Is Krav Maga more practical than Modern Army Combatives?

I'm a big fan of Israeli close quarters style of fighting however I think Jeet Kune Do or JKD could be of better use with one on one as apposed to Krav Maga. It is intended to use minimal movements with maximum effects and extreme speed and attack opponents centerline. It would be interesting to see a Krav Maga vs JKD fight.

I'm about to start Krav Maga classes because I believe it's something I can use and remember. As a non-combat MOS, the amount of training we get on combatives is extremely low. It is usually dependent on how much time your command will spare you to go to classes. From what I understand of Krav Maga it focuses less on technique than traditional martial arts and more on results. Results are what matter in a fight.

I always believed I would employ whatever tactics it took if I had to engage in hand-to-hand combat, be it something that was trained over the course of my career in the Army or whatever I had picked up throughout the course of my life, hell I would even go WWE on "their" ass if need be to ensure that I came out the victor!!

I think the psychology behind MAC is that "all fights, eventually, devolve to struggling on the ground, so be ready for it". One problem we have in Reserves (and I assume National Guard as well) is that we rarely ever see MAC. "Combatives" shows up on the training schedule once, maybe twice, a year so we're basically learning Drill 1 over and over again, and we have to be re-introduced to that each time. And each time I have to remind myself there's more to it than what we see, 'cause I think "Doing this stuff with gear on? No way."

An instructor told me that, in the worst case scenario, MAC should give you the skills you need to keep your personal opponent from beating you until the rest of your buddies can come and help you. I'd love to see more of what MAC has to offer, but until we can have an AT devoted to two weeks of Combatives I'm stuck with what I can get on the civilian market.

Fortunately there is a Krav Maga studio nearby so I'll look into that. In the meantime I took a couple years of Kenpo a long time ago and really enjoyed that... if I ever got into hand-to-hand combat (a vanishingly rare situation) I'd use as much of that as I remember, since my Combatives training is paper-thin, unfortunately.

I'm no expert in MAC, but I would suggest a combination of MAC and KM. It's my understanding that in KM, you are neutralizing someone and learning close ground techniques. In MAC, you are doing similar, but also learning to fight in your gear which I would think would be helpful. Again, I'm no expert, just observing.

I'm a student in Muay Thai now for over 2 years. I've learned some great defensive techniques as well as some knife defense skills. While I'm no Ronda Rousey, you better not push your luck with me though. lol

Great discussion!

I'm in combatives now. I love it! I have been looking into Krav Maga. I believe it's the next step in close quarters combat

SOCP is more practical than both Krav Maga and MACP. You learn to fight standing and on the ground and how to use your rifle, pistol, and knife...with the focus of using a lesser weapon only when you are unable to use your primary weapon and how to fight to get back to your primary weapon. It also teaches you have to leverage your body against an opponent when you are in full combat kit (body armor and helmet)

When I served we learned the standard hand to hand combat unlike the Modern Army Combatives used today. My background is in Hapkido, Taekwondo and Capoeira with some training in Thai Kickboxing and while I've had the pleasure of watching Krav Maga in action don't feel I'm qualified to say one way or another between the two. While MAC is definitely good for close-quartered standing and ground work (you should have a nasty blade to use in this case) which gives you a certain advantage over your opponent with your advanced training where Krav Maga is primarily threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvering and aggression it does not seem to offer a lot of ground work...my choice would be MAC. It is a tried and true form in my opinion for the purpose of your question.

I still prefer Gun Fu.

any system that you know how to apply in a practical setting is the most effective. If you mindset is that your systems is the best thing ever, then you will quickly find the bigger fish that eats you. as miamoto musashi said, "It is not the weapon that matters, but the arm that wields it"