It might have been developed as hand-to-hand combat for the Israeli military, but Krav Maga today has morphed into a popular group activity with team building at its core. There are different programmes for civilians and for the military. And bite this: there are defence programmes for women and children too.

Ultimate Tactical and Combat, a private outfit of Krav Maga practitioners in Delhi, teaches the discipline at various locations like Radisson Hotel, Noida, Club Excel and its own studio in Saket. In Kolkata, Solace gym holds special classes for children twice a week.

Krav Maga trainer Udit Bagga, who conducts classes at Ozone in Delhi at least three days a week, says: “Apart from burning some 800 calories an hour, the highest in any group activity, it is about combat in a real-life situation.”

Exercising alone can be drop dead boring. So how do you get back your zest for burning that fat without letting the monotony of it kill you? Well, just go social.

Social workouts or group exercises are all the rage today. And the news gets better as group sessions — encompassing a wide spectrum from cardio workouts to body conditioning and flexibility routines — come free with membership at most savvy gyms across the country.

“A feeling of bonhomie pervades such sessions. If the person next to you is executing the same steps as you and an instructor is keeping up the tempo to peppy music, you are likely to exercise better,” says Devashish Singh of Fitness First.

According to fitness consultant Preetom Mukherjee-Roy, a good gym should offer at least four to five different group activities. He adds: “The routines are changed frequently which is also why group fitness is never monotonous.”

Les Mills Group Fitness

Group exercises conceived and formatted by Les Mills (a former athlete from New Zealand who developed a series of pre-choreographed fitness-to-music classes) are a rage internationally. At present they are available only at Fitness First and Celebrity Fitness — the two international health club chains in the country.

A typical session may include Body Combat that packs in a power-punching cardio session inspired by martial art disciplines, or Body Balance that incorporates yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates to improve flexibility and strength. For body sculpting there’s Body Pump that includes working out with weights.

“To keep the surprise element going the music is changed and the steps improvised once in three months,” says Singh of Fitness First.

Yoga

Yoga is the magic word in the world of fitness. While some go for the basic traditional yoga classes three times a week, others fit power yoga into their schedules.

If at Wildflower Hall, an Oberoi property in Shimla, group yoga is part of its wellness programme, at Fitness First, traditional yoga is on the schedule three times a week. Meanwhile there are yoga experts like Meera Bhagnani in Kolkata, who conduct classes in their studios.

At Vins, a fitness club in Gurgaon, power yoga is on the menu but only if members pass the flexibility test run by club-owner Vinodini Gupta.

Says Gupta: “If a little bit of power is added to it, yoga transforms into a cardio vascular activity that also helps one to lose weight. Depending upon your target, you can do it three times a week or more.”

Spinning

Non-stop cycling on a stationary bike for almost an hour at a stretch is a big hit too. With an instructor egging you on at intervals (“You are climbing a hill right now, don’t give up now”) and fellow spinners going at it with all they’ve got, it’s not hard to get into the swing of things.

Spinning tops popularity charts everywhere — at Gold’s Gym on AJC Bose Road, Ozone and Fitness First in Delhi.

Says Mukherjee-Roy: “Spinning came into being as off-season cycling. High-octane energy with the right kind of lighting, upbeat music and an instructor acting as motivator makes all the difference.”

Aqua Exercises

In Ballygunge, the heart of Kolkata, Solace Gym and Spa offers exercises in water. You can choose between sessions of aqua yoga, aqua therapy and aqua aerobics.

The deal: one burns more calories in water than otherwise because working out in water is very strenuous. The hydrostatic pressure of the water massages and refreshes you even as you exercise.

In Mumbai, fitness expert Deepali Jain takes classes of aqua aerobics with the help of equipment like aqua pumps, aqua balls, aqua resistance tubing and more. Her main focus is to strengthen the core muscles and the back.

Says Jain: “You cannot cheat the water. You’ve got to work yourself once you are in it.”

