Over and over again, I hear from students that they enjoy the senseof community and support that the KMSF Training Center provides. There seems to be an endless supply of people willing to offer advice on techniques or help a newbie negotiate the difficulty of holding airshields for the first time. All these good training partners can help make classes more interesting, push you to work harder, and have more fun. On the other hand, a training partner who is inattentive or bored, or – on the other extreme – overly aggressive or careless can make the session uncomfortable, or worse, unsafe. In order to ensure that we have plenty of good training partners, we must first be one ourselves. What does it take to be a good training partner?

It takes both focus and communication. Our first responsibility is to ourselves of course; by focusing on the task at hand, we stay safe and ensure that we learn what is needed from the training session. It is also an example to the person we train with, as it cues them to also be focused on what is happening. However, a crucial component of self defense is a general awareness, of our surroundings and of other people in the immediate environment, and your training partner is the next person you ought to be paying close attention to besides yourself. Observe whether he or she is handling the drills you are working on, and whether it is too easy or perhaps too difficult for them to keep up. Try to adjust your intensity and/or speed to make it be challenging enough for the both of you.

When the training experience becomes less than ideal, it’s time for some communication. Tell your training partner to speed up or slow down, use more force or less force as your skills and experience allow. For people that are new to Krav Maga, this can be a difficult barrier to overcome. There may be some hesitation to speak up, especially when it seems like one ought to suck it up and deal in order to build toughness. It’s true that some types of discomfort make you stronger, but there is no substitute for the power of speaking up for yourself. For those of us with more experience, inviting communication from those with less experience can help get past this. It takes 2 seconds to stop and ask if the pace is right for someone, and it can make the hour much more enjoyable for the both of you. Of course, there are times when the intensity of the drill requires you to be completely focused on applying the correct survival skills, but it’s still important to maintain general situational awareness and safety.

Beyond dealing with one person, try to mingle with as many different training partners as you can in each class. Working with a variety of different body types, attitudes and styles gives you the best opportunity to learn and grow. Sometimes it’s easy to stay in a comfort zone, and working with a familiar person can feel safer. But we aren’t here to stay in our comfort zone! We’re here to get prepared to deal with as many different people and situations as possible. Rest assured that no matter who you work with here at KMSF, they were once beginners, and they now have experience that can help you get better. We have to work with people in every aspect of life, and what makes you a good training partner also makes you a good co-worker, boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, teammate or leader as well.