Each week sports reporter ROBERT CARRY tries out martial arts from around the world. This week it’s the defensive art of Krav Maga
Krav Maga might be virtually unknown in Ireland but it’s extremely popular in Eastern Europe, so when I went along to a class – oddly located in the Guinness Brewery Sports Hall – I had a feeling there might be the odd Polish guy around. I found my way into the changing rooms and while getting ready I noticed something odd about the other guys already in there, busily putting on groin guards ¬ they were all Polish. The entire group!
Being surrounded by people you don’t know who are speaking a language you don’t understand (as many of our readers will know) isn’t a particularly welcoming feeling, but I kept my chin up and smiled at the curious glances that were occasionally thrown my way. I plodded into the semi-derelict Guinness Sports Hall behind the typically muscular Poles to find – you guessed it – a Polish instructor.
Robert Bednarski, who later told me he that he has been practicing Krav Maga for the past four years, threw me a lifeline by introducing himself as Robert. When I told him my name was also Robert, one of the particularly burly Poles said: “Me too! I am also Robert!” We all had a good laugh and with that, the ice was broken.
Krav Maga (meaning ‘contact combat’ in Hebrew) was created by the Jewish-Hungarian character Imi Lichtenfeld in the run-up to the Second World War. Lichten-feld, who was a champion boxer and wrestler, developed the style from tactics he used in street fights against fascist militias who by the 1930s were regularly attacking Jewish communities. He came to the conclusion that the skills practiced in boxing and wrestling were of little use in real life street fights on account of the fact that they made no mention of what to do if set upon by multiple attackers or by an assailant with a weapon. He developed Krav Maga on that premise, and when he moved to Palestine he began teaching it to the underground Jewish army agitating for the establishment of the state of Israel.
The battle-tested hand-to-hand fight form slipped into regular use in Israel and today, not only is it part of basic training for Israeli Defence Force conscripts, but it is also taught to Israeli school children as part of the national curriculum. Krav Maga spread to the US in the 1980s and on to Eastern Europe, where Bednarski told me it has changed the face of martial arts: “In Poland, kung fu and karate are gone.” The Krakow-born trainer added: “In Ireland most people have never heard about it, but everybody in Poland knows about Krav Maga.”
The class started off with a warm-up lap of the hall before Bednarski started demonstrating, with the help of an unfortunate class member, what to do should someone grab you by the throat. As it turns out, you should boot them in the groin while at the same time locking one of their arms over your shoulder by putting your hand around the back of their neck. Bednarski – with a hunched, prostrate assailant in hand – then demonstrated various elbow, fist and knee blows you should repeatedly rain down on their head, neck and face until you feel safe enough to break the hold and make your escape. Being the only member of the class with no groin guard made practicing these moves with a partner somewhat risky, but the desire to not stand out more than I already did propelled me on.
Next, we moved onto what you should do should someone grab you by the throat from the side, and how to deal with that all-to-common scenario of being on the ground with your tormentor pinning you on your back by your throat. In a lot of these situations people would be inclined to consider themselves beaten, but the counter-moves being shown were wickedly efficient when it came to turning the tables.
Bednarski told me that he had tested these moves in real life situations on more than a few occasions. “I was living in Poland in a dangerous block, around dangerous people,” he said. “They would often attack using sticks, sharp objects or bottles if they were drinking. But in all the times I was attacked I never had a fight face-to-face with just one person.” Bednarski, who has been living in Ireland since March of last year, added: “I was boxing at the time but it didn’t defend against multiple attackers or against people with weapons. It was useless.”
Krav Maga has no sporting element to it and practitioners don’t compete. This is both a plus and a minus to this aspect of the style, in that it makes room for developing the skills needed in a real-life situation rather than in the controlled environment of a ring or MMA cage, but with no competitive edge or event to train for, both the enjoyment and fitness value drops. But Bednarski wasn’t put down: “Krav Maga is not a sport. We learn how to make cuts, to press peoples’ eyes, break fingers and kick to the groin.”
The dingy sports hall, the tales of Jews trying desperately to defend against Nazi mobs and the depressingly unfathomable Polish voices didn’t exactly fill me with the joys of spring. But in fairness, Krav Maga isn’t supposed to be about getting fit and having a laugh. Bednarski summed it up nicely, saying: “If you want to get fit or have fun you should go to aerobics classes. If you want to be able to defend yourself you should go to Krav Maga.”
For more information on Robert Bednarski’s class visit www.kravmagagroup.com
