Krav Maga Singapore

Chief Instructor

I Served 12 years in the Singapore Armed Forces,10 of which was with HQ Commando/ Special Operations Force.

I served in SOF where I specialized in Maritime Operations, during my tour I was sent for different courses to facilitate the requirements of my job scope, I served my last 2 years in the department as the Senior Medical Specialist where I was Head of the Medical Cell, mainly in charge of medical proficiency of the SF Medics, Programmes & training in terms of Medical requirements, some of my work experience included training with various foreign counterparts.

Some of the courses I have attended during my tour in Special Forces:

1. Basic Commando Training (served in 3rd Company).(1996)
2. Commando Section Leader Course 32nd batch, (served in 3rd Company as a Platoon Sergeant). (1996)
3. 26th SAF Ranger course (1998)
4. Airborne Course Class 151 (1998)
5. Basic Military Freefall Course (1999)
6. Advance Military Freefall (High Altitude Parachute Operations) 9th Batch
7. Combat Medic Specialist level II / Para Medic Level II (2003)
8. Underwater Medic Level I 2001
9. US Navy Basic Underwater Demolition Seal Class 242 (2002-2003)
10. Combat Diver Class II, 21 Batch (NDU) (2001)
11. Krav Maga Military/Law Enforcement Intensive Training Level 1 (Best Trainee) 2004
12. ASP Baton Instructor Course registration no 22755 (2004)
13. ASP Tactical Handcuff Instructor Course registration no 607(2005)
14. Krav Maga Instructor G1 (Civilian) registration no 004159( 2006)
15. SKD Kali Tactical Level 1(2006)
16. Special Operations Force Counter Terrorist Course 17th Batch.

I am currently the Chief Instructor & Director of Krav Maga Singapore under the IKMF & have been teaching Krav Maga for the past 4 years coming.

If you would like to learn directly from the source, I seriously advise you to attend all the different Krav Maga courses that others are promoting here in Singapore, only then can you see what the difference is…

Training

In Krav Maga, there are no hard-and-fast rules. It is not a sport, and there are no competitions. All the techniques focus on maximum efficiency in real-life conditions. Krav Maga generally assumes a no quarter situation; the attacks and defenses are intended to inflict the most pain possible on the opponent in the least amount of time. Groin strikes, headbutts, and other efficient and potentially brutal attacks are emphasized.

The guiding principles for those performing Krav Maga techniques are:

1. Neutralize the threat
2. Avoid injury
3. Go from defending to attacking as quickly as possible
4. Use the body’s natural reflexes
5. Strike at any vulnerable point
6. Use any tool or object nearby

The basic idea is to first deal with the immediate threat (being choked, for example), prevent the attacker from re-attacking, and then neutralize the attacker, proceeding through all steps in a straightforward manner, despite the rush of adrenaline that occurs in such an attack. The emphasis is put on taking the initiative from the attacker as soon as possible.

Techniques

Although Krav Maga shares many techniques with other martial arts, such as boxing, and muay thai (for the punches, kicks, elbows, and knees) or jujutsu, judo and wrestling (for the grappling and disarming techniques), the training is often quite different. It stresses fighting under worst-case conditions or from disadvantaged positions (for example, against several opponents, when protecting someone else, with one arm unusable, when dizzy, or against armed opponents).
Training in Krav Maga is a mixed aerobic and anaerobic workout, and relies heavily on pads. Students take turns holding pads and doing combatives against the pads. This is important because it allows the student to practice the technique at full strength, and the student holding the pad learns a little of the impact they’d feel when they get hit. It can be almost as taxing to hold a pad as to practice against one. Some schools incorporate “Strike and Fight,” which consists of full-contact sparring intended to familiarize the student with the stresses of a violent situation.

What you can expect

A typical Krav Maga session in a civilian school is about an hour long and mixes conditioning with self-defense teaching. As levels increase, the instructors focus a little more on complicated and less common types of attacks, such as knife attacks, hostage situations and defense under extreme duress. First, the instructor will run a very intense drill to get the class’s heart rates up. Then, after stretching, the instructor will teach two or three self-defense techniques.

In the beginning the techniques will either be combatives (punches, hammer-fists, elbows, knees and roundhouse kicks, for example) or grappling (breaking out of chokes or wrist-grabs, getting out from under an opponent while on one’s back). After that, the class usually moves to a drill that combines the techniques just taught with an aerobic technique. Finally, there is the final drill intended to burn out the students. Depending on the class – this drill may be at the very beginning or at the end of the class.

Who Uses Krav Maga In Singapore

In 1964, Grandmaster Imi Lichtenfeld finished his military service and adapted Krav Maga to civilian frameworks. In Israel, Krav Maga is introduced to elementary and high school students on the national curriculum, and is taught at the Wingate Institute,one of the world’s leading physical fitness centers. It is taught to men, women, and children under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Sport and Education.
Krav Maga is the official system of hand-to-hand combat and self-defense employed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Security Forces, the Israeli Police and Military Police and its Special Operations and Anti-Terrorist Units. The IDF including their Special Forces Units, Israeli Police, and Internal Security Branches currently uses this style on a day-to-day basis.

Krav Maga is taught to all ages and abilities, at community centers, schools, and clubs throughout the world. Krav Maga is taught to Sky Marshals, commercial airline crews. It is also taught in Australia, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Croatia, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Poland, Japan, Thailand, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Denmark, New Zealand India and here in Singapore.

In Singapore, personnel from various law enforcement agencies and military units around have received training in Krav Maga under the IKMF, including SOTF, Special Operations Task Force, SECOM Police Security Command, Military Police Command & Prisons SPEAR just to name a few.

The Different Levels in Krav Maga

Within the International Krav Maga Federation, the following system is used:
The present grading system for (Civilian) Krav Maga is divided into four major categories.

The first three are Practitioner, Graduate and Expert. Each of these is further divided to 5 levels, each with a specific curriculum and requirements. Grading tests to pass from one rank to the next contain technical, theoretical and tactical subjects covering self-defense and fighting skills. The highest category of grades are the Master levels of which there are three. Anyone wishing to test for any Expert level must generally do this in Israel as it requires a minimum of two members of the Grading Committee (Eyal Yanilov or any of the other Expert Level 5 members of the Israeli Global Instructor Team) to be present at the grading.
Examples of rank patches which are worn on the training pants uniform, upper left thigh are shown to the right. The black bars on the rank patches denote the level. Three black bars on the Graduate patch denote Graduate level 3 and so on.

Aside from the civilian system, the IKMF has Military, Law Enforcement, Security and VIP/Close Personal Protection syllabi. Each syllabus has its own grading criteria and is generally only taught to people with employment in the relevant fields. Instead of Practitioner and Graduate levels, the Military and Law Enforcement Systems have Fighter, Warrior and Operator levels, whereas the Close Personal Protection Syllabus grades are Bronze Shield, Silver Shield, Gold Shield and Platinum Shield.