The martial arts industry is unregulated. The term Krav Maga Instructor is not legally protected. Anyone can claim to be one, or even claim to train Krav Maga Instructors. So I put together a short article on how to find a good Krav Maga Instructor what to look for and more importantly what to avoid.
However, to be very clear, our objective was not to further some political or organisational goal. It is simply to help potential students identify a good instructor teaching real Krav Maga.
What to expect
The very minimum
All instructors in the UK MUST have;
- Instructors liability insurance - typically for £5 000 000
- An up to date first aid certificate
- A criminal Record Bureau Check - C.R.B
- Child protection training - if dealing with children
- A basic Health and safety certificate
- Basic First Aid Certificate
Instructors providing any tuition without these basics should be avoided at all costs. If they have insurance it is unlikley to be valid without meeting these minimum requirements.
All good Krav Maga Instructors should
- Be recognised by a large, Credible Krav Maga Organisation and active within it. If they are recognised by a generic martial arts or self defence group this is no measure of their credibility. These organisations strive to provide basic insurance and support to any one wanting to teach martial arts/self defence.
- Update their own training with a recognisable organisation on regular basis
- Have credible Instructor training. Credible meaning a process lasting at least 20 days that was assessed by a reputable organisation.
- Be interested in you AND whether Krav Maga is a good 'fit for you'
- Have a commitment to high standards and professional conduct - if not you are better looking elsewhere
- Be commited and passionate about training
Krav Maga Instructors should be better trained and more professional than the majority of martial arts instructors.
I do not say this lightly having worked in the industry for many years as both a martial arts and Krav Maga Instructor. The requirements to remain active with most organisations vary between 4 and 9 days full time update training a year with many doing much more. E.G on personal note this year I will have spent 12 days training full time in the UK and abroad.
What to avoid
1. Unaffiliated instructors.
Membership to a credible Krav Maga organisation ensures quality Instructor training, professional update training and overall credibility. There are few reasons not to be registered with a credible Krav Maga group.
Unaffiliated instructors may have initially trained with a credible organisation - (or claim to have in some cases). Often they break away after a year or so as a junior Instructor. Often promoting themselves in the process. The main issue with unaffiliated Instructors is that standards are highly variable and unregulated. Unaffiliated Krav Maga instructors will typically join a generic martial arts association to attempt to obtain some form of credibility. Generic Martial Arts Associations offer insurance and grading recognition for students but have no real expertise or knowledge of Krav Maga. They are also unable to judge whether you are even learning Krav Maga.
This is very bad practice for you the consumer. You are required to take the Instructors word that he/she is competant to teach and that his/her techniques are correct. This relationship is open to abuse and unchecked by any knowledgeable 3rd party.
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We would always advise you to avoid unaffiliated Krav Maga Instructors.
2. Short course instructors.
Given the populartity of Krav Maga a number of individuals/organisations decided to cash in and run short "instructor" courses. These 'short courses' are typically are highly expensive and very short duration. The organisers attempt to fudge the credibility issue by making outstanding claims (taught to special forces), awarding Impressive sounding titles or grades. Short courses are run over a long weekend or 5 days and have minimal or no entry requirements.
Short courses have no quality control and no recognition outside of the individual selling. Typically standards on these courses and the instructors passing them is very poor.
Short course instructors typically claim to be Krav Maga Instructors but are vague about their original training organisation or in some cases simply lie. Feel free to contact the major training organisations who will be able to confirm whether an unaffiliated instructor originally trained with them.
Remember - Short Courses are typically only 3 or 5 days long - anyone can do them and standards are notoriously poor.
The most infamous example is Commando Krav Maga - set up by Judo Instructor Moni Aizik. The fact that Aizik was never a Krav Maga Instructor - or even a commando did not deter him setting up Commando Krav Maga. Aizik markets his 3 day courses on a fictitious military career as an Israeli commando See commado Krav maga here
Where possible - only train with a Krav Maga Instructor from a large reputable organisation.
3. Hybrid Systems
There is a recent tendency for some instructors to 'customise or tinker with' the Krav Maga system. The very reason for doing Krav Maga is that the system works and has been proven to do so for over 60 years. I know of no other system anywhere in the world, that has been so robustly proven in real world or battle field situations.
To replace proven, easy to learn techniques with supposition and guesswork is not an intelligent choice. Some individuals claim they have pressure tested their varient, but its difficult to find these claims credible when compared to the thousands of military and law enforcement who tested their krav maga against real people who would kill or maim them.
I have yet to see any varient that is as solid and reliable as Krav Maga - or frankly as good.
Paul Grey
British Krav Maga Association
