Replies

KM is very physical, but you can easily train within your own limits. There is a emphasis on training while under lots of physical and mental stress, so we usually do a fairly intense warmup every training session. Some people skip the warmup due to health limitations.

Training itself involves a lot of partner work with kick/punch shields, muay thai pads, and focus mitts. It's actually harder to be the guy with the pads than the guy doing the punching. One common exercise consists of running or walking at your partner, who then has to stop you with a front kick. You soak up a lot of blows in training. I'm just getting into higher level stuff where we use more full-force, and always wear a mouthpiece.

The combatives are somewhat similar to muay thai, or Col. Fairbairn's American Combatives. Since it focuses more on gross motor skill than fine, hammer-fists and palm-heel strikes are common. Kicks are a lot like muay thai. Head-butting is common, though it's emphasized more in Israel than the US. A lot of KM is similar to what my dad learned in the Marine Corps back in the 40s, come to think of it.

It's very aggressive. You fend off the immediate threat (break the choke, block the punch, whatever) and immediately counter-attack. Ideally you never just block, but always counter-punch. Ground fighting has some grappling, but it's always better to kick someone in the head than get him in an arm-bar. We try to stay vertical, and if not then get it over and get back up asap.

Call the local KM school and ask if you can try a class. The one here in Phoenix charges $20 for a trial class, and refunded me when I started with the school. They prbably chareg the fee to keep the classes from being clogged with one-timers.

Also, there are instructional videos. Your local library may have them, and there is one book on the subject. I found it at Borders last week myself.

They encourage us to spar with boxing or muay thai kickboxing, just to get used to being in an actual fight. It's not required, but IMHO it is vital to be able to take a punch and not flinch. Years ago I studied kenpo and boxing at a very good dojo, and the boxing did me more good, since it involved actually trading real punches.