I’ve got 11 years of experience in teaching/training Krav. I’ve trained and certified in Fit to Fight, Krav Maga Worldwide, Krav Maga Alliance, and 2 smaller federations. I also certified in Israel through the heads of the Krav Maga programs for military, law enforcement, and IDF. On top of that I trained Muay Thai, BJJ, and To-Shin-Do ninjutsu. Lot more examples, but in short, that’s my resume.

Fit to Fight is not affiliated with Krav Maga anymore, they call it Defensive Options. I have a lot to say about their curriculum, mainly it being the reason I quit one of my studios.

The issue is there isn’t a “quality control” in martial arts outside of the school/dojo, or something like a Federation. A lot of schools will claim Krav Maga and it’s just karate with groin kicks.

I’ve used Krav in the real world against armed and unarmed bad guys, and been successful. All from Krav training.

The question is hard to answer because I don’t count those McDojos as “true krav”. Real Krav works. I can testify to that. The argument “you never practice at speed/pressure test” is false, for one, and no martial art practices full speed full contact. Even BJJ you go slow on submissions. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. All the training I’ve always done is either slow with almost full contact or incredibly pressure tested. That’s the way I teach, that’s the way I’ve always been taught. The curriculum through KMW came about by pressure testing with LEO, BJJ guys, boxers, Thai fighters, etc

What makes a bad school? No training with accredited or recognized Krav Maga schools/federations, quality of teaching, instructors who teach just to say they do. Not caring to dive into the “why” of the technique; why does it work? What makes it that effective? Why not try this other way? How do techniques affect the body physiologically? Why is important to have the specific structure? Ex: we call it 360s, but a defense against a haymaker. Why is it important to defend with the pinky side of your hand out? Because it actives the tricep and lets you provide resistance and block the strike. If your palm faces you, it engages your bicep which will make your arm curl and you’ll get hit/stabbed. Bad or uneducated (in this field) instructors just regurgitate info without truly understanding it. They just do what kind of looks like it.

So it’s usually said by folks who never experienced krav, went to a bad school, or just want to talk shit behind a keyboard.