Gillingham Krav Maga classes tackling knife crime

KentOnline / KMTV

Originating in the middle-east, the self-defence system is a mixture of martial arts designed to make the user more able to defuse an attacker.   Bartholomew Hall reports.

Transcript

00:00When I came along to a self-defence class, I didn't realise knowing what to do in a knife

00:06attack was going to be the first lesson. Krav Maga, or contact combat when translated from

00:12Hebrew, is a self-defence system developed in the Middle East using martial arts techniques

00:17which encourages students to avoid physical confrontation. But according to the founder

00:22of Medway's Krav Maga Academy, the discipline is all about preparing people for the unexpected

00:27in everyday life.

00:28Krav Maga gives people confidence. Confidence that if anything occurs in life, you'll be

00:33able to protect your family, you'll be able to react, you'll be able to recognise the

00:38threat and remove yourself and your family from it. I mean, as you can see, today's news

00:44and the last week's news, etched weapons is a big problem in the UK, knife crime obviously.

00:51All of the advice is less on the martial arts side of it, it's more of a practical side

00:57of how to react to keep yourself and the loved ones safe.

01:02In the year to last June, there were more than 50,000 knife crime offences recorded

01:06by police across the country. That represents a 4% rise on the previous year, an uptick

01:12of almost 2,000. Former nightclub bouncer Tristan took to Krav Maga as a way to make

01:18himself feel safer. He says self-defence should be mandatory.

01:22I would say it's vital, to be honest with you. Mandatory if possible. As you said, knife

01:28crime is on the rise, especially in places like London. Unfortunately, it's leaking into

01:32the Kent areas and such. And there's nothing in life that really equips you to be able

01:36to deal with such scenarios. So to be able to teach that and see students use techniques

01:41that we teach to defend themselves if necessary is amazing.

01:45I would definitely spend more time looking at my phone, on the train or walking the street.

01:51Now I don't, just because I'm trying to be more aware of my surroundings. I mean, if

01:54I'm honest, I feel like it's changed me. Like I've lost three stone, three and a half stone.

02:02I've become much more confident, I've met people.

02:05Again, if you go back into that position, you want to have a strong pressure, like all

02:10your body weight in, so you can't continue that motion towards you, OK?

02:14During my session, I was taught to engage only as a way to move the blade away and disable

02:19the attacker before making a run for it to protect myself.

02:26OK, well I don't know if I mastered it 100%, but I definitely know the first steps of what

02:32to do if I was ever in the unfortunate position of being attacked with a knife. But yeah,

02:37I think I need a bit more practice.

02:39But even if I'm not sure how well prepared I'd be after the one session, for those who

02:43train here weekly, it's clear they're not afraid about getting into confrontation.

02:49Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Medway.

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