It’s not about the pain – it’s about the feedback’: krav maga experts’ views on self-defence performance and the experience of contact, pain and injury in the process of skill development

Abstract

Expert performance in self-defence situations has not been the subject of rigorous empirical investigation. This study aims is broaden knowledge in self-defence, its development and the role of contact, pain and inju- ry in training, in order to stimulate future research activity. Semi-structured interviews with two Israeli krav maga experts centred on the development of expertise in self-defence. The interviews were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological framework; an induc- tive approach that captures the richness and complexity of the lived experience. Two analytically leading themes emerged concerning a) the characteristics of expert self-defence performance and b) the benefits, drawbacks and limitations of contact and pain in training activities. By examining the analytic observation through a theoretical lens with regards to (a) the key components of decision-making and mind-set and (b) contact, pain and injury in the training process, we point the direction for further avenues of inquiry in the context of self-defence performance and the development of the associated skills