Hi everyone, Alexandre’s here. I am very happy to be back with you once again for a very important and quite home-made article to share with you my feedback on the Protect Krav Maga training, led by the international expert Itay Gil.
As you know, I strive to continuously improve my knowledge and to train with the best. It is a slow and expensive process, which pays off in the long run. However, the more you strive for excellence, the more you are demanding regarding experts you train with!
Although France is full of real talent, sometimes you have to look for gem everywhere, including abroad.
This is the case in martial arts, and also in self defense because, as you know of course, the major discipline of self defense is Krav Maga, which is of Israeli origin. So there are many great experts there!
Sometimes knowledge goes beyond the borders, and it is then up to the opportunists to seize their chance to capture this knowledge before others. However, since self defense disciplines are constantly evolving, it is essential for any self-respecting teacher to keep up to date.
So, when an expert like Itay Gil offered to lead an instructor training course in France, in Paris, it didn’t take much to book my ticket!
But, who is Itay Gil exactly? Maybe you’ve never heard of him before as he has only conducted two sessions in France for now. However, Itay Gil is an extremely renowned and respected international Krav Maga expert.
And for good reason, since he has had an impressive career! He started in the army in 1981 as a para-commando, and soon afterwards he joined the famous Yamam, a special Israeli anti-terrorist unit composed of a small hand-picked elite. After 10 years in this unit, Itay Gil has participated in more than 100 operations.
In addition to being a member of this prestigious elite corps that operates on fronts ranging from terrorism, he was also a close-combat instructor and trained more than 5,000 police officers and security staff from 1992 to 1997 in the Border Police. Today, he is still a consultant.
Afterwards, he put his expertise to good use by creating the company Protect Israeli Security Solutions in 1997, in order to address security and counter-terrorism issues and to train people in Krav Maga.
Then, in order to combine practice and theory, Itay Gil attended a university that allowed him to graduate in 2018 with a Ph. D in National Defense and Security.
He has been asked to train Israeli and Ukrainian presidential security services, as well as members of the FBI, SWAT and Spetsnaz.
As you can see, Itay Gil is a real beast, in the best sense of the word. It goes without saying that his background commands respect. To be able to train with such an individual was an opportunity to seize at all costs!
Therefore, I had the privilege to meet him when he came to Paris, and it is this adventure that I will share with you now!
Let’s have a look at the menu: Great Krav Maga! Let’s go!
Table of Contents
Game of throne
So here I am at the Marseille-Marignane airport, ready to leave and already impatient to take off and land. Barely arrived in Paris, and Air France is already on strike. We know the routine.
That being said, I’m not going to be mean because in the end my flight was maintained! So apart from the long delay to drop off my luggage, everything went well, except..
I know you were waiting for it… the anecdote of the day!
As you know, no trip happens without a mishap!
After being kicked out by an old lady at the airport because I was filming a video (it was still Vigipirate alert at the time) and after having to put up with the frantic chatter of a seatmate who laughed like a pig, I naively thought I would be safe from other misfortunes.
I was mistaking, and it didn’t take long before I realized it.
Do you ever go to the bathroom in public places? I guess so! So you know it doesn’t require a genius to lock the bathroom door?
You can imagine my face when I opened a seemingly vacant booth, and came upon an individual who had actually forgotten to lock the door.
We looked at each other for a brief moment that seemed to last an eternity, both confused… Then, no doubt thanks to my overdeveloped reptilian instinct, I managed to desert the crime.
This vision will haunt me for a long time, I’m not going to lie.
Anyway, enough jokes, for now, the trip was a bit busy but relatively short, about an hour, and after taking a cab, I arrived in my Airbnb where I relaxed before the busy day that was coming.
Krav Maga on steroids
Here we are, the first day of the Protect Krav Maga instructor training has arrived! After a good night’s sleep, I’m ready to go!
I took a small coffee, and I was ready, on the way to the Daumesnil club where the seminar took place, which brings back memories of my former Krav Maga training with Alain Formaggio in Paris.
I would like to thank Alain, because it is thanks to him that I heard about Itay Gil and that I found out about his teaching.
This Israeli expert is indeed very well known internationally, but it is clear that he has not yet made a success of himself in France. And for good reason, this is only the second instructor training session that Itay Gil has conducted in France since the creation of his method!
