Not Susan, but I have taken Krav Maga. I really, really enjoyed it. I got involved because I wanted to take Tae Kwon Do. The place where I worked was beside a Self Defense Institute which offered Tae Kwon Do - so I started taking those classes. My instructor talked me into joining a noon class of Krav Maga and the rest, as they say, was history.
If you really want to learn Krav, first check out local studios - it's becoming more popular so there are usually many options in bigger cities. Unfortunately, many of the institutes are macho, testosterone filled places where women are not really encouraged - or if they are - the girls get stuck working with each other - which does not really help in real world situations. But others are not, and encourage women to join - work them with the men in real life situations. Some of the drills can be preformed at home without a combat partner but with a heavy bag - all of the kicking and punching drills - but to really get the idea of Krav - which is hand-to-hand combat - but was created to help the Israeli Special Forces escape tricky situations. It's about getting out of holds, learning to kick and punch to hurt your opponent, throwing opponents to the ground, how to recover from getting knocked to the ground, etc.
I know there are videos out for Krav - but honestly, I would go visit institutes if you are really interested and expect to train 2-3 times a week to become proficient. There's a lot you learn fairly quickly (not like Tae Kwon Do where you have to be there for a year or so before you actually have real life skills). I am much more confident that if someone attacked me, I would be better able to get away. And I actually made some of the guys in the class afraid of my kicks.
