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Krav Maga

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Photos by Jerry Zolynsky

I

n the past, we wrote an article in
the paper about Lone Soldiers in the
Israeli Defense Forces, young men
and women from all over the United
States who leave their families behind
and for two to three years volunteer on
the Israeli Army.
Just over two years ago, Krav Maga
Centers of America opened its doors
here in Michigan. Its center for self-
defense, fitness and Jewish cultural
programming is called International Krav
Maga, and it currently has two centers:
one in the Jewish Community Center on
W. Maple Road in West Bloomfield and
the second one on 1009 Orchard Ave. in
Ferndale.
What makes this organization so
unique is that it’s run by a special breed
of Jewish heroes, ex-Lone Soldiers who
served in the nation’s most elite combat
units. They decided to serve because
they felt as Jews they had to protect
Israel.
They arrived at Krav Maga Centers of
America’s (KMCA) new project in part-
nership with the JCC in West Bloomfield.
They shared its vision of creative and
health-oriented programming for the
community that focuses on Jewish cul-
ture and Israeli identity.
KMCA has pioneered a new method of
healthy fitness and simple self-defense
designed around IDF army training and
modern fitness tools combined with
Jewish cultural programming for kids,
lessons in Hebrew and special seminars
to introduce American Jews to the Israeli
identity, designed to build a cross cul-
tural connection.
Krav Maga is a unique self-defense and
fitness model, designed to be very easy
to learn and infallibly effective. Taking
simple techniques from many different
martial arts, Krav Maga is an impeccable
fitness program that is dynamic, fun
and can be customized easily for each
person’s ability and goals.
International Krav Maga offers both
hybrid fitness and Krav Maga classes for
its students as well as educational-based
programs that combine self-defense and
fitness with culturally unique
programming and Hebrew lessons built
into the training, providing each
student with a variety of skills, abilities
and knowledge.

The KMCA Kids Program
Starts At Age 4

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The focus is on agility and coordina-
tion, good understanding of movement,
strength training combined with a
stretching and flexibility regiment. Basic
self-defense is introduced.

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An amazing program that combines self-
defense and fitness with Level 1 Hebrew

instruction, focusing on teaching the stu-
dents basic Hebrew, developing proper
grammar and enlarging their everyday
vocabulary.

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The program focuses on giving kids
genuine abilities coupled with a good
development of character and under-
standing of how to talk their way out of
confrontations as well as how to handle
a violent altercation. Fun Fitness is a core
component of the program that keeps
kids interested, develops their mental
toughness and creates a solid foundation
for operating under pressure.

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h>dhZ>/Ed/dzΈϳEhWΉ
This is a very comprehensive language
program that uses self-defense train-
ing, exciting Jewish history, folklore and
traditions to instill in kids a love of Israel,
understanding of the fascinating history
of the Jewish people, conversation level
Hebrew and a proficient level of self-
defense ability.

Adult Classes Are Divided
Into Two Types Of Programs:

<ZsD' - Real-life situational train-
ing that provides a battle-tested under-
standing of the dangers in the urban
environment (80 percent self-defense
training and 20 percent hybrid fitness).

hZE&E^&/dE^^ - A dynamic
fitness program to develop a well-round-
ed and goal-oriented personal training
regimen with a little of fun self- defense
just in case.
(80 percent customized hybrid fitness
and 20 percent self-defense).

Youth classes provide children with
a mindset of being fit and in shape, all
while being aware of staying safe and
making good decisions — and with the
opportunity to bring what they learn to
the rest of their family.
“One of the things we focus on is
giving kids the tools to build a healthy
lifestyle; we educate kids about that.
We provide families with a very simple
way to implement these techniques into
their home. Once a month we bring the
parent and child in together for them to
have a chance to do it together in a fam-
ily setting,” KMCA instructors say.
The cost for a trial class is only $10.

For more information on Krav Maga Centers
of America in Michigan, call International
Krav Maga (248) 432-5655, visit www.
ikmmichigan.com or follow us on Facebook.

March 24 • 2016

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