Except a handful of seminars that he has organized (including one in Hyères, in the Var region of France, where I was able to meet him for the first time and measure the full potential of his method), he is therefore quite small in France and it is a chance and an honor for me to be part of the second generation of his French trainees!
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this first day. Will it be focused on techniques? Pedagogy? Mystery. As I walked in the door, I was welcomed by the whole team, no time to daydream.
Once the introductions were made and some brief exchanges, I went into “intensive training” mode.
The day was quite hard, I came home completely exhausted, but it was very promising!
In concrete terms, the seminar took place in a very small group since there were only 6 of us, and everything was in English. This didn’t bother me too much, but it’s worth taking into account for those who might be interested, knowing that someone tried to translate as best he could.
We had all already been trained by Alain Formaggio, so we already had a good level of Krav, which is necessary to enter the course.
In other words, the goal was not to revise the basics, but to plunge to the heart of the matter.
I learned a lot from this first day, and the level was just exceptional.
I had a lot of fun breaking down his teaching and practicing, but also questioning some of what I had learned before. In just one day, I could already see the evolution coming!
Itay Gil shared his experience in the field without filters, he is very accessible which is why he is pleasant to listen to because his speech is very pragmatic and enhanced with a dose of humor, which I appreciate, as I myself tend to kid around!
First part of the day: it’s time to dive into the concrete part
What can I say without revealing too much in order to respect confidentiality?
The morning was dedicated to the physical and technical aspects. It was also time for Itay Gil to get to know us, to evaluate our level.
So we went through some techniques, but it was mostly focused on concepts.
For instance, not to stay in the line of attack!
What can I say without revealing too much in order to respect confidentiality?
The morning was dedicated to the physical and technical aspects. It was also time for Itay Gil to get to know us, to evaluate our level.
So we went through some techniques, but it was mostly focused on concepts.
For instance, not to stay in the line of attack!
Getting out of the line of attack to better attack again!
Although explanations are always better live than written in an article, the main idea Itay Gil wanted to convey is to neutralize his attacker as quickly as possible.
However, when you start to hit, block, dodge, counterattack, etc., after a (short) time, if the aggressor is still standing, the conflict enters a second phase where the opponent will counterattack. In short, this is a phase that we want to avoid at all costs in self defense, because we are looking to defuse the aggressor’s potential to cause harm from the very first seconds.
In order to increase the chances of survival, Itay Gil recommends to immediately get out of the axis of attack, to flee if possible and, if necessary, to neutralize the aggressor. This of course requires a certain amount of control over one’s movements.
This is only one concept among others, I will not go into more detail to respect confidentiality as I told you, but believe me when I tell you that the content was very rich and that Itay Gil is an excellent teacher with an outstanding level. You can really feel that he has experience in the field!
I know that many practitioners of more “traditional” Krav Maga find it difficult to evolve the discipline and swear by the authentic Krav, which must not move one iota. They do not hesitate to criticize the new things that Itay proposes because they are not Krav Maga. When ti comes to my experience, I can tell you that it is the best of the best!
Moreover, if experts like Alain Formaggio do not hesitate to train with him, to question their practice after a 6th Dan, it is because he masters his subject and because he possesses an outstanding expertise which it would be a shame to deprive oneself of…
As you know, I love to train, to learn new things, to meet new experts, to discover new techniques, and after so many years, I have sharpen my gaze!
I think I’m pretty good at sorting out the patterns that inspire me, and determining what’s operational. In addition to learning totally new techniques developed by Itay Gil, I was able to measure the extent of the research work that goes into each technique.
Itay Gil recently completed his doctorate in research, so he’s equally adept at theory and practice. When he breaks down a technique, he shares a concrete and detailed explanation. Everything is based on a logic with exemplary rigor.
Improve our pedagogy
The first part of the day was dedicated to practice and role playing. Then, the afternoon was dedicated to pedagogy.
I love this aspect which is very important to me, because capturing knowledge is one thing, but transmitting it with accuracy is another. Many practitioners are very bad teachers, and vice versa. It is therefore absolutely crucial for me to evolve both in practice and in teaching, which remains my primary vocation, my passion! It is also a duty that I have towards my trainees that I accompany in person or via my online training.
One by one, we all had to give back the themes studied in the morning, in order to show how we mastered pedagogy, to correct what we thought was useful to correct, all of which allowed us to evolve together in a kind atmosphere, without useless criticism, each of us being aware of his strengths and weaknesses, while trying to get better continuously.
