Stars who know Krav Maga

“but neither of them would have been as good playing Sydney in her more vulnerable moments as Garner.”

I cant speak for Jolie, but that statement was ridiculous. Anyone who has studied Lucy Lawless’ acting (including Xena) can tell you that she blows Garner (and anyone else) out the water. She is in a league of her own.

I deffinately agree with you there. I personaly think she is both good and my type of woman.

Lucy Lawless by deffinition uses Krav Maga in Xena Warrior Princess

I found this post by LambsMarch on the Krav Maga Forums

Krav Maga and Xena/Hercules

I’m a total nutcase fan of the action/adventure series’ Xena:Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The show takes a lot of liberties with the mythological/historical Hercules and the historical Boedicea (the powers-that-be deny that she’s the inspiration for Xena but the similarities are just too numerous to ignore).

I forget the formula they used, but I believe there were at least, of the five sub-segments of each show, two action segments in the beginning, graduating to three and even four in later years (each show ran six seasons). For Xena, the action was usually her sword and chakram, occasionally a knife, bow and arrow, and once in a while bare hands. For Gabrielle of ‘Xena’, in the beginning she didn’t fight at all, then she progressed to the fighting staff, then chemical weapons, then the fighting sais (sp). Hercules fought almost exclusivley with his hands, only occasionally using a sword. Iolaus of ‘Hercules’ used mostly the sword, once or twice bow and arrow and rarely bare hands. Hercules and Iolaus occasionally fought together using signature teamwork moves, but Gabrielle and Xena usually fought their enemies separately. All four performers—Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), Michael Hurst (Iolaus), Lucy Lawless (Xena) and Renee o’Connor (Gabrielle) trained with professionals whose specialty was that of weapons and combat specifically for the film industry, at least by the time of the different interviews I’ve seen.

Consistant with Krav Maga:
*They used a passive, normal stance when not fighting.
*Rarely did they use de-celerating tactics, but a few times they did.
*They used the KM-taught fighting stance when fighting in the episodes I looked for this.
*When they threw punches, kicks, etc they ‘followed through’ completely with each move.
*Xena used verbal exhalation when throwing blows.
*They rarely ever allowed an opponent to get to their backs.
*All except Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) were pretty good at keeping the fighting stance in the heat of battle, with one hand usually protecting their vital organs when throwing punches or kicks.
*They only used a weapon when having a clear view of their target. Only once Gabrielle and twice Xena, did they not.
*Very important: it is related many times that you don’t pick up a weapon unless you are willing to use it, and you don’t use a weapon unless you are prepared for the death of your opponent. Hercules, Iolaus and Xena were soldiers at the show’s beginning. Joxer and Gabrielle have their first kills onscreen. I think they overdid the guilt a bit much, but the PTB tried to be responsible about the violence in the show.
*Principle of uniformity: carried their weapons or made their moves the same way all the time so they knew where things were or what to do without having to look. Aside from being a good survival/combat rule that I was glad to see onscreen, if the show deviated from this the viewers/fans went ape-sh*t anyway.

They also show in many episodes the following principles that we were taught in the Summer Camp and in the KM DVD:
*Never physically escalate a verbal encounter
*Give your enemy a chance to retreat (Back off! Go Away!)
*Nonweapons can be weapons (in both shows the characters were occasionally disabled by spells or chemicals or used them on opponents). And in class we were told: “If he cuts off your arm, pick it up and beat him with it”. Fish and eels were overused in the shows I think, but the point was well made.
*Anticipate your enemies tactics
*Stay cool
*Grasp psychological opportunities
*Timing is everything
*Know your enemy
*Think attack and counterattack
*Never let your enemy into your attack zone without making him pay
*Keep your balance
*An aggrssive, sustained attack is always best
*If forced to retreat, do it in a controlled manner, thinking counterattack
*Beware your enemy’s attack zone.
*Know when to break off an attack.
*Never let your OPPONENT decide what YOUR next move should be.

Xena Rocks,

David

The Martial Arm Online MMA Network.
Online Directory of Martial Arts Schools by State, Province and Country.

Glad to see someone agree with me, and thanks for the information!!! Very interesting, thank you.