While we have not seen many high level MMA competitors from a Krav Maga background it remains popular with Eastern European police and military.
Some see it as a less honorable fighting system due to its emphasis on strikes to the eyes and groin, typically taboo strikes and illegal in combat sports.
After an initial shoving match we see the suspect in orange throw a weak kick, which is easily caught by the officer who returns fire with a kick of his own sending the aggressor to the ground. Unperturbed the suspect swings a shovel wildly at the officer who uses his nightstick to block the blow before disabling the suspect with a punch and knee.
The knee is very effective as the officer drives the suspects neck and upper body down as he brings his knee up. This was not a Muay Thai plum by any means but just as effective. A second officer then comes into shot as the handcuff the suspect.
The use of space and separation are to be commended, as should the officers ability to take a dangerous situation in his stride. In the US some police forces incorporate jiu jitsu into their training. This is an excellent alternative for law enforcers who wish to deescalate situations and resolve violent conflicts without having to resort to their gun.
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Krav Maga is a self-defense system developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that consists of a wide combination of techniques sourced from aikido, judo, boxing and wrestling, along with realistic fight training. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and its extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks.
It was derived from street-fighting skills developed by Hungarian-Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler as a means of defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in the mid-to-late 1930s.
In the late 1940s, following his migration to Israel, he began to provide lessons on combat training to what was to become the IDF, subsequently going on to develop the system that became known as Krav Maga. It has since been refined for civilian, police and military applications. [Source: Wiki]
The author, Nicholas Westerby, has trained boxing and kickboxing since 1995. You can watch his UFC retrospectives, predictions, and fight card reactions on his Youtube channel.
