Hi! any difference between russian systema and israeli krav maga? thanks?

Question

Hi! any difference between russian systema and israeli krav maga? thanks?

Answer 1

for god sake he is not talking about SAMBO, he is talking about systema, m**o has pretty much summed it up.

Answer 2

Russian Military Sambo...... those guys will annihilate people, in regular sambo its a mix of judo throws, joint locks, while Military Sambo adds heavy striking and deadly chokes....a example of a russian military sambo fighter is the currently ranked #1 heavyweight fighter in the world...Fedor Emalianenko

.....krav maga is bullsh!t, iraeli self-defense....load ofcrap

Answer 3

Dear poster above me...

Huge difference between Sambo and Systema. HUGE.. comparing the wrong art. Also know your history and what you are talking about. Fedor also learned Sambo and Judo before he went to the Army, and never learned a l**k of it while in the Army (he served for 2 years as a firefighter btw).

Also I would highly suggest you look at Krav and it's foundations, as well as the Israeli military, which is the only military in history to take on 7 countries in war and win it in 6 days. Imi Sde Or's history (the founder) is also pretty badass. Also check out the Mossad, Israeli MIlitary arts are not to be taken lightly.

Now for the original asker.

Systema's real roots are debated constantly, as is the fact that you ask 99 out of 100 Russian military soldiers what Systema is and they can't tell you, making it's origins in Russian military hand to hand questionable at best.

But aside from that, technique wise. Systema is more flowing, almost softer style then Krav which is highly aggressive and straight to the point.

View systema as sort of a Kung Fu or Aikido derivitive, and Krav Maga as sort of a Muay Thai based art.

That is over simplify it, but essentially there a lot more flowing, moving with the energy or force in systema, some redirection. You hear a lot of people talk about flow in Systema. Also like Krav Maga it varies as to who is teaching it.

Krav is more straight forward, simultaneous attack and defense. Where as a person punching at you in Systema you would redirect their energy, in Krav you would block the punch while throwing a punch at the same time.

Krav is trained in a very high intensive environment, meant to emulate the stress of battle or of conflict. It teachs you real, applicable and instinctual techniques.

Systema may take a lot more time to get the hang of, but depending on the school, can really offer a lot.

However keep in mind there is a huge group of Systema out there that follow almost a Ki using mentality and instead of focusing on applicable techniques, rely on partner compliance, and moves that are utterly realistic in reality.

On the same point, there are a large group of Krav Maga schools or instructors that are practiced more on fitness and exagerration of the "cheap shots" (i.e. eye gouges, nut strikes, etc) of Krav and never spar. They are essentially fitness Krav.

So in both cases there are some great schools, and some outright cashing in on the name type of schools.

The easy way to tell the difference is if they spar. Good schools in either case will spar and work on those techniques, going against uncooperating and fully resisting opponents who are also trying to win.

Honestly I haven't found what I would call a good Systema school yet, the "good" ones are ones I have only heard about, so instead of slamming a whole style, I would intend to believe that there are schools out there combining many good elements, and taking the userfulness out of Systema and having a good version of Systema.

Krav is a little easier to find good schools, but they are still a rarity compared to the not so good Krav schools.

Remember sparring is key.

Nut shots, eye gouges, etc. CAN BE PRACTICED on an opponent with the proper safety gear. So if a school tries to convince you that they do not spar, because what they do is too deadly, and for life or death or streets only... walk away.

If you can't realistically practice techniques at 100% speed against fully resisting opponents of various skill levels who are also trying to beat you. Then you have no practical knowledge of that technique, how to time it, how to adjust it to work in certain contexts, when it is open, etc.etc.

Good Krav schools spar, and spar hard. They spar geared up, and are brutal.

Krav tends to have the idea of overwhelming an adversary with an intense, savage response, essentially taking the would be attacker by surprise and disabling him before he has time to react.

Systema tens to use the attackers force, is a bit more reacting to the attacker as opposed to blasting through him. Counting on superior understanding of body mechanics and levers to disable your attacker, as opposed to brutal response like Krav.

I hope that helps... Message me if you need any clarification, you can see the differences I am talking about on Youtube by putting in Systema or Krav and see the ideology essentially in the demonstrations.

Answer 4

Both arts can be summed up in one finish, "break neck", as both of these systems are lethal, developed for combat.

As a Krav Maga instructor and a Combat SAMBO student I see them both as valuable arts for survival.  combat SAMBO and Krav Maga both start weapons training (knife, gun, bat, etc.) from day 1.  In Krav Maga we do more striking and in Combat SAMBO more joint locking.  Both arts are evolving and instructors grade on the effectiveness of a technique not whether it meets a mold or not.

Combat SAMBO is really fun, and I learned Krav Maga from the source, The IDF School of Combat fitness is Netanya, IL.  Both are very lethal if used to their potential.

Which is more effective depends on the practitioner.  Krav Maga relies more on the fitness components where Combat SAMBO relies more on leverage.  Both arts are constantly evolving, more striking is coming into Combat SAMBO and more grappling is coming into Krav Maga.  I have used things I learned in tai chi in conjunction with both arts to develop techniques.

Much of what the first answerer is true, we do things hard, to simulate battlefield conditions, American Krav Maga is a little different, but still has a great emphasis on physical conditioning, I have been to a few classes as a guest, it is cool.  Way better than some other things, a good way to spend a few hours a week.

Here are a few links to help you.

Hope I answered your question.

Answer 5

I was going to answer this one until I read Judomofo answer.

It's absolutely spot on.

Krav is a direct combat related system. Pure combat and no esoteric embroidered edges. Systema has some good ideas and some d**n interesting ones; it can be used very effectively in the street and is used (as is Krav) by a fair number of bodyguards.

There is as much different between Krav and Systema as there is between karate and tai chi. Systema is much softer and flexible in nature while krav is in your face.

Great answer judomofo! You got my thumbs up for it!