If someone attacked your family, would you be an asset or a liability? If the unthinkable happened, and a criminal stood in front of you threatening to harm the people you love most, would you know what to do?

We thought about starting this article with statistics on crime in East Texas, but this isn’t really about other people being assaulted, robbed, raped and murdered. Knowing the data won’t help when your spouse, your children are afraid and your fear for them strangles your thoughts.

Experts Train at East Texas Krav Maga

Amos Owings, Kilgore PD Defensive Tactics Instructor and Longview S.W.A.T. team member knows a thing or two about dealing with extreme violence. He’s who East Texans call in a crisis.

For S.W.A.T, he has the task of responding to violent crimes in the early stages to save lives. As an instructor, he teaches other officers to do the same. Everything he does is not just about saving himself, but being equipped to help others in the face of extreme chaos.

Years ago, when he was developing a realistic training system for his department, he chose self-defense techniques taught at East Texas Krav Maga. He says the same training can be helpful for citizens. Here are excerpts from our interview with Amos.

From your experience, what do East Texans usually do when faced with violence?

They become a victim. Your primal self-defense instinct is putting your hands up, so we see self-defense wounds on the hands, arms etcetera. They might fight back, but it’s nothing substantial. I rarely see the fight has been taken to the attacker. Normally the attacker is going to prevail because the fight is not brought to him.

You start out the victim and continue to be the victim.

How have you seen that lead to negative outcomes?

We see everything from family violence to bar fights to car jackings to robberies. The end result is the victim is beaten and bloody.

What would be a better response? What do you teach trainees to do?

One of the main things is, you don’t wait to get hit. You don’t wait for it to escalate. Action is faster than reaction.

Learning the cues and indicators for an attack is huge. Then, you have to know how to respond and how your action is going to affect the attacker.

It all goes back to the idea the attacker is usually the one that prevails. The first one to get on it is the one to dominate that situation. You can’t wait to become a victim. That’s when you get knocked out, knocked down or beaten over the head with something.

And regular people can learn that from East Texas Krav Maga training?

You don’t just learn how to deliver a front kick, you know your options and the effect. You learn to see pre-attack indicators.

You also become inoculated to stress so you think clearly during a situation. You may be able to avoid it altogether. You’ve been in combat enough times during training to know what’s going down.

Most people are so shocked. They’re shocked by physical aggression and by people in their space. Krav Maga training allows you to think.

I think, “Right before someone punches me, they do this.” I know how to respond. I’m not frozen. It’s not a closed case at that point.

Krav Maga is based on gross motor movement that’s pretty natural, but you have to have an aggressive mindset.

If I let the attacker continue to act, I’m in his loop. When I take the fight to him, he is now in my loop. He has to react to my actions.

Is there any other reason you recommend Krav Maga, firearms training, tactical medicine training and so on?

I’ve gotten to pressure test Krav Maga a lot. I haven’t been able to poke any holes in it. I fight everybody in my department, and we go all out. I’ve pressure tested it and had them pressure test it, and it just works. It’s easy to teach, easy to learn. With the right mindset, it’s very effective. It’s a good all-around system.

Sometimes you have to handle it yourself. All of history has been violent, and man continues to be. I think everyone should know how to defend themselves. It’s not just a right, it’s a responsibility.

It’s dangerous out there. If you’ve got anybody you care about, you can’t always rely on other people to solve your problems. Krav is a necessity.

Take Responsibility for Your Family’s Safety

From the very first class, East Texas Krav Maga students go home more prepared to defend themselves. Learn the world’s best self-defense system combined with intelligent weapons training. We train for real life, and we tailor that training to real people. Fill out our online form to try a class today.