The Brilliance of The Basics

Fundamentals – why do we drill them so often? Because good Krav Maga is the basics done well. You should never grow bored of practicing the fundamentals, for they are the foundation everything else is built upon.

As a student that has been training for years you can become complacent and thoughtless regarding such things as your basic stance and movement. Overtime you pick up great skills, but unfortunately along the way, you also pick up bad habits – dropping your guard, narrow stance, no hip rotation, etc.

What can you do about this? The obvious thing, is to self check. Every now and then, ask yourself questions. Start from the ground and work up. How are my feet? Is my rear heal off the ground? Are they the correct distance from each other? Am I rotating my hips? Are my elbows in? Is my guard up? As you ask yourself these questions, you will pick up on your own mistakes.

The next thing you can do is help your partner out. Your instructor won’t necessarily always be there to point out your little errors. There is great strength in peer correction.

Probably the biggest thing to remember is to always be humble. Never ever take instruction as an insult. Don’t become an old dog that won’t learn new tricks. “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.” – Jewish Proverb, from Proverbs 4:13. You should think of instruction and correction as  precious treasure, because that is what it is. No matter how long you have been training, never grow tired of hearing the basics, and training the fundamentals.

Walk into class with the knowledge and skills you have gained over the years, but enter with the attitude of a humble beginner. You have the experience to be able to learn more complicated techniques, but you should never neglect spending time working on the basics.