Express India :: Martial Arts Expert Teaches Girl Power

Express India

Karn Kowshik
April 14, 2004 (New Delhi):

If you are a woman walking down a Delhi street, chances are you’ll soon end up running from eve-teasers. Vicky Kapoor offers the Capital’s women an alternative — Krav-Maga, Hebrew for ‘‘contact fight’’. Krav-Maga is an Israeli martial art, developed by the defence forces. Formed in the 1940’s, when underground liberation armies were fighting for Israel’s independence, it has since been modified for use by civilians. Krav-Maga is also used by the FBI and Los Angeles SWAT Teams. Advertisement Kapoor claims this is the first time Krav-Maga is being taught in India. He is training civilians with ‘‘Electrolux Femme Force’’, a self defence course for women in Delhi and NCR regions that focuses on women’s safety and empowerment. Kapoor, who is a 5th Dan black belt in karate, has trained in Japan, China, Europe and Israel. He says that the advantage Krav-Maga has over other forms of martial arts, is that it gives students real life combat experience and stresses application in real life situations. It eliminates ritual moves, and focuses only on disarming the attacker. A Krav-Maga class starts directly with combat training. According to Kapoor, Krav-Maga relies on simple, instinctive movements that can be learnt in a short time and teaches people how to respond appropriately even in the most unfamiliar and stressful conditions. They are taught to strike at points like the groin and neck. The techniques also teach defence against armed attackers. ‘‘Krav-Maga is not a sport. We do not compete. This is purely for self defence,’’ Kapoor stresses. He says that to understand Krav-Maga, one must understand the Israeli mind. ‘‘Israel is a country that is surrounded by aggressive enemies, yet, they have managed to thrive,’’ he says, adding that Israel believes in disarming or destroying the enemy before they can attack. This is also the main philosophy of Krav-Maga, he says. Kapoor says that everyone should learn self defence, but believes it is especially important for girls. ‘‘The education system and unemployment, leads to frustration among males,’’ he says. ‘‘Physically, men are genetically stronger than women, but with training, women can very easily defend themselves,’’ he adds. Interestingly, along with ex-Indo Tibetan Border Police and ex-SPG commando K. Pankti, Kapoor is training the Tamil Nadu Special Police batch in charge of security at Tihar Jail.

Source: Express India (http://cities NULL.expressindia NULL.com/fullstory NULL.php?newsid=81708)

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