Why Krav Maga Needs Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
The ground is not where you want to stay, but it is where you may have to survive
By Master Alain Cohen | Founder of KMF AC
An original article exploring themes from the forthcoming book No Referee in the Street. This is an editorial preview, not a verbatim excerpt from the manuscript.
A dangerous blind spot
Some self defense schools repeat a simple instruction: never go to the ground. As a strategic preference, it often makes sense. Standing offers mobility and the possibility of escape. But a preference is not a skill. People fall. They lose balance in crowded places, get pulled into a clinch or collide with obstacles. Telling a student not to go down does nothing to prepare them for the moment they are already there. This is one reason I value Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as part of a broader martial arts education.
What grappling changes in a student
Ground training teaches a person to recognize pressure, manage frames, protect vulnerable positions and move while another body is restricting them. The student learns that strength alone is unreliable and that panic often wastes energy. They also learn the difference between a position that feels uncomfortable and one that creates immediate danger. These lessons are difficult to understand through lecture or cooperative demonstration. They become clear when a partner provides safe, progressive resistance.
The objective is not always a submission
In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition, holding a position or pursuing a submission can be rewarded. In self defense, the preferred objective may be to stand up and leave. That changes the tactical use of the same skills. A sweep may be valuable because it creates room to escape, not because it earns points. A defensive frame may buy seconds to protect the head and recover a standing position. The physical knowledge is transferable; the decision must be adapted to the environment.
Training with resistance without losing safety
Grappling provides an unusually practical way to experience resistance at adjustable intensity. Beginners can start from specific positions with clear rules and limited goals. They can stop immediately when needed and receive feedback about balance, posture and control. This is not an invitation to expose novices to uncontrolled choking or joint attacks. It is a method for learning under supervision. The ability to regulate pressure is one of the reasons grappling can complement Krav Maga so effectively.
The environment changes the calculation
A padded mat is not concrete. A one on one training round is not a crowded street. A partner wearing sports clothing is not necessarily dressed like a person in an everyday confrontation. Self defense instruction must account for those differences without discarding the underlying skills. Students should practice safe ways to rise, recognize obstacles and understand why prolonged ground engagement may be undesirable. They should also learn that trying to stand at the wrong moment can expose them to additional harm.
A personal evolution, not a betrayal
My interest in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu grew from a simple professional obligation: if I expect students to cope with a physical problem, I must study the problem seriously. Training in a different discipline does not diminish the identity of Krav Maga. It tests assumptions and expands our teaching tools. The objective is not to turn every Krav Maga class into a grappling tournament. It is to ensure that a student is not helpless when an encounter moves beyond the positions shown in a traditional demonstration.
Build bridges between disciplines
A good curriculum can teach striking, clinch management, positional escapes and the decision to disengage as connected skills. Students learn when distance is their friend, when contact must be managed and when leaving is possible. The label on the technique matters less than its reliability and its purpose. Krav Maga becomes stronger when instructors are willing to learn from methods that expose weaknesses and improve options.
An example of intelligent integration
Imagine a student who falls and finds another person pressing forward. Their immediate need is not a sophisticated submission sequence. It is to protect themselves, create enough space to move and stand when the opportunity is safe. Positional grappling can teach the mechanics of creating space. Krav Maga can add the decision to disengage and the awareness of what is happening nearby. This is the practical value of integration: different training methods answer different parts of the same problem.
Continue the conversation
Explore the training philosophy and educational resources of Master Alain Cohen at Krav Maga Online.
Related resource: Krav Maga Miami.
About the author: Master Alain Cohen is the founder of KMF AC and an international Krav Maga instructor and author. No Referee in the Street is his forthcoming book examining training, responsibility and real world self defense.
MASTER ALAIN COHEN • NO REFEREE IN THE STREET
