Google worked fine when I sifted and searched for time frames to demonstrate my points to you. If you can't be bothered to extend me the same courtesy I am not sure why I should spend my time trying to discover whether your points are valid. As I said, Light on evidence.
I know that's the common story, but krav looks very little like either delivery system in its current guise.
I teach classical Kung Fu, and what I teach looks more like boxing and wrestling than this: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ss_OfxsgA"]This is what a REAL KRAV MAGA MASTER looks like! - YouTube[/ame]
OK. Point taken. I couldn't even watch it all. But we're back to not judging the good by the bloody abysmal.
Also this is supposedly coaching material for Black Belt with your group, this certainly doesn't look much like boxing [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEQogYwP1n0"]Shadowboxing 1st/1ere Darga FEKM - YouTube[/ame]
Here we go again. I think this schematic drill is like boxing. If you doubt that he can make this work in reality , look at https://youtu.be/RMWHB-cjPKQ jump to his fight clips if you want.
The only fight clips I could find were him fighting other Krav guys which A) looked nothing like the shadowboxing and B) looked a lot like ropey Karate
That's David Fitoussi and he's been training in Western boxing for years. Throughout the 3 minutes he (we) have to demonstrate all the basic boxing moves and principles of jabbing while moving forward, back, left and right as well as all the other boxing strikes with hip and application of force... As well as a variety of of kicks. It was schematised when fekm joined with the French karate Fédération who wanted something akin to kata. - so yes, there is a link with karate. The fekm kept the drill when we left.
I'm not saying Krav Maga isn't unique, but the understanding of self defense as it applies to martial arts is a lot more straight forward. Most of what is taught in martial arts could help in SD but it isn't designed for SD. The differences you speak of are really just SD training. The difference between sizing up an opponent before committing to attack and just blasting from zero to 100% in an instant. The former being what usually occurs in sparring, the latter being more applicable to SD situations. One of our kickboxing students went on a trip to Mexico with her college friends. She was dancing at a club and a guy came up to her and started to grope her. She ended up doing a 1-2-3 on him (jab, cross, front kick). Booting him off the raised platform. Others came and threw the guy out of the club. What was the difference between that and class or the ring? One difference is the guy wasn't trying to fight her, he was groping her (e.g., sexually assaulting). She didn't have an issue using what she learned in kickboxing for this situation. How are they different from other SD oriented training, such as the tactical firearm training courses I took in the U.S.A. from and ex-Army Ranger and FBI trainers? The moving straight in is actually probably moving in at a very sharp angle. There is still moving off the line of attack. You don't ever want the barrel of the gun or the point of the knife pointing at something vital. Moving straight in is just part of going from zero to 100% in an instant. Or what I call caveman martial arts, which is knowing where to hit and hitting them as hard as you can. Unless you have different thoughts on this. Do you? Also there are some things that can be done differently when in body armor than when not. The visible part of a martial art is arguably only 10% of it. It takes more digging to get to the other 90%, which is the secret or true meaning of the martial art.
David I could bore you to distraction with the politics within my Fédération . I suppose this is inevitable when money and people and pride is concerned. As for between the Federations, Imi must be spinning in his grave. In a nutshell, control IS essential principle of fekm. See: 2nd article (if you like) http://www.southlondonkravmaga.com/media/
Uniqueness I don't want to oversell the uniqueness. Finger prints are unique yet serve the same purpose and a 4x4 works very similarly to a motorcycle. They are nevertheless distinctive. You are right about your kickboxer student. All I would say is that KM is ONLY SD, or should be. Fekm is taught by sports fighters but there is a lot of other baggage that is no use in the ring. And some ring stuff which is inadvisable for SD. I know that the FBI has bought into KM, and the other police and military trainers will have attended courses where km and km principles are taught. Even the British Metropolitan Police trainers have done. Similarities are a compliment to KM and it's Fairbairn and other antecedents. I agree with your comments on caveman martial arts though I think that even a simple system can actually be very refined. (E.g. boxing) ... and not just body armour. Our Finnish fekm cousins often stand differently. Fighting on sheet ice is not the same as on concrete. But the fundamentals will remain similar until they diverge so much we will recognise a different system, I suppose.
What an i say? He would differ. Having had to do that drill again and again with the similarities to boxing emphasised ad nauseum, and having had to take up boxing so that I could pass that module (which has the highest failure rate in the black belt exam) I would insist that the root in boxing is deep.