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Self Defense Israeli Army's martial art more martial than art By Karen Douek - St. Louis Jewish Light When Mike Diamond and Sam Sade first Discussed opening a Self Defense school, they were living in L.A. and thought they would open the [school] in Florida. They even went down to Florida to plan the move. But Diamond said he realized he did not want to uproot his family and take them to a place where they knew nobody and would have to start again, and suggested St. Louis, where he is from originally. Today, almost a year and a half later, the school - located on Manchester Road - has approximately 135 students. "If you walk down the street in Clayton and ask what Tae Kwon Do is, people will tell you it is karate, or martial arts, or self defense," Diamond said. "If you ask what Krav Maga is they'll look at you funny and ask, 'Is it a restaurant? Is it a fungus?'" Krav Maga is the official self defense and fighting system of the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli Police. It is also used by many U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, New York Police Department and Los Angeles Police Department Academy, as well as several units of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Immigration Service. "We like to say we are more martial, less art," Diamond said. "There are no forms, no katas, no rituals, it is just hands-on self defense dealing with a lot of common attacks you are going to find on the street in a modern worlds." After 30 years as a professional fitness trainer and coach, Diamond began taking classes at the Krav Maga National Training Center in L.A., training with some of the top Krav Maga instructors in the country. While Diamond does not consider Krav Maga easy, he said it is quick to learn because it is a system based on one's natural instincts and reactions. Another benefit of that, according to Diamond, is that under stress one is likely to remember it better. "What we do is we take that instinct and reaction and we build that into a defense," Diamond said, "and because it is based on your natural instincts and reactions, it is quick to learn, and also under stress you are going to remember easier, whereas you are not going to remember this move or that move." Diamond said because Krav Maga was originally developed by the Israelis for their defense forces and later taught to civilians, "it had to be a system that could be taught to women and older people, so it is not a system that is based on strength. It's based on your natural instincts and striking sensitive places." He said that of the L.A. school's 2,500 students, half were women. Diamond said that one thing very unique about Krav Maga, "There is nothing pretty. There are no rules. We don't do any forms or katas. Anything goes in Krav Maga. Bad guys don't have rules; we don't have rules." Karen Douek is a staff writer |