Niall’s Weblog

I started taking Yoga classes at the SF Krav Maga centre a few months ago and have been doing it pretty regularly since - usually I do two hours a week, in addition to other training. I must admit that for some time I had a negative attitude toward yoga - the association with New Age wishy-washy mumbo-jumbo for one thing, and also that it wasn’t clear to me what yoga actually did for you, what its benefits were.

I mean, you compare yoga with boxing - its pretty obvious what you are getting out of training in boxing. Some serious cardiovascular conditioning and practical fighting techniques. But what is yoga all about? A few stretches and poses and stuff - talking a load of New Age rubbish while barely breaking a sweat - just the pretense of physical fitness? That was my initial bias. However I have since revised my opinion about yoga.

I should mention that I don’t know what kind of yoga my instructor subscribes to, I must ask her. I’ve read that there are many different things which claim to be yoga. In fact I’ve read that what westerners know as “yoga” is a subset of a much larger Indian tradition. So I preface this with a clear admission that “your mileage may vary”.

The yoga class I attend focuses on two areas: core strength and flexibility. Personally I have had quite poor shoulder flexibility for a long time and the desire to improve my flexibility was one of my main motivators for trying yoga in the first place. The yoga core exercises are very intense - in fact more intense than any other abdominal exercise I’ve ever done. Think of ab bicycles but considerably more difficult. Of course core strength is very important, especially to prevent back problems and not least in any kind of fighting situation where you want to protect the internal organs to avoid getting knocked out by a shot to the body.

So what benefits have I noticed from doing yoga then? My flexibility has increased considerably, although I still have plenty of room for improvement. My core strength is pretty good - definitely much better with the addition of the yoga training. Furthermore I think I have a generally increased connection with my body and my balance is better. The breathing exercises have helped with my pacing in cardio activities.

Overall I think yoga is an excellent adjunct to more intense activity. It certainly is relaxing, increases core strength and improves flexibility. There may be other benefits along the lines of reduced stress, increased energy levels, and so on - but those are much more difficult to quantify and are clearly highly subjective. I would recommend a bit of yoga as an excellent addition to a training regime although I would hesitate to practice yoga exclusively.

Yesterday evening I went to my first Krav Maga class. I’ve been doing boxing for around three years now, and I like it a lot. Boxing is practical, no-nonsense and one of the most demanding sports physically. Unfortunately the location of the gym I attend forces me to drive, which I don’t like because I prefer cycling and parking in downtown SF is a costly and stressful PITA. Also, I would like to learn some more varied things - a bit of grappling, some kicks, other techniques such as disarming opponents and escapes. I thought briefly about some traditional martial art, of which I have some experience from university. However, my experience with traditional martial arts was that they are not taxing enough physically (barely breaking a sweat), that the classes are too big so you lack individual attention, and that the focus is on dance-like movements which are impractical and frustrating. I also dislike the hierarchical belt system which breeds arrogance and a false sense of security. This is all my personal opinion of course, some people love traditional martial arts and that’s great. I believe much depends on the particular club you are a member of. My experience was likely with bad clubs, but nonetheless it stuck.

It turns out that the SF Krav Maga training center is not far off my bicycle route home from work, and from the Wikipedia page the training looked very interesting to me. Emphasis is highly practical. So what is the actual training like? Having only taken a single lesson at a single place, I can’t speak authoritatively. However my impressions are: training similar to boxing in many respects. In fact instructor made numerous references to boxing in terms of stance and movement. Stance keeps the legs a little further apart than a traditional boxing stance, for increased stability in scenarios where someone can push you from the side or from behind. There were some drills similar to those in boxing - try to touch opponents stomach or shoulders while avoiding being touched yourself. An interesting twist was to add multiple attackers. Thinking about attacking opponents from behind and from the sides, and also attacking below-the-belt was encouraged. The attitude was “do what ever it takes”. Striking drills were similar to boxing, although no gloves or hand wraps were used. Strikes can also be open-palm, something I’m not used to at all. Another interesting drill was a standard “hit the pads” drill with the caveat what the striker is backed up against a wall, something I’ve never encountered in boxing - even though boxers frequently end up against the ropes in the ring. The first class ended with the teaching of a simple and highly effective technique for escaping from a choke. I think choking is an attack very frequently used in the real world, and as such knowing how to break out of it could be extremely useful. The technique is very simple, not at all convoluted, and instantly useful. Krav Maga also seems to place a heavy emphasis on fitness and conditioning. At least at this center, they separate conditioning from the classes, although the classes are a reasonably good workout. Apparently the level test process is a grueling four hour affair.

Anyway, I very much enjoyed the class and I look forward to learning more. Would certainly recommend Krav Maga to people looking for something practical and physically strenuous.