On June 24, Dave Clark and I became the first two certified C.O.R.E Krav Maga instructors with certification by by Chief Instructor Steve Ledford in Asheville, North Carolina.
Krav Maga is the Israeli’s military fighting system which translates to “Combat Contact” or “Close Quarter Combat.”
A complete reality-based self defense and fitness system, Krav Maga is great for men and women, civilians, military and law enforcement. (Who can forget Jennifer Lopez’s movie ,“Enough,” based on Krav Maga training?).
Krav Maga aids students and instructors who are physically, mentally, and emotionally able to react to violent encounters as well as become analytical thinkers when evaluating attacks and defenses. Training encourages students to create selfdiscipline to maintain personal readiness at all times.
Clark, a retired police officer and a private military contractor, is a police mentor in Afghanistan and will be training that country’s force in Krav Maga while I’ll bring its instruction techniques to Doral classes.
An experienced self defense instructor, Clark is certified in Commando Krav Maga at Level Four, World Wide Krav Maga, and other martial arts. He co-developed the CKM “Total Officer Protection” law enforcement defensive tactics system. In 1948, the United Nations granted statehood to Israel and during that year, Imi Lichtenfeld joined the newly-formed Israeli Army where Krav Maga was born. From 1948 to 1963, Imi trained Israeli soldiers in Krav Maga and after retiring from the military, began teaching civilians.
Those who read my column know that although ranked in Hung Gar Kung Fu as a master, I’m certified in numerous martial arts as an instructor and remain a student for life. My own self-defense went to another level by studying Ledford’s Krav Maga concepts.
I was introduced to Krav Maga in 1999 during a workshop at the NAPMA World Conference by World Wide Krav Maga’s Darren Levine and UFC Champion Bas Rutton. In 2004 I took the Haganah F.I.G.H.T instructor trainers course and was the first instructor in Miami Dade County certified in Haganah. In 2009, I decided to take a Commando Krav Maga course for Elite Combat Fitness certification— three days in hell—the hardest fitness challenge I had ever been through since Marine Corps boot camp in Parris Island in 1980. That’s where I met Ledford, then a Krav Maga and ECF instructor, our guide through this Israeli fitness boot camp.
You can learn to survive any street self defense situation (standing or on the ground) if attacked by gun, knife and blunt weapons with C.O.R.E Krav Maga, now coming to Doral.
Julio Anta, head instructor of Anta’s Fitness and Self Defense since 1998, can be reached at 305 599-3649 or via the Internet at <AntaMartialArts.com>.
