You often hear Krav Maga marketing itself as THE self defense practice, however many people actually wonder if it really is all that it claims to be?

Krav Maga  “contact combat”) is a military type self-defence and fighting system developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli security forces.

Matt Thornton is a highly respected BJJ instructor and founder of Straight Blast Gym International, an association of over 35 gyms worldwide engaged in training athletes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and mixed martial arts. He was among the first American-born practitioners to receive a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

In this episode of Ask Matt, coach Matt Thornton shares an interesting story about his personal experience with Krav Maga that may actually help you find the answer.

“On many occasions, groups of high level Krav Maga practitioners would come to my BJJ academy to get ready for one of their Krav Maga instructor courses. I would put them on the mat with some of my more recent BJJ blue belts (2 years of training) and the results were always the same: the blue belts would totally dominate the Krav Maga practitioners in all aspects of combat.”

Another interesting point of view:

Israeli Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt’s Opinion on Kravmaga as a Self Defense System

Joe Rogan on Self Defense Martial Arts: ‘Learn To Beat Trained Killers Instead of Untrained Individuals’.

BJJ and Taekwondo Joe Rogan black belt believes that the majority of self defense courses are only there to steal your money. Those techniques don’t work on trained fighters but only on so called ‘untrained fighters’.

He talks about in detail in this video where he is asked about Krav Maga and if it is more effective than Grappling arts for self defense…

The podcast host didn’t hold back when responding to the critique that sports-based martial arts fail to prepare practitioners for real-life confrontations. “In general, the people that say that jiu-jitsu or other martial arts don’t [work in real situations], it’s more of a sport and they don’t really understand violence in general. The people that say that suck,” Rogan emphasized.

He further debunked the idea that unconventional moves like biting or eye-gouging would be effective against a skilled martial artist. Rogan argued that a capable grappler or striker would likely prevent such tactics from being used.

Rogan also took aim at self-defense systems like Krav Maga, suggesting that while their techniques might be effective against untrained opponents, they would fall short against an experienced fighter. He said, “It’s good to know what to do if you run into someone who doesn’t know how to fight. It’s way better to know what to do to someone who knows how to fight.”