques that can be executed with minimal training to create an escape opportunity and minimise injuries, instead of remaining entangled in the fighting. This includes 'dirty fighting' moves banned in the combat sports, that we use in Krav Maga as a way to 'level the field' when our survival is at stake, as well as weapons defence techniques unique to Krav Maga training that combat sports have no use for. The primary goal of Krav Maga training is to learn how avoid being attacked if at all possible, defend yourself while minimising the damage if assaulted by unarmed, armed and multiple attackers, and get out of the dangerous situation at earliest possible opportunity.
Combat Sports: Designed for Athletic Skill, Competition, and Entertainment
Combat sports have origins in self defence, but over time they evolved to showcase the skill and athleticism of two opponents of the same gender, similar weight, experience and class, and ultimately provide great entertainment for the spectators. Goal of combat sport training is to learn how to win the fight against your opponent, while following the rules that are usually designed to ensure a 'level field', keep the match interesting to watch (i.e. you can't just run around and avoid to fight, while waiting for the round to be over) and to protect fighters to a point. While being able to knock out someone, which is known to cause brain damage, or to break their joints and ligaments may not appear as much of a protection, some of the banned strikes and moves could be so devastating and cause an immediate death or permanent disability, so the rules ensure fighters behave in the sportsmanlike manner. Winning of the fight in sport scenarios is achieved by scoring points, knocking out or submitting the opponent who may have an option to 'tap' to avoid serious injury or become unconscious, depending how quickly they can recognise a devastating submission is about to happen.
Why Krav Maga Doesn’t Make Sense in the Ring
When compared with the most popular combat sport at the moment, the MMA, Krav Maga being mostly a defensive and survival system, is lacking the attack tactics and techniques such as fakes, feints and other deceptive ways used to close the distance and efficiently attack the opponent who is out of range, as well as many "on the ground" submissions used in MMA and BJJ. This is the primary reason it wouldn't be suitable for an exciting fight in the ring or octagon. If we took two people of similar size, weight, age, "warrior spirit" and same gender who both received the same number of hours of training in MMA and Krav Maga respectively, and put them in the octagon to fight under MMA rules, the Krav Maga practitioner would most likely be focusing on minimising the damage, defence and countering as opposed to constantly trying to break through MMA competitor's defences or trying to grapple with someone who is more skilled at grappling. There would be a lot of disengagement and creating the space, instead of staying in the close range throughout, except when counter offence gains them an advantage so they have to remain close to finish off the opponent. About 50 percent of Krav Maga training is devoted to survival from the weapons attacks and threats, and the other 50 percent to striking and grappling for self defence. Krav Maga practitioner would have less training in striking and grappling than MMA competitor, so even if they are not knocked out or submitted, they'd definitely score less points overall and lose. The only way a Krav Maga practitioner could win is if they manage to hurt and finish off the MMA competitor during one of their counter attacks. In many ways, this wouldn't be a fight they're prepared for, as also they wouldn't be allowed to attack eyes, groin, fingers, back of the head, nor bite.
To be fair, if you put a boxer or bjj competitor into the octagon with an MMA guy, a boxer could win only if MMA competitor gets drawn into a pure fist fight, and bjj guy could win only if MMA competitor just grapples and doesn't use striking at all, which is unlikely to happen. Please take these statements with a grain of salt, as nothing in fighting, be it a sport, street 'duel', or during the assault is guaranteed, and even at the highest skill level mistakes or bad luck happen. All we can go by here is the skillset that we'd expect each competitor to develop within a period of time, how much of striking and grappling, how much of the training focus is on defence vs offence and how much of their training they'd be able to actually use according to the rules they'd be fighting under.
In a “Street Fight,” Skill Helps, But Danger Multiplies
Let's look at reality of street 'duels' or 'agreed fights', as well as the assaults. In a duel, two people knowingly engage in the physical conflict for whatever reason. It usually starts as a verbal argument of sorts, that neither side attempts to de-escalate, which leads to a full on conflict. The agreement to escalate into the fight is mostly implied through the behaviour of both sides. Considering both sides are aware that fight is imminent and willing to engage in it, having good fighting skills that MMA fighters develop over time is definitely helpful. However, fighting outside the ring/octagon carries numerous risks. To start with, what do you know about your opponent? Will he fight dirty, is he prepared to kill for a bruised ego, does he carry and is willing to use a weapon, are some people in the crowd going to jump in on his side, are there sharp edges/obstacles/objects you can hit your head on, and are you prepared to deal with the consequences if your chosen course of action lands you with a criminal conviction, or with a permanent disability? Rarely ever a death is being considered as one of the consequences of the choice to fight "in the street", and how will this affect loved ones, as usual expectation is they'll give the other guy a hiding, teach him a lesson and this is how things will end. Sometimes they do end that way, but often don't.
Common Assaults Are Different From the Sport or Street Fights
During the assault, the attacker(s) do not behave like the fighters in the ring, or participants of the street fight. Victims often do not have a prior warning the attack is imminent. Therefore, you will immediately be fighting from the disadvantaged position, at a close distance, with attacker(s) who fight dirty, aim to overpower you quickly, and who are not interested in the skill contest. Some may even attack right away with a weapon; others deploy the weapon during the assault without victim even noticing it until it is too late. Furthermore, some assailants commit attacks under the influence of mind altering drugs, have active psychotic symptoms (hallucinations or delusions), or with the combination of the two, making them much more unpredictable and determined to fight until one of you is no longer alive. Often, the assailant have the advantage in size, strength, fitness and age; at the end of the day, it is not often that a criminal without a weapon and alone would choose to assault someone who is much stronger than them or someone who appears as if they'll put up a fight. All of this means that our reaction has to be immediate, simple, and effective as there is no time for clever set-ups, probing and outsmarting of the attacker, and this is why the physical side of Krav Maga training is primarily focused at responses to the common attacks.
