As a student of Impact Krav Maga you get more than just access to daily classes.  The schedule also offers students Open Mat hours.  This is an opportunity for students to take advantage of a time when no classes are offered at the school, and the space is available for students to work independently on any aspect of their training.  How to best use this time?  Physical training. Physical preparation and stamina are a crucial to fighting and self-defense training.   Heavy bag work is a great way to stay in shape, improve cardiovascular stamina, and perfect strik ..read more

Whether you train Krav Maga, or any other fighting system, or even any other non-combat oriented sport for that matter, understanding the role of the instructor in your training is very important.  First of all the role of the instructor(s) is to produce an atmosphere conducive to learning.  This includes ensuring a safe and friendly working environment, proper training equipment and clear instructions to facilitate the training.  Equally important is for the instructor to be knowledgeable and be able to show and communicate the material in a clear manner, and even more so, be a ..read more

Six months ago, we decided that we wanted to do something different in 2018. We dreamed of extending the impact of Krav Maga beyond our San Diego school walls to show the world what you all know – Krav Maga is fun, easy to learn and a great skill to know.   And that’s how we came up with the idea of Impact Krav Maga Online.   What is Impact Krav Maga Online? It’s an online program designed to teach Krav Maga to anyone, anywhere. Even from the comforts of your own home. We wanted something that was easy to use, helped any skill-level student practice Krav Maga and most importantly, ha ..read more

When starting to learn Krav Maga, the task of memorizing the large amount of new techniques may seem daunting.  But there are a few strategies you can follow to help guide your training at Impact.  First of all, Krav Maga is a principle driven system that is based on certain natural responses and movements people have shown to exhibit under moments of stress and violence.  All techniques are based on these principles, and a lot of patterns of defensive and offensive movements are recycled from one technique to the next, making Krav Maga one of the easiest self-defense systems to ..read more

This year we mark seven years since Impact Krav Maga officially opened its doors to San Diego.  We have always strived and continue to strive to offer the best and most up-to-date Krav Maga training to the public.  And after nearly seven years in business we are very proud what we have accomplished with the wonderful support of our community and our students.  What separates us from many other gyms is that we are far more than a gym.  We are a school.  A place where students come to learn, progress and excel.  What’s the difference you may ask?  There are a f ..read more

Principles of Krav Maga Imi Lichtenfeld, the founder of Krav Maga, often discussed four main principles of Krav Maga.  These guidelines did not refer to the tactical and technical nuances of the system, but rather to the mindset of the people teaching and learning this style. As another great year is coming to a close, we wanted to share with you and reflect upon Imi’s views of Krav Maga to help you better understand the philosophy of the system and get a better insight into how these ideas influence the way we run Impact and structure our training program.       ..read more

Simplicity is the key to self-defense.  Violence is unpredictable, attackers are unpredictable; the only predictable actions are your own (given that you train of course).  So generally, the simpler the defensive actions, the easier they are to apply under the unpredictable and stressful environment of a violent attack.  Obviously as students train with us, they learn not only the basic techniques, striking and fighting methods, but also how to improvise, adapt and overcome unpredictable attacks.  But these skills come with time and are built from the methodical and progres ..read more

Last month we started our two part series on keys to working with focus mitts.  The first part discussed five guidelines every striker should follow whenever doing pad work with a partner (see “5 Keys to Working with Focus Mitts (Part 1)“).  But because focus mitt training is a two-man activity, the role of the pad holder is just, if not more, crucial then that of the striker.  So this month we are addressing five keys to correct holding of focus mitts to ensure that both partners are getting the best training experience possible.  Learn proper focus mitt “etiquette” In p ..read more

Focus mitt work is an essential component of any combat training.  It develops endurance and agility, reinforces timing, improves footwork and balance, and of course it perfects striking mechanics, and enhances defensive skills.  Strike lab, a class we specifically developed to improve students’ striking and fighting abilities, heavily relies on the use of focus mitts to achieve the above mentioned goals.  Although pad work training alone is not sufficient to develop students’ self-defense skills, focus mitt training in conjunction with regular Krav Maga training and ultimately ..read more

Training Krav Maga is more than just learning basic self-defense skills.  In fact Krav Maga focuses on three main elements: self-defense, fighting and third party protection.  The first two components are very much related.  Except in a few cases such as de-escalation, avoidance and situational awareness, where conflict can be avoided before aggression turns physical, most self-defense situations require a defensive actions followed by strong and decisive counterstrikes to fight off and neutralize the assailant(s).  Hence the act of self-defense and fighting go hand in hand ..read more