km-X FAQs
Q: What is km-X?
A: km-X stands for Krav Maga Cross-Training. Km-X is Krav Maga for youth and focuses on three important aspects of developing safe, healthy and confident kids: self-defense, fitness, and life skills.
Q: What makes km-X different from other martial arts?
A: Krav Maga is a reality based system. There are no katas, fancy kicks, or moves that aren’t practical for real life situations. We teach defenses against common attacks such as chokes, hair-pulls, bear-hugs, and headlocks. Krav Maga is used by over 400 different Law Enforcement Agencies and Military Units worldwide. Due to the physical nature of the system, the kids tend to get a better workout as opposed to traditional martial arts.
Q: What will my kid get out of km-X training?
A: In addition to the short-term benefits of km-X, the broader goal of our program is to supplement and support what our students are learning at home and at school. Our training program strives to instill values that will make them successful teenagers, young adults, and adults. We cover everything from the importance of being physically fit, how to make healthy nutritional choices, motivational strategies, successful goal setting, seeking and using mentors, doing well in school, social skills, how to achieve and then project confidence and self-esteem, how to be respectful and responsible, sticking up for their values, mastering peer pressure, being aware and using common sense, to how to physically defend themselves in a time of need… and the list goes on!
Q: How will km-X increase my child’s confidence?
A: We don’t just tell students the importance of being confident we make sure they practice being confident in every class. Role playing and working through situations where kids feel insecure, consistent positive reinforcement and active encouragement by our instructors, creating a non-intimidating, safe and fun training atmosphere, providing physical and verbal challenges that students can successfully achieve, and being surrounded by other confident and supportive classmates are just some of the ways in which we work to build our students’ confidence.
Q: Are you teaching children real Krav Maga?
A: Yes, your child will be learning real Krav Maga. We teach Krav Maga techniques and principles in kid appropriate contexts such as bullying, peer pressure, and abduction prevention. Just like in Krav Maga, the emphasis in km-X is always on confrontation avoidance first and foremost. We teach children how to verbalize, set boundaries, and how to “use common sense before self-defense.”
Q: Will my child start fighting now? Will he/she become more violent?
A: km-X is a self-defense system not a fighting system. We consistently stress the differences between being offensive and being defensive. Our students understand that (a) fighting is not allowed under any circumstances and students who fight in school or otherwise will not be permitted to participate in our program, (b) the techniques we teach have the potential to hurt other kids their age and size and that (c) confrontation avoidance is always the desirable outcome. Fighting often stems from insecurities and a desire to “prove” their toughness, as well as being an outlet for aggression. With the confidence we instill in our students, the physical challenges we provide, and a controlled and healthy means of stress reduction our students do not feel the need to engage in physical confrontations. In fact, parents tell us that students who have had problems with fighting in the past, within a short time of joining km-X, no longer participate in confrontations.
Q: How often do they need to come a week? My child has many other extracurricular activities, in addition to homework, that would leave very little time to come to classes.
A: There is no specific program requirement for how many classes your child must attend a week. We are sensitive to the fact that kids have busy schedules and that homework is a priority. We suggest that your child come to at least 2 classes per week to get the most out of the km-X program.
Q: How do the levels work? How is the curriculum broken down?
A: There are 4 levels in km-X (Basic Training, Boot Camp, Black Belt Club, and Advanced Black Belt Club). Within those levels curriculum is broken down into 3-month cycles, with a test at the end of each 3-month cycle. Testing students at the end of every 3 months gives them an attainable but challenging goal. Each level has an increasing number of 3-month cycles within, so that students spend more time in higher levels, allowing us to expose them to more material and more advanced techniques and they progress. In order to simplify the process, there are 4 different uniform t-shirt colors, one for each level of km-X. In addition, each 3-month cycle has it’s own belt color (wristband color), so that after each successful belt test students receive a new belt (wristband), even if they have not yet progressed to the next level.
Q: How often do they test? How does that process work?
A: We hold belt tests every three months. In order for a child to be eligible to test they must have attended at least 24 classes during that three-month period, turned in all of the monthly life skill requirements, and their performance and behavior in classes must have earned them the privilege of attending the belt test. Tests are held on the last Saturday of the testing month and challenge students on their knowledge of the curriculum, their life skills comprehension, and their ability to demonstrate qualities we emphasize in all of our classes such as: perseverance, respect, and teamwork.