At the end of the day, when the pressure drops, the aches and pains start to say hello. In addition to having worked a lot on my cervical, I have been Itay Gil’s partner all day!
As you can guess, I will sleep well tonight and waking up tomorrow may not be an easy task…
It’s time to go eat something, take a bath and then go to bed to recover as much as possible!
Flat on your face
After having slept like a baby, I am ready for a new day. Some bruises start to appear, but it is usual during intensive seminars! And then as they say, no pain no gain! One progresses in the pain.
While I take my breakfast, I remember the events of the day before and the exercises that we worked on:
- Strangulation (with several angles),
- Grab (clothing, especially at the collar)
- Clinches (hand-to-hand with a grab of the neck often, which is more usual seen in boxing),
- bear hugs…
A lot of short distance training.
I also remember some comments on social networks (and the least we can say is that there is everything on these media). Indeed, some people claim that you can’t become an instructor in 5 days.
Well, that’s exactly right! No need to study at Saint-Cyr to understand it. You don’t become an instructor in the twinkling of an eye. What you also have to understand – and this is what they probably ignore – is that you don’t enter an instructor training program without having a lot of technical knowledge beforehand. In other words, this is not an instructor training meant for beginners, it is not an initiation seminar.
The participants are pre-selected, the training focuses on the essential and avoids the basics. Under these conditions it becomes quite possible to assimilate a method in 5 days in an intensive way. Everyone keeps his own Krav Maga, of course, but is enriched by the elements of Protect Krav Maga… QED!
On that note, I am going to the gym to embark on the second part.
Rediscover the ground
This day turned out to be just as intense as the previous one, if not more. We start warming-up “gently” with some techniques on shields in order to raise the heart rate, then we attack the program of the day once everybody is ready.
And it will be necessary to keep warn, because the topic of the day was particularly exhausting!
Indeed, the main axis of work was the ground, and the practitioners undoubtedly know what I am talking about when I say that the ground is tiring…
It is indeed a very particular work, very technical and where one quickly goes to wrestling. You tend to sweat a lot in this kind of exercises, and you spend your energy very quickly!
To be honest, ground work is not my specialty. Although it’s only my opinion, I don’t think you should claim to be an expert in everything when you’re not, especially since I tend to repeat that the ground is to avoid in general, as it is an extremely dangerous configuration. Of course, I test training in as many styles as possible that I believe will improve my level, but I prefer to remain humble on some points and especially regarding my wrestling skills on the ground.
I have a good base thanks to my background, but I tend to say that it is my D-system, my goal being to get up as quickly as possible and not to wrestle.
I’m not saying it’s not possible to find your way around when you have a good command of the subject, but overall I find that ground schooling is very “sport” oriented (with Brazilian jiu-jitsu type locks and submissions), which is very effective in sport fighting but, let’s call a spade a spade, not at all adapted to the street context in my opinion…
The time you spend on the ground to place your Juji Gatame, I think it is as much time during which you are exposed to danger, leaving the field open to a possible accomplice of the aggressor who could come and score a penalty with your head, for instance.
Anyway, Itay Gil is a real specialist of the ground, he has a very good level in JJB. He knew how to adapt his experience to the field of self defense, which I find very interesting because we finally get out of the sports box to focus on the operational aspect of ground techniques, which is very rare. So I could enjoy practicing this aspect, which was not really my cup of tea at the beginning!
The seminar attends its own way, we get to know each other through the exchanges and it is also this human side that I appreciate in the training, when everyone shares his experiences. Practicing in good conditions also means a good working atmosphere after all! The goal is not only to hit each other all day long!
Putting your ego on hold, a matter of life and death?
Talking about “oaf”, it reminds me of an anecdote from the day before. Alain Formaggio and Itay Gil had shown us a video to illustrate some of the things they were saying, a video that was quite shocking by the way.
I am not a fan of voyeurism, but as a self defense teacher, you have to be aware of the world in which you live and not play ostrich when it comes to the reality of nowadays’ violence. Indeed, you don’t see people being shot down in your building every day, that is why it can be useful to watch video surveillance records in order to analyze them and learn from them. That’s also how you improve, I think!
However, I don’t recommend it to the faint-hearted.
Anyway, this video showed an altercation in Brazil, between a former Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion and a motorist, apparently a normal person, on a scooter.
