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Here would be Freddie Roach explaining basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmgHY6rk0QE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTWcGol3CY

Yes, I know he talks a bit funny (it's a health issue) but he absolutely knows what he's talking about. He has trained a lot of boxers and some MMA fighters. Most notably he's Manny Pacquiao's trainer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Roach_(boxing)

General tips:

• Always turn over your hand completely while throwing jabs, straights/crosses. i.e. make it horizontal. With hooks it depends which hook you're doing, some are done with a turned over fist, some with a vertical fist.
  
  
• Always tuck your chin in and hide it behind the shoulder of the arm that is throwing the punch.
  
  
• Don't admire your punch even if you land it
  

• Move your hand back as fast as you've thrown the punch
  
• Move your head or reposition immediately after throwing a punch
  Failing to do so makes it easy to punch you
  
  

• Never have both arms extended, always punch, retract your arm to protect your face and then throw the next punch, even in combinations.
  
• Change levels. Go upstairs, downstairs, mix it up
  
• Make a good fist, let someone/your instructor show you how to make a good fist
  
• Don't ever splay your thumb, it's a sure way to break it. I know a few guys who had that happen to them. Keep it tight and have it support your fingers
  
• Try to hit with the knuckles of your index and middle finger. Hitting hard with the other knuckles might result in a broken hand.
  
• Don't punch the face without gloves. Use your palm for strikes to the head. Hitting bone can result in a broken hand
  
• Hold your wrist straight. With a straight punch keep your arm completely straight. If you don't your writ or elbow may break on powerful impact
  
• Rotate your hip, pivot on your back foot. Punching power comes from your whole body working the punch, not (only) from your arm. In boxing there's the term "arm punches" for punches that have no body weight behind it - those hardly ever do damage
  
• punch slowly at the start. Try to get the motion right. Try to be precise in where you hit. Use a mirror and take yourself as the target. Speed will come in time when your form is good. Things you can do slowly you can learn to do fast - things you can't do slowly are a disaster if you try to do them fast.
  
• Try to master the jab first. And last. And always. It's not meant to be a hard punch/power punch - it's a range finder, it's used to position your opponent. To disturb him. To blur his vision. To set up power punches. It has so many uses, it should be your best and most versatile punch. Learn to hook from the jab. It should be fast and precise and busy - it's not primarily meant to hurt your opponent.
  
• "Don't hook with a hooker" - if you fight someone who relies a lot on hooks, who primarily throws them: don't hook. Use straight punches. A skilled hooker/hook specialist will hurt you when you try to hook with them
  
• Punch with a purpose. Don't punch just to punch, think about what you want to achieve. If somebody hides behind a high guard make them open the guard. Punch to the body, get close and use uppercuts. Don't keep punching onto their guard just to do something. Try to come up with a strategy and follow it.
  
• Punch your mattress (not too hard) to test if your arm and your wrist are straight. If they are not you'll notice your wrist giving in and your hand changing position. It has to be a solid union else your punching power is lost and you're going to hurt yourself.
  
• train your wrist. I like to punch with neoprene dumbbells like those: https://www.amazon.com/CAP-Barbell-Neoprene-Dumbbell-10-Pound/dp/B00UM41N9G/ref=sr_1_6 nothing too heavy, 2kg at most. Punch with them and hold them in your hands while moving your hand up and down. You need strong wrists.
  
  OK, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. if something's unclear feel free to ask.
  
  Oh, and PS: If you fight somebody who knows what he's doing - never circle around them towards their strong hand. You'd be walking right into a hook and as you move into it it will be devastating. With someone who is an orthodox fighter (left hand forward) move towards their left side. If you're fighting a southpaw move towards their right side. If you are forced to move towards their strong hand don't go in a circling motion but move away from their strong hand by moving laterally instead of circling
  
  Another PS: Keep your feet apart. When moving forward push yourself forward with your hind leg. Don't ever cross your legs while moving around, do measured steps. If you square up or even cross your legs you can lose balance easily.

I've seen this DVD lying around at my club. I haven't seen it myself, but it is some pretty impressive instructors that are featured in it. There are also a number of youtube videos that are pretty cool. I like these guys.

No matter how many videos you watch, it is not the same as having an instructor correcting your mistakes. If there isn't any Krav Maga centers close to you, then I think you should think about trying something else. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there anything like Krav out there, but there are many martial arts out there that'll teach you some very useful thing. And get you fit. Look into if there's Muay Thai, Ju Jitsu, MMA, BJJ, Boxing or any other martial art close to you. Then you can train specific Krav Techniques with the DVDs and hope that someone'll open a center close to you soon!

Good luck to you

Happy I could help.

As a beginner I'd say my experience with Krav has been pretty good. I'm really enjoying my classes, and I really appreciate the practical aspects of it. I'm also taking TKD, mostly because my girlfriend is a blackbelt, and I'd like to eventually be able to spar with her in that. The reason I mention this, is that, while TKD is ok, I do not enjoy it nearly as much as Krav. Krav is practical, straight away. This works for me. Also, almost nothing translates from one art to the other. That's ok, and I'm sure there are some complementary things, but to me not much of either one directly helps the other, aside from just being able to move and control my body better.

