Yesterday I went kickboxing at a gym and I was talking to someone there who told me that I would learn everything I need to know in a few lessons. I know she is not that knowledgable in the subject but I would like to hear any thoughts on this. She also mentioned that it was only for "self defense". That is exactly what I want. I should mention that before this I took JKD for 2 years. Anyway, I would like to hear peoples opinions.

Please understand that there is a HUGE difference between learning something and being able to apply it.

Many self defense principles can be learned (intellectually) in a few lessons. Getting your mind and body to connect, and be able to apply them under pressure is an entirely different scenario. Usually requiring years of dedicated practice.

I am a bit confused - in 2 years of JKD, you did not learn anything for self defense?

as matt said - there is a huge difference between learning and applying. that said - you can probrably learn all the basics of krav maga in a half dozen lessons, espectially with some martial arts background. krav maga was designed to be tought to soldiers, without martial arts backgrounds, in a short period. a person should be able to be profitient after about 200 hours or so of good instruction hard training.

Thanks for your input. Yes I did. I wanted to learn something different. Basically, I am not interested in competing I want to defend myself and feel confident. I'm sure you would agree that 2 years in any style if not enough. At least that is how I feel.

you may be able to learn every technique and combative krav has to offer in a few lessons (i'd say at least 15, but that's just me), but you will not know how to defend yourself unless you undertake as much of the physical/combat stress training that you can. krav training was designed to make you feel as close to being in a real life threatening situation as possible, without anyone really getting hurt - if you're not getting that from your school, i'd be a little suspicious of them. also, i took jkd as well and think it compliments krav nicely, as do MT, HKD and JJ. krav also has room for limitless expansion, so don't feel like you need to stop at the techniques you're taught.

well, i said "at least". and i mean 15 in a row, for 4-5 hours a day AT LEAST. actually, scratch that. i don't have enough faith in the bulk of MA students to pull it off. including me.
nevermind.

this is pretty much exactly what krav was desiged for - to take people on an intensive 2 week course and teach them the basic, or a 4-6 week course and teach them to be profitient.

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that people have this impression of krav maga. Yes, it's designed to be simple and easy to learn because it strives to use techniques based on your "natural responses" but to think that you could learn the entire krav maga system, or even the basics, in a few weeks of even intense training is really just wrong. For example, in the curriculum 'sanctioned' by the National Tranining Center in LA, you don't even cover gun defenses until blue belt level--the level I was working on when I switched to FIGHT. The 'belt' progression for krav maga is pretty similar to most trad MA's: white to yellow in about 3 months, yellow to orange in another 3-5 months, orange to green in 6-9 months, green to blue in 12-18 months, blue to brown in 12-18 months, and black belt by invitation only. I put belts in quotes because a lot of KM schools don't award belts, only level rankings (I - V). Don't kid yourselves, krav is a demanding art and, contrary to some misconceptions, it does have a variety of techniques, kicks for e.g.--not as many as most trad MA's but it has hook kicks, crescent kicks, and a few others that I can't do very well! And, when you test for your instructor certification they beat the HELL out of you! No, I've never done it myself so forgive me if I sound like an armchair martial artist, but both my instructors said it was the hardest thing they've ever done--one instructor is a 24 year old 2nd degree black belt in Ed Parker's American kenpo and the other instructor is a 4th degree bb in TKD and a 3rd degree bb in hapkido (he's also a triathlete). And, the level tests are ridiculous--they typically last 3 or 4 hours and by the end you really feel like you've been in a fight. And, the two krav programs I was involved in--one in Seattle and one in PA, were adamant that we spar A LOT! We worked standup and ground work during every class. No paper tigers in those programs. Hearing that someone told you that you could learn the basics of krav maga in a couple weeks is really sad.
I should note that my experience with krav maga is strictly civilian so my comments really have no bearing on someone like globetrotter's experience with krav in the IDF. We did have some former IDF guys in our gym in Seattle and they said something to the effect of, "yeah, we got some krav training in the Israeli military, but but it was pretty brief." So again, my comments only apply to krav programs that stem from the NTC in LA and not krav as it is practiced in the Israeli army. I'm not here to offend anyone! Honest 1
cheers

where did you train in seattle? i'm thinking about moving back there actually, cuz chicago smells and the seafood sucks.
and i still say you could "learn" krav in at LEAST 15 days. you just won't be any good at it.