We immediately understand that there was a collision, and the JJB champion gets out of his vehicle (first mistake…) to approach the other one. Very quickly the situation get worse, mainly due to the practitioner who visibly escalates the conflict by adopting a very aggressive posture.
As the JJB guy becomes increasingly aggressive, the guy on the scooter pulls a gun out of his pocket and holds the champion with his helmet and his gun.
In fact, it’s so unrealistic that it’s hard to believe it as long as you don’t see the video with your own eyes, but what comes next is all but logical since the JJB champion, far from being impressed by the weapon, tackles the armed individual with a double leg, carried by adrenaline, and while he thought for a moment that he was in an MMA cage… it was bound to happen, as the gunman breaks free of the hold briefly enough to release his arm, the fire points blank into the head of the wrestler who dies instantly, face down in a dark alley. A sad end that could have been largely avoided, if the ego hadn’t gotten the upper hand over reason. All that for a trifle about a car!
The moral of the story is that the street has nothing in common with the dojo, it’s not a ring, there are no referees to sound the end of the fight, nor are there any rule-abiding fighters in front of you. The street is dirty, it’s unpredictable and it’s dangerous. You don’t mess around, and you have to ignore your ego at all costs in these situations.
Unfortunately, the former JJB champion only learned this lesson once in his life, and it was fatal.
Self defense is also about teaching this kind of lesson to trainees, so that they don’t make the same mistakes as others who have lost their lives. It is a discipline to preserve yourself, to survive, which gives you attitudes to adopt, which teaches you to pretend to be submissive and to go home alive at night, to kiss your children before going to sleep. Survival is the TOP 1 priority!
Enjoy the end of the day with other instructors
The afternoon went on as the day before, each one took turns to present his pedagogy and to listen to the constructive criticism.
Indeed, let’s remember that the training remains above all an instructor training! As I have already said, a good practitioner is not necessarily a good instructor, in fact, these are two very different roles. On the one hand, there is the pedagogy, on the other hand the technical restitution.
That being said, in my humble opinion, an instructor must still have a good technical level since there’s no way you can teach correctly something you don’t master yourself!
Then we practiced defenses on hooks, uppercut, low kick, etc., while Itay evaluated our pedagogy.
It’s always good to review all this, even after so many years of teaching, especially with masters like Itay Gil or Alain Formaggio. Also, everyone is different, has his own way of expressing himself, of transcribing things, everyone has his own style, and this is what makes it enriching to listen to each other.
The second day came to an end, it was definitely much more physical than the previous day. Same as yesterday, after a good bath and a generous meal, it was time to recharge my batteries!
Lethal weapons
It has been 3 days already! I’ll spare you the comments about my alarm clock and my breakfast (you’ve got an overview of my morning routine by now!). I’m ready and as motivated as ever to attack this new day dedicated to firearms defenses.
Actually, this day was less physical than the day before but much more technical, very much focused on the theory, especially on the concepts to remember about firearms. It was necessary to focus given the theme.
We mainly focused on the reactions of armed aggressors, a field where Gil excels both as a PhD student and as a soldier.
What you need to understand is that Krav Maga is generally practiced following statistics. However, the concept of action-reaction is intrinsically linked to aggression. At the very first action exerted on him or his weapon, the assailant will have a more or less predictable reaction, a reflex, generally of retreat or disorientation, perhaps attended by a strike, depending on the context.
It is therefore important to remember that a conflict entails movement, an aggression is not static which is why we must not mimic aggression in a static way. Easy as pie. We must integrate the dimension of movement in our drills, our exchanges, to make them more realistic.
Of course, we have to assimilate the basic techniques at the beginning, but as the level increases and we reach a more advanced stage, we have to start dynamic scenarios, it is essential.
I was Itay’s training partner several times, so I took a few slaps in the face! Not mean ones, and he didn’t put too much power in it, but you have to understand that once you start to script things and receive disruptive blows, the work takes on a whole new dimension. Slaps are not going to kill you, but bullets will. So you have to accept the pain, accept the slap, not let your emotions overwhelm you, not lose your self-control and try to stay lucid in the heat of the action…
In short, you have to work in a more realistic way.
It is thus in this dynamic that we have worked, by scripting the gun threats with an aggressor who moves, who insults you and hits you!
Alain Formaggio had already started to introduce this phase, and we really deepened this aspect during this day.