The things that I've struggled with (am struggling with) the most are really just getting the basics down. Making sure my stance is always good, getting proper hip rotation. The videos and book mention these things, but it will take a bit of practice, and possibly someone watching you to see what you're doing to help work those things out. One of the other big things to work on is aggression-krav needs it. If you don't have at least two other people to drill with you can't really do aggression drills.

Aggression drills where I am usually go the following way:
One person starts out doing straight punches or similar on one pad, another individual will hit/push that person with their pad and place it for a specific attack/set of attacks, you'll punch/kick/knee/combination/etc that pad until you get hit again by someone else, you then switch to that target, rinse&repeat. This goes on full speed, full strength for about a minute or two. I know it sounds short, but it's extremely intense, and by the end my attacks are considerably weaker just due to wearing myself out.

Obviously you'd take turns rotating who was doing the attacking.

The other thing you really, really need a partner for is practicing all the choke defenses and blocks.

I think that everyone else has a point when they say you'll probably learn better when you practice with an instructor, but I don't see any reason you can't learn some on your own. Especially if you can do a seminar here or there, and then practice with other people during the rest of the year.

The gear I have (the gloves came with my package at my studio, though I bought an extra pair for my girlfriend), the two pads are just the same as the ones used in the studio, as well as in the book and the videos.

http://www.amazon.com/Krav-Leather-Grappling-Glove-Medium/dp/B005VZ4U14/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_1

http://www.amazon.com/Revgear-41002-Punch-Shield/dp/B005VY2N3C/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1332442792&sr=1-1-fkmr2

http://www.amazon.com/Revgear-KM305-Krav-Maga-Shield/dp/B005VY51ZO/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1332442838&sr=1-2

Again, it doesn't matter if it says revgear or krav maga alliance-it's the same product, different label as far as I can tell. These pads seem to be a lot tougher and better than the century ones I've played with, and much much better than anything everlast or the like. That said, this is just my personal observations of course. There may be places near you that sell a bunch of this gear, if not amazon at least has a good return policy, though there are dozens of sites that sell the same stuff.

Anyways, I've rambled long enough. If you had any questions still though, by all means ask.

Slow down. When you train, challenge yourself to move smoothly, instead of quickly. You'll train a faster response by learning to move smoothly through your techniques than by rushing through the individual strikes and then having to pause and reset between each component. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Internalize that. Learn to slow things down.

Read. Pick up some Krav books if you haven't already; they're invaluable for reference. I use Complete Krav Maga and Black Belt Krav Maga by Worldwide, but there are several variations out there. Pick up Meditations on Violence by Rory Miller, as well. His insights are sobering and will help you learn to be a better fighter. It'll also strip away some of the ego you will inevitably start to develop a few months in.

Train with people who are better than you are, regardless of size or gender, as frequently as you can. You probably already know who these people are. Train also with people who are bigger and stronger than you are. Understand the difference between the two, and learn how it changes the dynamic.

And take care of your body. We don't talk about this enough, but your technique means nothing if your body is too weak from overtraining or undertraining or poor diet or lack of sleep to keep going to class. Make sure you're fueling your body so you're not getting injured.

And welcome to Krav.

There are different types of stamina, something like steady state stamina can be improved by long consistent cardio. Krav type workouts, you are going to want to get good at HIIT training, which will help you perform tasks at a high intensity and recover quickly.

The guys & gals over at r/fitness should be able to point you in the right direction as to HIIT workout plans. Tactical Barbell II: Conditioning has great and varied HIIT workouts as well.

Best boxing sparring gloves I've used: Windy 160z. First pair literally lasted me about 6 or 7 years. Finally the velcro gave out so much I got another pair of them. Fantastic gloves.

For MMA, I highly recommend the Fairtex MMA gloves. They are puffy enough that they feel like getting hit with 16oz gloves even though they are small MMA gloves. HIGHLY recommend. The only part I don't like about them is the thumb, but I just simply tuck that in with the rest of the gloves rather that slipping my thumb through it.

I know both of those gloves are fairly expensive, but with sparring gear you generally get what you pay for.

Edit to add more opinion

Been doing boxing/mma/krav for a while. Gloves to avoid would be Everlast. I had combat sports MMA gloves and shinguards for a long time and they were pretty good. Lasted a while. Hayabusa 16oz boxing gloves feel good, but the padding is a bit weird so it is harder on your partner than I like to be. I also get punched with Rev Gear and Venom gloves a lot. They are fine, but never used them myself.

I agree. Foam roller (Trigger Point is awesome), protein, and fish oil are great. I would also add that having a recovery drink that has protein
and carbs (like Mike's Mix) really helps. The carbs will help with muscle recovery so you feel back to normal strength sooner after a hard workout.

I train at a fantastic gym and found a copy of this book sitting on the "bookshelf" there one day. I thumbed through it and thought it was a nice collection of exercises so I picked up a kindle version for myself.

