Krav Maga. Gershon Ben Keren

      The body’s most devastating natural weapons are the knees, elbows, and head.

      The Rear “Crashing” Elbow utilizes forward movement and weight transference, coupled with a strong turning motion of the hips, to transfer force through the elbow into the target. This coupling of forward motion and hip turn is extremely powerful.

      From the right rear punch, pull back the punching arm.

      The punching arm should be pulled back using the hips—notice the change in position of the toes from the last photo. The right arm, shoulder, and hip should be pulled all the way back. The left shoulder and hip should be forward.

      Launching yourself off the rear foot, take a step forward with your left foot. You must step at least the distance of the length of your forearm (this is because the last strike was a rear hand punch, which needs a longer reach), closing the distance to your attacker.

      At the same time as you move forward, your hips should be turning—the left one pulling back, and the right one pushing forward—while you swing your elbow towards the target.

      As you land, finish the turning motion of the hips to strike through the target with your elbow. Your other hand should remain up to guard your head, and possibly prepare to throw another elbow towards your assailant.

      The targets for the Rear “Crashing” Elbow could be either the head/face, or if dealing with a much taller person, the xiphoid process located in the lower part of the sternum.

      You want to connect with the tip of your elbow, and make sure that your chest is neither in front or behind, but rather level with the elbow. As with every strike, recoil your elbow after impact. Pull the hips back so they are now in a neutral position.

      If your aggressor is significantly taller than you, and you don’t believe they are wearing a suicide vest filled with explosives, you can attack the xiphoid process, a small piece of cartilage that hangs at the lower end of the sternum, as an alternative to the face.

      Driving Knee

      When delivering knee strikes, you need to make sure that power is transferred forward, rather than simply upwards. To have full power, a knee strike needs to have forward momentum to it, generated by a forward movement of the hips. Striking straight out with the knee, rather than upwards, also makes it a much more difficult strike to block.

      Reach forward and take hold of your assailant, raising your knee straight up, but not towards them (if you raise it upwards towards your aggressor, they have a good chance of blocking it with their forearms), then push it straight out explosively, towards your assailant. This forward motion is extremely powerful and difficult to block. You should pull your opponent towards you as you do this.

      Your knee strike now sets you up in a very strong position, from which you can execute a throw/takedown.

      There are many ways to deliver knee strikes. One of the most powerful is to push the knee forward rather than upwards—this also makes the strike harder to block, e.g., when knee strikes are thrown in an upwards direction a block can be made against the large upper thigh muscle (quadriceps), but when the strike comes forward the only part available to perform a block against is the knee itself.

      After throwing the rear crashing elbow, slide the rear foot in a little, in preparation for making a knee strike.

      Start to bring the knee forward. You should visualize the hands coming up to grab on to and control your assailant. As well as striking them with your knee, you want to pull them onto it, combining both movements to generate power.

      Raise the knee high. This is in preparation for driving it into your assailant. At this point, your knee should be facing the body part of your assailant you want to strike, e.g., lower ribs, sternum, face, etc. Your hips should be pulled back, ready to drive the knee forward.

      Explosively drive your hips forward, pushing your knee into your assailant. At the same time pull back (with your hands), dragging them onto your knee.

      Throws and Takedowns

      Being able to put your assailant on the floor while you remain standing not only puts them in a very painful and disadvantaged position (hopefully unconscious or dazed), but it also makes a strong statement about who is controlling the fight. This is why the Krav Maga Yashir system contains a wide array of throws and takedowns—along with an extensive ground survival/fighting system.

      After throwing the knee strike, step back with your right foot. You should still be holding on to your assailant.

      Whenever you attempt to throw or take somebody down, you should use striking to put them in a disadvantageous position.

      Take a step past the leg you are going to “reap”—in this example step past your assailant’s right leg with your left (your left foot needs to be level with or beyond their right foot). Start to bring your right leg past theirs. You should be close to them, with little distance between you.

      As you do this, catch their chin with your forearm, and tilt their head backwards. This movement should be used to direct all of their weight onto their supporting right leg, while at the same time taking them off balance.

      While they are off balance, bring your right knee up high. All of their weight should be on their right leg—the one you are going to reap.

      Forcefully swing your right leg backwards, catching the back of your assailant’s knee with the back of yours. Your leg should swing like a pendulum and you should continue to lift your assailant’s head, with your forearm, directing it towards the ground.

      Continue to swing through with the leg, lifting the right leg of your assailant. You should aim to swing your right leg back as far and as high as you can. The more forceful the swing and the higher it goes, the harder the fall will be for your assailant.

      Here is an alternate view, demonstrating the height of the reaping leg.