Of course it was impossible to ignore the field experience of Itay Gil, since he worked for a long time in anti-terrorism section in Israel. Weapons threats are his specialty!
He shared his knowledge with a quality I had never seen before, which allowed us to discover a brand new Krav Maga.
This extremely technical field which is reserved for last chance situations is full of subtleties. Itay Gil’s intervention has really boosted my knowledge, and I intend to use it to improve my own teaching and training.
I am convinced that meeting such personalities allows to gradually identify all the technical resources that such or such experts can teach us, and with time understand what works in real situations, and what remains in the realm of fiction.
But you have to remain humble and question yourself when necessary, because you can’t evolve if you refuse to remove your blinkers!
My goal is to get as close as possible to realism, so what a chance to have met such an expert, but also, what a slap in the face!
Of course, it is not with plastic guns that we will get closer to a real situation, but we have to do with the means at hand, according to the budget of each one.
Hence the importance of using your imagination.
For instance, in his dojo in Israel, Itay Gil explained to us that he uses “simunitions” (a practice ammunition that simulates a gunshot) to train his trainees. But one must keep in mind that they are professionals!
Of course, when you can afford to practice in these conditions, you shouldn’t deprive yourself! I would be glad to try it once! But let’s put things back in their context: it’s a professional training that has a cost and is reserved for very specific needs.
In such a training, when you take a shot in the belly or your gestures are bad, the punishment is immediate and you know quickly what’s your level.
In reality, and without revealing too much, Itay Gil explained to us that the question is not “how” to place the technique, but “when”. And when you are facing an armed aggressor who is moving, you quickly understand that it won’t be a piece of cake to catch the gun, and that you are really in trouble!
The day ended on these few thoughts. Next up for tomorrow!
Training with knives
The day follows the previous one, we defend ourselves against bladed weapons this time, with knife and stick.
So we are more focused on the technique, just as yesterday, with many concepts to remember and, of course, the exercises we practiced the previous days to revise.
We practice about 10 to 15 techniques per day, that’s a lot of things to remember!
The day was filled with lessons on how to deal with bladed weapons in self defense, and Gil challenged many preconceived ideas that are often dangerous in practice, illustrating the crazy disarming techniques and their consequences.
I also been told that we would be evaluated the next morning. I know it’s going to be intense! I had misunderstood that the exam was continuous.
Although we were all deemed to be able to pass the course, there will be a final exam to make sure that everything has been assimilated.
The 4 days of training went by so fast! It was very intense, and I feel lucky to have been able to join this class. Of course, it’s a cost, between the price of the seminar itself, the travel and the accommodation, it cost me several thousands of euros, but far from complaining about it, I think I got my money’s worth! And remember that there is a difference between “how much it costs” and ” what it’s worth”. I can assure you that the training was well worth the price.
It’s probably not within everyone’s grasp, but as they say, you have to know what you want, and you have the means to make it happen. For someone like me who teaches and shares online training, however, this was a must. The knowledge came to us, whereas normally we should have gone to Israel, to train in Gil’s club!
Anyway! Not much to talk about today; tomorrow is the final selection, but I’m pretty serene. See you tomorrow for the verdict!
The last word
That’s it, the exam is over and here I am, a Protect Krav Maga instructor, as well as all the other members of the group! No wonder, because everyone had a really good level.
Unfortunately, I could not film the exam because it was confidential, except for the graduation ceremony of which I got some pictures!
I did my best to transcribe my impressions. I hope it inspired you to learn more about Itay Gil and, why not, to participate in one of his seminars?
Of course, I invite you to watch the video I shot, of which this article is a more or less faithful transcription! It’s always better to have the pictures and the sound too!
As for me, this week allowed me to evolve, and my first goal once I’m back home will be to digest this colossal content and to integrate it as efficiently as possible into my online training. This will be a big update and will help make the content I provide to my trainees, whether physical or virtual, even better!
I really want to offer you the best through this support, which will be the most refined as possible because the digital is a real advantage nowadays to teach and transmit ones’ knowledge to as much people as possible. We might as well do it right!
I hope you enjoyed this article, thank you for reading until the end. See you soon for more exclusive content!
Itay Gil’s website: https://protect.expert/
Itay Gil’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCayCWnyg9GpQaRzZ8RzZCdA
Protect Krav Maga Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/protectacademy/
Itay Gil’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/dritaygil