​

The book doesn't so much teach techniques, but teaches you how to take techniques you've learned and practice them and make them more powerful and effective. So I think it's a great resource for someone who can't train (in the gym/with an instructor) as often as they'd like. There's no substitute for real training but a book like this is good augmentation to occasional training. Will you progress as fast as someone who can attend 3-4 classes a week? Nope. Will you progress faster than sitting on your ass? Yup. As for developing bad habits and "training scars" it's likely...but I'd still take that over no training at all.

I won't recommend brands because there are plenty of recommendations already, I wanted to point out a couple of aspects you might consider when choosing the gloves you are both wearing.

Go with open tyle MMA gloves for now, if you get serious about your training you should then consider getting a pair of 16oz sparring gloves, and a pair of gloves for bag work (so you don't compress the padding in your sparring gloves and put your training partners at undue risk).

Back to the MMA gloves; keep it simple in terms of the wrapping around your wrist; velcro is fine and should be easy to apply firmly but not so tight your blood flow feels at all restricted. You will have times where you're expected to put them on at short notice, so they should be quick and easy to put on, or swap out with focus mitts or other kinds of pad you may end up holding.

Second point, make sure they are sized correctly. If they are too big (think if you're looking at the top of your hand, that they are too broad across the knuckle line) you will find they get in the way when you try to grab and control your partners during clinches and any grappling drills. I would also recommend that you get gloves with a relatively 'low' profile (ie not TOO much padding over the knuckle). They aren't there to ultimately protect your partner from being knocked out, they're there to protect your hands and their face from unnecessary damage during TRAINING. If you find you and your partners want to throw with more intensity, it is definitely time to buy sparring gloves. MMA gloves and a mouth piece give you both the margin for error that allows you to practice making contact with your strikes, without causing lasting damage to your partner.

Personally, I bought these first and found they were too bulky (sizing error and partially their design):
http://www.amazon.com/Fairtex-Amateur-Competition-Gloves-Black/dp/B006K3YLF6/ref=sr_1_3?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1464888071&sr=1-3&keywords=fairtex+mma+glove

And then moved onto a pair of these at a more appropriate size
http://www.amazon.com/Fairtex-Ultimate-MMA-Gloves-Black/dp/B009QYQN6Q/ref=sr_1_6?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1464888071&sr=1-6&keywords=fairtex+mma+glove

the book that helped me personally the most to understand what Krav Maga is really about, is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Krav-Maga-Philosophy-Application-Fighting/dp/0557248469

and for training purposes i can recommend those books by David Kahn, they're like a step by step programm for beginners with training schedules on the last pages

part 1:
http://www.amazon.com/Krav-Maga-Essential-Method---Self-Defense/dp/0312331770/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332353525&sr=1-1

part 2:
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Krav-Maga-Fitness-Self-Defense/dp/0312361645/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

and for weapon defenses this is one is excellent for beginners

http://www.amazon.com/Krav-Maga-Yourself-Against-Assault/dp/1583940081/ref=pd_sim_b_3

have fun training !

I read this book a few years back, before I started my official Krav Maga training back in March. The book is pretty good, but doesn't take the place of actual training. Most of the techniques should be practiced with a partner. I'd say the best bet is to look something up and then ask your instructor to demonstrate the same technique.

http://www.amazon.com/Krav-Maga-Essential-Method---Self-Defense/dp/0312331770/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408995456&sr=8-1&keywords=krav+maga+david+kahn

Try to get a curriculum list, which you can then use to look up youtube videos that demonstrate each listed technique. Sometimes you'll find a video from a different federation which will offer a variation on how your federation does a particular defense, which is always cool.

For KMW there is a book. The curriculum was heavily updated recently, so I would expect to see a new edition soon with all the updates. Still most everything KMW tests on is in it.

I'll sometimes browse through it at night to recap a technique we did that day, or to look up something I haven't done in awhile.

Not much else though. The best stuff is on Youtube, like AJ Draven's series he does for KMW.

Maybe check out The Little Black Book of Violence as well, it really goes deep into things directly related to Krav Maga that Krav books don't go into too much detail about. Stuff like awareness of your surroundings, the consequences of a physical confrontation, different levels of force, and de-escalation. Most of the instructors at my class recommended it, and its a really interesting read for anyone.

Good post. I very highly recommend "The Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca. It is written from a gun owners perspective but it applies to us, too.

He says to consider you're going to be judged by people who 1) weren't there and 2) have never been in a fight themselves. The book explains duty to retreat, 'stand your ground', and a lot of legal concepts the media has never gotten right.

https://www.amazon.com/Law-Self-Defense-Indispensable-Citizen/dp/1943809143

PS: if you're in a self-defense situation, I would never hit anyone that is already incapacitated on the ground. No jury would look kindly on that.

Complete Krav Maga is the book that I have, and very good it is too.

> Rory Miller books

I like The Little Black Book of Violence. It's just not something normal people go around thinking about until it's too late.

Complete Krav Maga - Darren Levine

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Krav-Maga-Self-defense-Techniques/dp/1569755736/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312127017&sr=8-1

And my instructors are a part of Krav Maga Global, but their website doesn't give too much info:

http://krav-maga.com/exclusive-krav-maga-training/grading-system