Awareness and Preparation: Krav Maga Workshop Held At Ohio University
By: Aditya Sahasrabudhe
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ATHENS, Ohio – Instant aggression as a form of self-defense. That is the Krav Maga approach.
Considered to be the world’s most efficient forms of self-defense, Krav Maga is derived from a combination of techniques like boxing, judo, karate and other fighting styles. Prior to homecoming weekend, the Ohio University student organization SpeakUp offered a two-day self-defense workshop on Krav Maga for university students.
Krav Maga is a military self-defense technique developed in late 1940s in Israel. SpeakUp organized the workshop to help students work on their self-defense skills. #SpeakUp President Claudia Cisneros said it is particularly important for women on campus to protect themselves from an increasing number of threats.
“We have heard about robberies on campus and also rape reports,” she said. “So, we’ve got one of the main things for women or for anyone in this case or any gender, but we are more focused on women in this case to learn skills to defend themselves.”
Apart from fighting techniques like palm-heel strikes, eye gouges, head butts and others, those who attended the workshop learned how important situational awareness is in avoiding threatening situations. Krav Maga workshop attendee, Marc Anthony Brown, said just being aware of these techniques can be helpful.
“This workshop is very effective. These are necessary skills that everyone should learn, everyone should know, especially while walking around campus at night. There are incidences that have happened and so having these skills in the back of your mind is very important I think.”
Krav Maga is a quick fit of instant aggression where offense becomes defense.
“The minute I am under threat, I need to clear this attack, clear that threat and go right on the offense, to begin to neutralize the threat that is in front of me, and then escape,” said Krav Maga Instructor Scott King, who is also a double black belt.
About Krav Maga
Krav Maga is a Hebrew word for “close combat.” The technique was developed for Israeli defensive and security forces and is known for its extreme efficiency. It was derived from the street-fighting experience of Hungarian-Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler while defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, during the mid-to-late 1930s. In the late 1940s, following his migration to Israel, he began to provide lessons on combat training to what was to become the Israeli Defense Forces.