Krav Maga for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide to the World's Easiest-to-Learn, Most-Effective Fitness and Fighting Program Paperback – September 17, 2022

I first heard about Krav Maga six years ago when I was a cadet in the police academy. I was told by my defensive tactics instructors that this Israeli fighting system was the best choice for cops who wanted to be ready for anything. I immediately signed up. I can honestly state that Krav Maga has saved my butt on several occasions, allowing me to go home safely to my family.Now I'm a Krav Maga instructor, teaching my fellow officers how to survive violent encounters. I also teach this premier fighting program to men, women and children. Krav Maga For Beginners is the perfect way for newcomers to learn what this very effective system is all about. This book aptly explains what Krav Maga is, and, as importantly, what it isn't (for example, there are no intricate patterned forms in Krav Maga - instead, it's all about "simple, aggressive movements that get right to the point of self-defense").I have had the privilege of training with two of the book's three co-authors, Darren Levine and Ryan Hoover. Darren Levine holds a special place in my heart as a cop, as he is a senior member of the Crimes Against Peace Officers section of the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. He is a Deputy District Attorney who prosecutes offenders who murder or harm police officers. He is also the lead Krav Maga instructor in the U.S., having trained directly under Imi Lichtenfeld, the founder of Krav Maga.Ryan Hoover is an amazing teacher who has trained me and many others to focus on the importance of a reality-based self-defense system. Ryan is a master instructor whose passion for helping people to be safe and healthy radiates in everything he does. He has mastered many martial arts, holding several different black belt rankings. Ryan's greatest achievement, however, is how important he is in his community. While training at his facility, I watched the children and adults who have made themselves physically and emotionally stronger due to Ryan's skill and dedication. My goal is to someday be as valuable to my community as Ryan Hoover is to the people he serves.I have not met John Whitman yet, but from all I've heard, he is a remarkable instructor - I won't miss the chance! Search Amazon.com to see the wide variety of books that Mr. Whitman has authored, too. He's a writer for the book series inspired by the show "24". His Krav Maga skills seem to have helped Jack Bauer out of many bad situations!I highly recommend this book and this martial art. As a father of two daughters, as a police detective and as a guy who can see the age of 50 coming up real fast, I can tell you that the fitness that comes from training in Krav Maga is every bit as important as the self-defense aspects. I hope that many people will check out a class in the near future and see for themselves!

Easy to read good explanation informative good pictures

Decent book, however you get the same plus more out of Complete Krav Maga. As I said in that review, there's no sub for training in a decent school under a decent instructor but this book can assist. Training with any book by itself is selling yourself way short and you'll be extremely limited and if you have zero experience you may not even know if your technique is correct. I used these books to see if this is something I would be interested in and I have since started training and I love it and these books have helped me train, when a technique is introduced in class I have already familiarized myself with it via these books. I should not that I don't train in a Krav Maga Worldwide facility but this book is basically identical to the association I am training under, so far. Krav Maga alongside BJJ and combat hapkido seems like a pretty good mix (IMO) and I am definitely hooked on all three. I'm not looking to fight professionally, just want to learn to fight if I ever need to and now I am on my way plus i'm in amazing shape.

really good book

The book is exactly as it says. If you have had any martial arts training over a year, you'll probably have come across some variation of almost half the stuff in this book. Nevertheless, the pictures are really helpful and the stuff that isn't rudimentary, is well explained and easy to follow. If this is supposed to be your introduction into Krav Maga, or martial arts in general, you're better of finding a live human being to show you this stuff, but if you're just looking for some pointers on self defense, this book is nice and to the point.

Good book for beginners

A "Must Read" for beginners and a good review for others. A very good prequel to the "Complete Krav Maga" book, which I started reading before I read this one. However, now that I've begun my Krav Maga training, I find that this book helps reinforce what I'm learning in class and gives me an even better understanding of "why" we do things not just "how" to do them, which is a big improvement over my previous martial arts training experience (by the way, Krav Maga is NOT a martial art, it's a fighting system) because, in addition to being easier to learn than most traditional martial arts, the movements are more natural and instinctive. Buy this book and "Complete Krav Maga" but, most importantly, find a qualified Krav Maga Instructor and/or Krav Maga class in your own area and start learning this fascinating fighting system.

Utterly excellen! I learned more from this book about violent street encounters and how to be prepared, from 30 minutes of reading, than I did from 20 years of experience with a great martial art that defeats most. That's sounds exaggerated, but it's not, this book breaks down how to handle being assaulted in a violent street crime, and what your legal rights are when it comes to using force. No matter how long you've practiced martial arts or how well you can fight, that's info that could save your life and the lives of others, plus protect you from some criminal's frivolous lawsuit and from unfairly being prosecuted for defending yourself.