Source: I love Kolkata

If there is one martial arts that does not require perfect fitness, upper body strength, and ability to learn complex nitty gritties, it is Krav Maga. The Israeli based technique is useful under a sudden violent attack and stressful attack when our minds shut down. Krav maga is a practical and tactical system that teaches how to prevent, deal and overcome all kinds of violent attacks” says Frank J., senior instructor of the Hyderabad institute in Abids.

On its suitability to youngsters, Frank says that its techniques are easy to learn and retain and help improves fitness while training. Also KM is performed naturally and intuitively using body reflexes so it can be learned in a lesser time than other combat techniques. The technique that originated in Israel is growing in popularity in India, especially among the youth. “We have more than 12 centers around India, cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai etc. What strategies the instructors following to popularize the techniques amongst youngster in Hyderabad? In 2008 Mr. Vickram (Vicky) Kapoor Director and Chief Instructor of Krav Maga has organized a series of workshops in Hyderabad to a select group of individuals and corporate staff members. Now I am regularly coming to Hyderabad to teach Krav Maga in a simple training center in Sujata High School, Chapel Roads in Abids. We will introduce Krav Maga in others locations of Hyderabad soon says Frank, the senior instructor.

Krav Maga adapts to the fitness level of the beginner. The learner also understands that since the tactics & techniques are based on reflex actions, its easy for his/her to learn and retain under pressure of the assault. Lastly the modern methodology of training Krav Maga breaks away from the usually boring monotonous method of conventional martial arts or fitness training program as it incorporates a lot of games & drills along with realistic scenarios which gives the student a feel of the real thing and once he uses the techniques to get out of the problem, he learns to appreciate and respect the techniques of and it helps him/her to grow confident.

What is unique about Krav Maga? The techniques lends itself to modern pattern of training, incorporating of games along with drills, realistic scenario based training, techniques adaptable to fitness level, inculcating open mindedness in upgrading itself as well as teaching methods.

Elaborate on the technicalities involved and tactics
fighters need to employ during self-defence? Frank says “The idea is to survive & escape. We are not there to prove who is better or exact revenge. Every techniques is based on this idea. There are no ground rules. So anything goes, from throwing mud into his eyes, smiling and talking to him to await a better opportunity to defend, biting his arm or poking his eyes etc…”

Says one of his trainee, “Nearly every technique of Krav Maga starts and ends with hitting the vital & venerable target areas like groin, chin, knees etc. if the blow is taken under surprise, we are trained to respond with 5-8 blows aiming to these vital spots within few seconds and escaping from the location to avoid further attacks.” In mounting organized and calculated attacks, Krav Maga is helpful to a great extent in physically and psychologically hurting the assaulter. An assaulter plans or observe his attacker prior to the attack. He
will stands where he will give maximum surprise element in his attack.
He is not looking to fight his opponent hence he will use maximum
violence to overcome the victim or use a weapon as a threat factor to
shock the victim into submission. And he will use any unfair method
like having multiple attackers to stabbing or shooting to get to what
he requires.

To combat this level of threat, the defender practices these attacks
under carefully controlled and organized attacks to give maximum
exposure to the realist attacks as safely possible in training. Under
these real-time attacks, the students learns to appreciate the
battle-tested and practical techniques of Krav Maga which over-powers the assaulter physically and psychologically damage ten folds.

How useful do women (esp. employees working in night shifts needing to travel in the night) find learning Krav Maga? Many women still think that they required the same or more upper-body
strength as a man who will attack them in order to defend themselves.
Second they are so psychologically traumatized by the concept of
assault that they freeze in fear during any attack. Krav Maga uses
natural strength of women hips and empowers them to defends against
any stand-up and ground assaults. Plus to overcome the fear of
attacks, it uses realistic scenarios training drills to build the
confidence of the women and show them that they can defend against
most of the assaults with practice and techniques of Krav Maga.

Deepa Balakrishnan, CNN-IBN

Bangalore: Three IT companies in Bangalore recieved e-mail threats of attacks last week. Following this Bangaloreans are training themselves in the elite Israeli form of self-defence called Krav Maga.