Multiple Attackers Change Everything
Many assaults are committed by multiple people, which means you cannot allow yourself to get bogged down into full on MMA style fight with one person, even if you have the outstanding fighting skills and athleticism. Make no mistake, fighting against a feral pack of people who are trying to get you at the same time is nothing like the scenes in the action movies where main character dismantles each of the attackers one by one. It is simply a fight for survival, instead of you being in a position to overpower and punish your attackers, so Krav Maga tactics of minimising damage, reducing the attackers' will to fight with brief counter attacks and movement, and removing yourself from the dangerous situation as soon as possible gives us the best chance for survival. Whenever possible, a tactical retreat is always better approach than heroic death. However, we also need to be aware that a retreat may not be an option when our family or friends are with us at the time of the attack, and that our fighting ability and focus will be affected when our loved ones are being hurt, no matter our skill level.
Strength, Age, Fitness: The Harsh Reality
One often overlooked topic when comparing Krav Maga and combat sports such as MMA, BJJ, boxing and Muay Thai is how much the athleticism, strength, age and fitness matter in any physical confrontation. Most people gas out in 30 seconds of high intensity mostly anaerobic activity, so the longer we stay in the confrontation, our chances of getting out without a major injury or death are reducing fast. Focusing on dominating the assailant who may be stronger, faster, younger, fitter and possibly more skilled than you or armed, hoping to secure a win is often a recipe for disaster. When our goal is self defence, rather than sport career, instead of looking at what the combat sport fighters, who are elite athletes, are able to pull off during their fights, we need a dose of reality and look at what we at average level of fitness, our age, strength, speed etc. may be able to do when assaulted. This is where a value proposition of Krav Maga becomes obvious as a realistic self defence for the ordinary people.
Is Krav Maga Better Than Combat Sports for Self Defence?
If you want to compete and you're prepared to put in the work and sacrifice needed to get there, combat sports are a fantastic way to do this. Can a skilled fighter use those skills for self defence? Of course they can. Fighters are used to dealing with pressure and adrenaline and the specific dangerous scenarios of their sport. At the end of the day, Krav Maga was initially based on boxing and wrestling and it developed from there. However, as discussed earlier, there are many assault situations that combat sports do not train for. Furthermore, focus on dominating and winning, using the high risk/high reward techniques or sport fighting skills to defend attacks with weapons are known to reduce our chances of survival. Therefore, even an experienced fighter would find Krav Maga extremely useful for self defence, to complement their already impressive fighting skills.
Overall, if your goal is to protect yourself, family or friends, learn self defence in a much shorter time frame than is needed to become a proficient combat sport fighter, and want to be able to deal with most common real world threats and assaults that also include weapons, Krav Maga is the clear choice. But, there is a catch.
What's The Catch?
While the quality of instruction at combat sport gyms is tested through their fighters’ participation in competitions, the quality of Krav Maga training varies widely because there are no fighting competitions in the system, for obvious reasons. While a difference in the quality of training in sport fighting might mean winning or losing a single match, poor self-defence training can have far more devastating consequences. The lack of relevance to the reality of violence is particularly noticeable among large international Krav Maga brands. These brands focus on making training 'standardised, easily repeatable, and low effort' to attract a broad audience, prioritising profitability for franchise owners at the expense of realism. Essentially, the principles of Krav Maga self-defence discussed in this article are not matched by the training these brands offer, effectively turning them into 'McDojos.' Often, their instructors have never experienced violence, an assault, or a street fight—not to mention a competitive bout. This issue is not unique to Krav Maga; it is also present in some traditional martial arts, as well as in 'women-only' self-defence classes.
How to Pick a Good Krav Maga Training Club
The best way to find realistic Krav Maga training is to try the classes and be honest with yourself. Rather than believing everything you are told, if you see something that doesn't make sense—an approach that is easy to defeat or a technique that won't stand up to an aggressive, resisting attacker—do not be afraid to challenge the instructor with hard questions. Often in 'McDojos,' contact and controlled resistance are discouraged. Pulling strikes instead of controlling power upon impact is the norm, and there is no emphasis on building aggression or mental toughness through pressure testing. While it is normal to let a partner learn a technique initially, it is imperative that an instructor guides you on how to increase the difficulty for the defender as the session progresses; this is the only way to ensure a defence is valid and functional. Furthermore, not every technique will work against every person, especially those who are much larger or stronger. A seasoned instructor should be able to identify when a particular approach will fail and offer an alternative solution. Ultimately, the goal of self-defence training is to prepare you for difficult situations. If your instructor cannot handle your questions in class, how can you have confidence in what they teach? Don't settle for the 'closest' gym, either—quality training is not always at your doorstep.
Try Krav Maga at Krav Fighter in Point Chevalier
If you’re committed to learning real-world self-defence in Auckland, come try a class at Krav Fighter in Point Chevalier and experience some of the most realistic, pressure-tested training in New Zealand. We offer a simple one-week introductory deal: buy one casual class and get your second class free. For more information on how our training can make a difference in your life, and to register your interest in a trial, visit our [Try Us] page.
