It’s important to realize that self-defense training is not meant for a competition. Using strikes like a groin kick, eye gouge, throat strike or a strike to the back of the head aren’t illegal. These techniques are not “dirty”. Especially if your life depends on it.
There's no such thing as a fair fight.
These sorts of techniques come from a no-holds-barred mentality and, yes, they would be considered “illegal” or “dirty” in a competition setting. Competitions are designed to create the most fair set of circumstances. It’s about the safety of the competitors and, ultimately, allowing both competitors to have a fair chance of winning whatever prize is being staked.
Assaults on the street and defending against an assault is not going to be a “fair”. They aren’t scheduled. They don’t take place in a specific area designed for competition. There is no consideration for equality of size, training level, experience, and so on.
What matters in a street fight is doing damage to the opponent as quickly as possible and getting away. Essentially, the only thing that matters is survival. That’s what Krav Maga was designed for.
What is Krav Maga?
Krav Maga is a self-defense system. It was was designed to be taught to people who had little to no hand-to-hand combat experience. The goal was to make those people effective in hand-to-hand combat in a very short period of time.
At the end of World War II, when Israel was first becoming a nation, the population of Israel was largely made up of immigrants. These people wanted to make a new home in Israel. It quickly became clear to the Israeli government that the country needed to form a military capable of defending the new nation from the enemies around it.
The leaders of Israel turned to a man named Imi Lichtenfeld to train, and help form, Israel’s military. Imi was an accomplished boxer and grappler who became a tenacious Nazi resistance fighter during the war. He knew how to fight. He knew how to train people to fight.
Imi also understood that training soldiers to fight on a battlefield was far different than training people for a competition. It was imperative that the training for Israel’s new military was efficient, effective, and designed for survival. As a result of these things, Imi created Krav Maga without any consideration for the sorts of rules that preside in competitions.
No-holds-barred self-defense.
Krav Maga can essentially be thought of as Israeli martial arts. Imi’s experience in other forms of fighting helped him streamline the Krav Maga self-defense system into exactly what Israeli soldiers would need.
That’s main reason that when people learn to fight in Krav Maga, don’t consider rules. Krav Maga Worldwide’s Chief Instructor recognized the importance of this mentality in the 1980’s. He frequently traveled to Israel to train with Imi. Darren earned his Krav Maga black belt under Imi. It was Imi Lichtenfeld himself who gave Darren the task, and exclusive permission, to spread Krav Maga training to the Western world.
Krav Maga Worldwide’s self-defense system comes directly from Imil Lichtenfeld’s teaching. The no-holds-barred mentality that Imi created in the system is one of the mainstays of modern day Krav Maga self-defense classes.
The importance of groin kicks for self-defense.
There are 5 different Krav Maga levels in Krav Maga Worldwide self-defense. Each level is associated with a different belt in the Krav Maga belt system. One of the very first techniques that students learn in Krav Maga level 1 is a front kick to the groin.
It’s taught early in the system because it’s one of the most important and valuable skills in self-defense training. The term “self-defense” conveys that we are defending against something that is already taking place. Self-defense is a reaction to an attack. It’s not the initiation of an attack.
If you think about this in very simple terms, like in a game. The opponent, or assailant, has moved first, or they have scored first. They are one move ahead, or several points ahead. They have a lead or a head start. No-holds barred striking techniques like kicks to the groin are the tools that help make up ground against that lead or head start.
Krav Maga Worldwide self-defense classes teach these sorts of strikes because they cause a pain reaction as well as an involuntary, functional, reaction in the opponent or assailant. Gauge someone in the eyes and it will both hurt them and impair their vision. Smash someone in the throat and it will both hurt them and affect their breathing.
A few more details.
The same reaction occurs when someone is kicked in the groin. It hurts, and immediately affects the recipient’s ability to move. Sometimes it even causes them to completely drop to the ground. Even just the threat of a groin kick, or movement toward someone’s groin, can cause their hands to drop. That opens the door for other counterattacking opportunities.
One other great aspect of a groin kick is that it’s delivered from further away than a punch, elbow, or knee. The defender can utilize the distance from the attacker to get away from the encounter entirely. That’s a completely different mentality than training for a competition or learning to fight for sport.
How to throw a groin kick correctly.
The front kick to the groin is taught early and utilized often in Krav Maga fighting and in Krav Maga belt levels. It’s taught early because of its tactical importance and because it’s really easy to understand.
Just because it’s easy to understand doesn’t mean it’s easy to do right without learning and practicing. There main factors to consider are generating power and using the right striking surface.
Power.
When throwing any strike with your limbs, it’s important to realize that it’s not just the limb that generates power. Power in striking techniques comes from involving your whole body.
To throw a groin kick, get into a fighting stance, curl your heel back toward glute so that your leg becomes a triangle with your knee at the tip. Drive your knee, or the tip of that trip forward and out in front of you. Not up towards your chin.
This forward movement with your knee should bring your belly button forward, and cause your shoulders to go back which, in turn, is activating your hips and bringing them into the kick.
The next step is to just let your leg unfold up and through the target. In this case, the target is the opponent’s groin, so we think about the kick rising up between the sort of “A” frame that a person’s legs create.
Striking surface.
The front kick to the groin should rise up, and trough the opponent’s, “A” frame and the kicking foot should be flat. That is to say the kicker’s toes should be pointed at the opponent, not at the sky.
Think about this kick connecting, or being delivered, with the top of the foot. If you have shoes on, this will be your shoe laces. It can also be delivered with any part of the shin, which will be in line with the top of your foot, if the toes are pointed correctly.
Flattening the foot by pointing the toes forward gives the kicker a very wide and long striking surface. That means more surface area to strike with. This provides a better opportunity to hit the groin and create the two-fold reaction we need to make up ground against that lead or head start.
The best results.
The absolute best result from using a groin kick would be “one and done”. Throw the kick, the attacker gets hurt and falls, get away. However that might not always be the case. Remember that there’s not going to be anything fair or predictable in a street fight or assault.
Be ready to throw that groin kick again, and again, and again. In order to do be able to do that, you have to recoil the kick and reload it. That is to say, don’t kick and just let your foot come down. Bring your leg back to the position it started in, and be ready to throw it again. If you don’t need to, great, even better
How to learn Krav Maga self-defense.
Krav Maga Worldwide certified training centers around the world will teach you techniques like front kick to the groin, and help you master them. Our training centers are staffed by expert instructors who have dedicated years of their lives to training and teaching. The mission of every certified training center is to make people safer and stronger.
If you’re interested in Krav Maga classes near me or self-defense classes near me or if you want to learn to fight with this no holds barred mentality click this link. We have a searchable map that will help you find the certified training center closest to you.
You can also give us a call at 800-572-8624 and we’ll