Ashish Puri, a product manager for an IT company is learning Krav Maga. He deals with a hostage situation one minute, and the next he’s trying to escape from the place of a shoot-out. He and 20 others like him are learning Krav Maga, an unarmed combat technique developed by the Israelis. It teaches you just how to react in a conflict situation like a terror strike. “It’s not about the physical size, it’s the technique we work with. So yes, it does give a lot of confidence,” said Puri.

“Now we’re not fighting soldiers, we’re fighting a surprise element. You cant’ wait for the police to come everywhere or the NSG commandos to storm in. People have to protect themselves,” said Krav Maga instructor, JW Frank. Considering the increased threat to most IT parks in Bangalore, these Krav Maga sessions are a big hit among the city’s techies. “It’s a very practical form of martial arts,” said a techie. “We’re aware that the world is not safe anymore,” said another techie from Bangalore.

We’ve often heard people singing we shall overcome after every kind of attack, but after the candle-lighting and the singing, this is the next step.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/

Learning a self-defense tactic is always a good idea. Especially one that is also used by the Israeli military, Los Angeles Police Department, FBI,Krav Maga – Bangalore Swedish SWAT Team, French Anti-terrorist group and Hollywood celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Angelina Jolie. We are talking about Krav Maga, the Israeli self-defense technique. Hebrew for ‘contact combat,’ Krav Maga is an effective practical defense technique that teaches you how to deal with and overcome all kinds of violence and attacks. The best part is that every aspect of the technique is explained in detail, so that trainees are prepared for any surprise element out there on the street. Introduced in Bangalore about four months ago, Krav Maga is gaining in popularity here. , Krav Maga’s instructor in Bangalore, has been practicing and teaching it for the past five years after training with Vicky Kapoor, of International Krav Maga Federation, India. He tells MetroMela why Krav Maga is a great self-defense technique to learn:

Krav Maga trains students to use the body’s natural weapons as well as ordinary objects that may be close at hand.

Krav Maga mainly incorporates drills that take advantage of the body’s natural reflexes. While in a boxing ring, there will be rules and ample time to fight, on the street the attacker will not give you time. In fact, if there is a sudden attack the mind can shut down. The idea of Krav Maga is to teach people to defend such attacks in the minimum time required. This is also why each and every aspect of the drill is explained.

Some of the defense techniques students are taught include how to defend against a knife attack from the back, how to release an armbar choke (a choke from the back), prevent sexual assault etc.

Krav Maga teaches you quick thinking and quick moves. We train our students to be smarter and explain every action, why we are doing a particular move, using a particular muscle etc. Once they understand the core concept of self-defense, they can create their own solutions.

How does Krav Maga help women? The attacker knows his strength. To counteract the attack, we teach women to use the same tools he’s using in a different way. For example, if the attacker is trying to squeeze their neck, they can give it back to the attacker with a groin kick. Women can also use their muscle strength to counteract attacks. If the attacker is choking her from the back, instead of arms, she can use her full back muscles to push him back. It’s a surprise element and if used timely, she will be able to counteract and gain time. Keep in mind that you not only need to learn a combat technique for this but also consistently practice it well.

The best part of Krav Maga is that you have to constantly think about which move you are going to use. It helps in gaining confidence and changes your attitude. Its biggest strength is that it teaches you to think of solutions immediately.

’s self-defense tips for women

Be smart on the street. If the assault is verbal, ignore it. Being easily provoked by verbal abuse shows that you are low in confidence. Never challenge the attacker.

Women have the best instincts. Learn to trust your instinct, for example, when you feel you shouldn’t take a particular road.

If there is a bad situation, do not panic and think rationally. There’s a solution for everything.

Women have many tools in their purse like pen, keys, deodorant spray, mobile. You can use all of those as weapons. If in a room, you can use a chair to defend yourself.

When you are running, don’t scream ‘Help’. Scream ‘Fire’. It attracts a lot more attention than ‘help’!

Even if you know self-defense techniques, don’t try to attack immediately. Be smart and figure out the situation first.

In Bangalore, you can learn Krav Maga at -

Doodle Den Rooftop, No.3, Curley Street,
Richmond Town, Bangalore 560025.
Tel – 09886769281

Source: http://www.metromela.com/

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