Sreeram

Until January this year, martial arts were as alien to her as Martians are to humans. Now, she is a card-carrying follower of the Krav Maga system. Following my persuasion, she began to train in this combat form. But I did not expect her to take to it in such a big way.

Geetha

Fascinated with martial arts since his teens, Sreeram has managed to master a few. As a shared interest in literature bound us together, I realised the significance of a common hobby in a marriage. But martial arts did not appeal to me — the idea of repeating the same steps for days together put me off. But when Sreeram moved on to Krav Maga, I realised I could train with him. Thanks to its simplicity, anyone can practise it.

Sreeram

Krav Maga has a hair-hold technique, using which a victim can extricate himself/herself from the assaulter’s hold. Geetha enjoys trying it on me — she is the reason for my thinning pate.

Geetha

I was attracted to its practicality. By practising a few techniques, I could bring a heavily-built man down. Sreeram taught me how to break an assailant’s hold and get away from the scene of trouble. Krav Maga enjoins its students to practise evasion first and turn to an all-out attack only as the last resort. As a woman and a mother of a 22-year-old girl, I thought Krav Maga could prove helpful to me. But I did not foresee the fun it would infuse into our marriage.

Sreeram

Over a period of time, a couple tends to fall into a routine and take each other for granted. A dearth of common interests and the pressure to save for a rainy day add up to one thing — husband and wife spending less time with each other.

Geetha

After Krav Maga happened, we have an engaging topic for the dinner table. As my daughter is also hooked on to the martial art, the three of us often get into a Krav Maga session at home.

AS TOLD TO PRINCE FREDERICK

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Israeli self-defence

The setting is somewhat similar at Ultimate Tactical and Combat studio in Saket. It offers Krav Maga – an Israeli form of self-defence and combat tactics – training, engaging young women, clad in black, in hand-to-hand combats.

In Saket, portraits of the famed Israeli Krav Maga trainers and a poster that reads ‘personal protection is not an option, it’s a responsibility’, serve as sources of inspiration.

Another poster, of Jennifer Lopez in Enough – a film in which Lopez learns Krav Maga to take on her abusive husband – is also another motivator.

“Recently, we trained a woman who was struggling to tackle her abusive live-in partner,” says Vicky Kapoor, director, Ultimate Tactical, and the best known trainer of Krav Maga in the country.

“She finally managed to drive him out with the help of Krav Maga. We have trained 200 women as per their requirements in the last two years.”

Unsafe city

Not surprising, considering the level of danger a woman faces in the national capital. Among 35 major cities in India, Delhi accounted for 31.2 per cent of total rape cases and 34.7 per cent cases of kidnapping and abduction of women in 2007.

Numbers don’t lie. Most women who practice at these studios have stories to share.

“Last year at a bus-stand near Gargi College, I was groped by a middle-aged man,” says Minakshi Bhardwaj, 22, a student of St Stephen’s College. “I cried for help, but no one came to my rescue. Today, I feel more confident on the streets.”

Mary Kurkalang, 31, who works in a publishing firm said, “Men have grabbed me from behind so many times on the streets. The training has really helped,” she says.

Street fights

The studio lessons are also practiced on the streets. “The idea is to give practical lessons in dealing with various situations that they might face in real life,” says Kapoor, who normally receives 10 inquiries in a day from women who want to know how Krav Maga can help them defend themselves.

Women also get tips on how to use things like mobile phones, hand bags, pens, and even duppttas as weapons.

“Physical drill teaches women to use quick reflexes to attack assailants’ soft spots like throat, groin and nose,” says Shihan Nawal Datta, a martial arts trainer. This new breed of laptop-wielding trainers say many parents are encouraging daughters to join classes.

“My daughters are learning martial arts. One is even building muscles. Martial arts training has instilled discipline and confidence in them,” says Manjari Sharma, a teacher.

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These are the instructions given by experts from the Krav Maga federation to students and young professionals planning to go abroad to study or work, in the wake of the panic created by the alleged racial attacks on Indians in Australia.

The no-fuss combat technique adopted by Israeli thugs and lawmakers alike blends the best moves from other martial art forms — karate, judo, kung-fu and even boxing and sumo wrestling, to form a gritty, unapologetic and practical self defence form that is now a rage in Chennai.

And for those traveling to infamous Australia and even the UK, from where over 6,000 racial attacks were reported in the past year alone, a 40-day intensive training course in Krav Maga is on offer in the city with a price tag of Rs 9,000 for students and Rs 10,000 for professionals.

During a demonstration for the press here, the burly instructors — an IT professional turned martial arts expert, a broad shouldered ex-policeman and an agile dental surgeon — showed off their prowess in getting out of sticky situations, with minimum damage.

Playing on ‘body mechanics’ and targeting the assailant’s ‘weak points’, they demonstrated getting out of ‘hair holds’, ‘shirt holds’, ‘hugs’ and chokes, and even disarming people who attack with guns and knives.
“We do not want to teach students to stand and fight, but to survive and flee,” said Mr S. Sreeram, an instructor with the Chennai chapter of the International Krav Maga Federation.

Watching the woman instructor, a slender graphic designer, deftly get out of the most painful-looking hair-holds and choke-holds, this reporter agreed to volunteer for the ‘hand hold’ combat demonstration.

With a quick twist of the body and easy flick of the wrist, she was able to throw off the ‘attacker’s’ iron grip.

However, when this reporter misguidedly tried it on an oversized colleague, her hand was nearly wrenched out of its socket. As a result, this report had to be typed out ‘single handedly’.

Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/

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Tuesday, September 11, 2007 (New Delhi)

Aasheesh Sharma

Krav Maga, the Israeli military’s hand-to-hand combat system, is fast gaining popularity across the globe. Matt Damon uses it in The Bourne Ultimatum and Jennifer Lopez used it in Enough.

And just like pop star Britney Spears, who is taking lessons in Krav Maga, now people from all walks of life are signing up for classes such as this group of professionals training under Israeli instructor Avi Moyal. Moyal, who claims to have guarded celebrities like Madonna and Michael Jackson, says its the simplicity of Krav Maga that appeals to Hollywood. ”It’s simple to learn. The actors have to learn all the material by heart. They prefer to learn something that is simple, which convinces the audience. You take some kind of kick that makes three circles in the air. It is nice, but the audience is not convinced it can be.” ”When you are using Krav Maga defence, the person who is looking at the movie says. Ah, this is a nice idea, this is reality and it can be done,” said Avi Moyal, Krav Maga instructor. In Krav Maga, there are no hard-and-fast rules. It’s all about countering potentially lethal attacks by inflicting maximum damage, or to put it simply, hit where it hurts. No wonder a number of women vouch for its effectiveness. ”I have learnt to defend myself from a front choke, back choke, side chokes, bear hugs, hair grabs. I’ve learnt to defend myself if I am brought down on the ground and if say an assailant is on top of me, which is unfortunately, a very imaginable situation in the city.” ”I’ve learnt a variety of techniques that are useful for any woman to know,” said Anamika, Research Scholar. Banker Ajeet Verma also says that Krav Maga works well as street defence. ”You may always find yourself walking back from office, travelling back from work and in a lonely road, dark alley and you are faced with someone who wants to mug you, snatch your purse away, that is an ideal situation where you can put yourself to test and make use of Krav Maga techniques,” said Ajit Verma, Executive, Standard Chartered. Clearly it seems that Krav Maga does pack a mean punch.

Source: NDTV.com

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