to see some of the ground or floor in front of their forward foot with your peripheral vision. If the person is holding a knife, you need to roughly add the length of the blade to this distance, as the length of the weapon will give them a greater range (than a fist alone).
You need to be close enough for them to believe that they can, with one movement, reach you. If you are too far away they will simply close the distance on you first before making an assault. If violence is inevitable, you need to draw out your assailant’s attack in such a way that it will commit them to their attack, and put them in a disadvantageous position.
This control of range should force them to commit all their weight forward when they make an attack. With their weight forward, they are both vulnerable to a counterattack, and at the same time slowed down in making further attacks, as they will have to readjust their weight to do so.
Relative Body Positioning
Aside from controlling range, you should also attempt to control your assailant’s movement by continually moving offline. Power is derived from the hips, and people are at their strongest when their hips are lined up facing you—this is also a position which allows them to step directly towards you and take advantage of this movement of mass to add power to their strikes.
When you stand directly in front of an assailant, you are facing all of their “weapons” (hands, feet, knees, etc.) in a position where they are able to deliver strikes with full power. You should always avoid facing an assailant’s hips (the source of power in striking).
By moving off at an angle, you are getting “offline,” while at the same time forcing your attacker to turn towards you before making an attack. At the moment they turn, they are vulnerable to any attack you may make. You are also forcing them to take an extra step before they can assault you, slowing down their attack.
Maintain your control of range as you turn, so that your assailant is unable to reach you without moving…
…This forces them to move, as well as having to turn, slowing down their attack and giving you a lot of time to respond, either by blocking their attack, or making your own while they do this.
You should always try to force your assailant to do several things before they can attack you:
1. Shift weight before they can turn their body;
2. Physically turn towards you;
3. Take a step towards you.
If at the same time you only have to do one thing, i.e., attack them, while they complete all of these actions, you should always be faster than your assailant.
If you move offline, you are no longer directly in front of your aggressor. This means that in order to attack you, they must shift and readjust their weight and then turn so that they are facing you again. Relative Body Positioning combined with range control means that an assailant must do three things before they can assault you:
1. Shift their body weight before re-aligning their body.
2. Realign their body before moving.
3. Move towards you before being able to attack.
Whoever controls the movement of the fight, controls the fight. You should move in such a way that it is difficult for your attacker to synchronize their movement to yours. If you keep moving to your left, for example, your attacker will eventually realize that the next time you move, it will be to your left, and attack you as you move there. Move in an unpredictable fashion.
Violence is dynamic, and you should always be moving, whether it is before the fight or during it—you should never be a fixed, static target. If you’re not moving, you’re not fighting. Your movement should always accomplish at least one of the following three things. If it isn’t doing so, you are moving without purpose:
1. Your movement should be away from danger.
2. Your movement should be part of an attack/assault.
3. Your movement should create an attacking opportunity.
Ideally, every time you move you should be creating attacking opportunities, or be attacking. If you move defensively it should be to a position from which you can attack. Every movement in Krav Maga should either be an attack, or one that facilitates an attack. Being defensively minded is no way to deal with an attacker.
Relative Body Positioning with Multiple Assailants
Always assume your assailant is armed (even if you can’t see a weapon, or have disarmed them of one), always assume they are as good as you, and always assume that they have third parties nearby who can come to their assistance.
It would be wrong for us to assume a fight simply involves one attacker. A fight is about controlling everything in the environment, including entrance/exit routes, objects that can be used as weapons, objects that can be used as barriers and obstacles, along with any other individuals with us, and/or individuals who may assist our primary aggressor.
If you are dealing with an aggressor, either verbally or physically, you should assume that any movement coming towards you is aggressive in nature. Don’t assume it is somebody about to intervene on your behalf, e.g., a friend, a security person, etc. Your job is to “line them up,” so you are only facing one person at a time.
If the third party/secondary assailant tries to move round the person in front of you, you should move so that you keep them directly behind the primary aggressor.
Once your assailants are lined up, you should do everything you can to maintain this structure. In a physical confrontation, your goal should be to take the person who is directly in front of you out of the fight as quickly as possible, then face the next attacker and do the same, until all assailants are dealt with.
Focusing and dealing with one person at a time, when possible, is a much more effective strategy than moving between multiple attackers with your assaults. Concentrate force on each one in turn, taking them out of the fight one by one.
When you move you should scan and look around, to get an understanding of your environment. Are there objects you can use as weapons? Objects you can use as barriers, such as cars or tables? Are there people moving towards you? Uninvolved people usually move away from confrontations, not towards them, so someone moving towards you and your assailant should be seen as another potential threat—don’t assume it is someone coming to help you.
If you are dealing with multiple assailants, or can see people coming towards you, you do not want to be caught in the middle of them—rather, you should line them up so you are only facing one person at a time. This person will act as the pivot point of the group—as the others try to reach you, you will keep them in line by moving in the same direction, around the central person you’ve selected to deal with first. If you are in a situation where you have a choice of who that person is, you should choose to face the most aggressive first, as they will definitely want to be involved in the fight. Choosing to deal with a less aggressive person, who may have been content to stay