I took a lot of Krav Maga, which is Hebrew for "contact combat". It's a military hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel, and emphasizes maximum threat neutralization, which is why it is taught to law enforcement and military. It's mostly about attacks and defenses that are intended for potentially lethal threat situations, and aim to neutralize these and escape with maximum pain and/or damage to opponents, as rapidly and safely as possible. It usually involves crippling attacks to vulnerable body parts, including groin and eye strikes, headbutts, and other efficient and potentially brutal attacks, improvised use of any objects available, and maximizing personal safety in a fight, are emphasized. Unlike other martial arts, it emphasizes in the extreme power and neutralization needed by the people who usually use it. However, it is mostly for self-defense. The rules are this:
* Neutralize the threat
* Avoid injury
* Go from defending to attacking as quickly as possible
* Use the body's natural reflexes
* Strike at any vulnerable point
* Use any tool or object nearby
And the basic premises of Krav Maga are (assuming you are in a worst-case scenario):
* You're not going to care how much damage you're going to cause.
* Cause as much damage as possible and run.
* Do not try to prolong a fight. Do what needs to be done and escape.
While it uses the techniques seen in the arts of wing chung, kali, aikido, boxing, judo, jujutsu, karate, kobudo, muay thai, savate and/or wrestling, the training is often quite different. It stresses fighting under worst-case conditions or from disadvantaged positions (for example, against several opponents, when protecting someone else, with one arm unusable, when dizzy, against armed opponents). Unlike Karate there are no predefined sequences of moves or choreographed styles; instead Krav Maga emphasizes rapid learning and the retzef ("continuous combat motion"), with the sole imperative being effectiveness in your attack, defense, and ability to neutralize the threat. There aren't real ranks or belts used, but I'm fairly good at it. I also took some Judo classes before because it emphasizes grappling, and I'm huge for my age and know how to throw my weight around so I just went to a few classes to learn some more effective techniques. I got to blue belt there.