Krav Maga is a form of martial arts that is used by some of the top defence agencies around the world. Find out how Bengaluru’s taking up this latest fitness fad.

Krav Maga, a form of martial arts from Israel is attracting a lot of attention in the city. With only one centre located in Richmond Town, people from all over the city, irrespective of age and gender are thronging the center to learn Krav Maga .

The techniques used in Krav Maga are derived from street-fighting, and makes the most to enhance one’s reflex action. Frank J, a Krav Maga instructor says the Israeli martial art is different from any other kind of martial art as it involves more real-life situations. “Krav Maga teaches you on how to use your muscles in the most efficient manner, using your own reflexes to fight back. Our body responds to all kinds of external attack, and it’s in our subconscious mind. The right utilization of your own reflexes can save you from a lot of danger.”

Frank feels fear can put one in a lot of danger. “When you have a tight working schedule, all throughout the week, you tend to follow a different lifestyle; it was the same with me when I was working for an I.T. company a few years ago. But then, it was after having met few officers from Indian Air force, who educated me about this free-form martial art, that I decided to work on it, which I thought was more productive than what I had been doing then,” said Frank.

It’s after six years of rigorous practice and hard work today Frank masters the art, and has been avidly working as a trainer at his institute in Bengaluru for almost two years now. He says, “I am really grateful to the officers from the Indian Air Force who made me acquainted with Krav Maga. I also thank Vicky Kapoor, Chief Instructor from International Krav Maga Federation, India, who had helped me to understand about this art of fighting.

Krav Maga Israeli Self Defense in Bengaluru

Krav Maga Israeli Self Defense in Bengaluru

Source : http://myBengaluru.com/article/1009/fighting-fit-with-karv-maga.html

Age: 43 years

My professional life started with getting commissioned into the Army & experiencing the hot spots and thereafter continuing my life in the Corporate, as a Security professional.

Being part of the Security profession I understood to a great extent the risks faced by the commoner in their daily life & how it would be foolish to depend on the state machinery to be our shield to mitigate the risks. As a Security Professional, I was always looking out for methods which could be adopted by in house security personnel & also help in safeguarding the women employees. My search ended with Krav Maga.

Krav Maga has given me the self confidence to protect my self & my near & dear ones in times of crisis coupled with the intense physical workout during the classes, has really become a fulcrum to my reaching new fitness levels, in spite of being now only a Corporate Warrior. My resting pulse rate has reached the early 70s. Additionally for me weight loss – I had never pursued weight reduction as a goal but these workouts have worked wonders in this direction.

This martial arts can easily be learnt by all men & women. The training sessions are all built around realistic daily life situations with solutions to mitigate the risks. I should give a huge credit to the instructors at Mumbai especially Sadashiv who has worked patiently & tirelessly to make me & my other class mates reach their present level of proficiency. I would recommend Krav Maga as a way of life to all.

Self Defense classes to stay safe.

It’s 10.30pm. You have just come out from a late show at the multiplex and you have no husband, brother or boyfriend as a chaperone. As you walk through the parking lot, you are a little nervous to see the group of boys lounging near your car…

A few self-defence skills couldn’t hurt anyone in this day and age. Enter, Krav Maga. A Hebrew word that means “contact combat”, the martial art is the latest fad to hit town.

Krav Maga was developed in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld. “In India, it was introduced by Vikram Kapoor four years ago after he trained in it himself. At present, Krav Maga is taught in Vikram’s Vicky’s School of Oriental Arts at Delhi and at workshops across India,” explains Komal Issar, responsible for bringing Krav Maga to Calcutta. Classes are now being held at Solace, the wellness centre in Sunny Park, twice a week and on Sundays for children.

“Krav Maga involves cardio, abs with strength and endurance training for total body conditioning. It firms and tones muscles even when you are in the learning stage. Plus, there are proper warm-up and cool-down sessions. You burn up to 800 calories in an hour of Krav Maga,” points out Komal. But it is not advisable for those with osteoporosis, she adds.

But while Krav Maga is a good way to burn calories and stay fit, exponents prefer to promote it for self-defence purposes.

Komal takes a personal interest in Krav Maga. “In Calcutta, all the martial arts centres are such holes… Then on a visit to Delhi, I got to know of Krav Maga and tried it out. After that I simply had to bring it to Calcutta,” she smiles.

Where Krav Maga differs from other martial arts is that it helps students tackle real-life situations. Krav Maga is built around natural human reflexes and uses everything possible for the purpose of self-defence. It is a hybrid of various martial arts techniques like boxing, karate, judo, ju-jitsu, Muay Thai and other lesser-known techniques. Because it is less formal, it is easier to learn, and students learn to be alert and on their guard from day one.

“Krav Maga contains techniques that enable the trainee to defend against armed and unarmed attackers in potentially dangerous situations. It is practiced in different situations as in the dark, outdoors and other situations that restrict the victim’s movement,” explains Komal. The sessions make one physically agile and aware of her surroundings.

The style has found favour with many Hollywood stars. Jennifer Lopez in Enough, Sandra Bullock and Regina King in Miss Congeniality, Angelina Jolie for Tomb Raider 2 and Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz for Charlies’s Angels are some of the celebs who have tried Krav Maga.

Depending on the interest level, Komal intends to open more centres to widen her reach. “Like every locality has its gym, I would want every area to have a Krav Maga training centre, because it is what women need today to protect themselves,” she signs off.

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That pretty much sums up what one knows about this new martial art form. But it seems to be the latest buzz, everybody wants to do it, everyone else is opening up a Krav Maga Center to train all those others who want to do it. There are reams of articles written about it and miles of TV programming on propagating it….But what is it??

Maybe the question to ask is how it helps you!

Imagine going for a nice dinner with your partner, romantic lights, warm music, great food, cozy weather outside…you two decide to take a long walk post dinner. And suddenly a goon jumps out from the darkness and flashes a knife at you. He’s not only interested in your valuables but is also intent on causing both physical and psychological damage. What do you do? Freeze with fear? Beg and plead with evil intent? Call the cops? Shout for help? Maybe you cooperate with the goon, but he anyway slashes your partner’s face and scars her for life and stabs you, leaving you grasping for life.

This is not an implausible scenario; it has happened many times in our beloved city and will continue to happen. Normal everyday things have become potentially dangerous for one’s life and limbs, let alone the valuables….withdrawing money at an ATM, traveling alone in an auto or a cab, walking in a park, going to a pub, even staying at home!!

It’s exactly for handling such real life situations that Krav Maga was created. It’s not as much a style or system of martial arts as it is a way, a thought, an approach…the basis of Krav Maga is simple “Don’t get hurt”. It assumes that in a real life situation, no quarter will be given, just like the goon in our story above. So it trains one to do whatever is required to get immediate situational advantage and to hurt the opponent with rapid, mixed moves. It also trains on using whatever is available at hand as an offensive weapon, maybe even a pen! Offence is the best form of defense. Krav Maga is for very close ranges of combat, which is what most street and real life situations are all about. Even the name “Krav Maga’ means “Contact combat” in Hebrew. It not only teaches self defense, but also gets one super fit with its focus on physical training and repeated muscle usage. Krav Maga uses a mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercises as part of the training program. So one feels good and looks good too!

So step out and find yourself a Krav Maga center, learn the way of the close combat and know that you can protect yourself and your loved ones from evil intent.

Source: http://blog.mycitybuddy.com/

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