Target Vulnerable Areas
Eyes, throat, groin, knees, fingers, ears. Krav Maga's target priorities don't change because they're rude — they change because they work.
Krav Maga maintains a short, deliberately taught list of high-payoff anatomical targets. None of them are unique to Krav Maga. What's unique is the willingness to default to them in training and the refusal to substitute "safer" targets in real defense.
The primary list
- Eyes: rake, gouge, or jab — produces immediate involuntary flinch and tearing, even on motivated attackers.
- Throat: chop, ridge-hand, or palm strike — disrupts breathing and triggers the gag reflex.
- Groin: knee, kick, palm slap, or grab — universally effective and easy to reach from most angles.
- Knees: a kick to the side or front of the knee can permanently end an attacker's ability to chase.
- Fingers, ears, nose: grab-and-break / bite / pull options for clinch and grappling scenarios.
Why these and not others
The targets share three properties: they don't require strength to damage, they produce involuntary responses, and they don't depend on the attacker's size or fitness. A palm to the jaw of a 110 kg attacker may bruise him. A finger to his eye stops him.
The training discipline this requires
The hard part isn't the targets — it's training to use them by default. Sport-trained fighters often "miss high" in real engagements because they've trained for years to avoid eye and groin targets. Krav Maga drills the opposite: when in doubt, go to the eye and the groin.