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Krav Maga – self-defense meets fitness

FitLife
Posted 8/17/16

“I just finished pumping gas in my car, got in, sat down, laid my purse on the passenger seat, and was about to start the car, when some guy jumped inside and grabbed for my purse. Immediately my …

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Krav Maga – self-defense meets fitness


Posted

“I just finished pumping gas in my car, got in, sat down, laid my purse on the passenger seat, and was about to start the car, when some guy jumped inside and grabbed for my purse. Immediately my instinct and training kicked in, and I used a side hammerfist to the guy’s throat. He was stunned and fled the station.” This is one of many self-defense stories that makes black belt master, Leandro Cossa, very proud and humble of his Krav Maga students.

A martial arts instructor for almost 30 years, Cossa, has invested his life in almost all forms of martial arts. Not only does he train for himself, but he oversees three Clay County locations –Wells Road, Blanding at College Drive and Fleming Island – where he teaches the sport. He’s been at the Wells Road location for 14 years and has been offering Krav Maga since 2000. He won the 2015 American Taekwondo Association World Title in Forms, and just last month, he earned his 6th-degree black belt (9th degree is the highest).

Both Wells Road and Fleming Island locations offer Krav Maga along with other karate classes. With a very large membership in each location, Krav Maga is very popular with adults and has a fair balance of both men and women. Ages can range from 16 to 70.

The “Starbucks” of martial arts

Because of its popularity and reward system, Cossa describes Krav Maga as the Starbucks of martial arts. Many take Krav Maga for self-defense, but it is also a trend in the fitness world. It’s a simple, instinctive self-defense system that focuses on everyday movements, lightning fast techniques and real-life scenarios. Founded and used in the early 1900’s, the Israeli Defense Forces adopted it as its official self-defense system in 1948. Since its adoption, it has been taught here in the United States to hundreds of law enforcement agencies, specialized military units and thousands of civilians. Krav Maga quickly showed its potential in the fitness world as it works the total body through cardio and strength training.

Getting fit while defending yourself

New to Krav Maga? Students of all levels – 16 years and older – are welcome to give it a try and not only learn self-defense, but feel the intense burn of scorching fat and muscle toning. Krav Maga uses heavy bags, kettle bells, boxing and kicking pads, plyometrics and many other cardiovascular and sports conditioning techniques. It is not mixed-martial arts, MMA.

While at the Karate America on Wells Road, there were 12 students and a couple of new walk-ons that night. Two instructors, Erin Victor and Travis Hebert, were actively on the floor directing the class and demonstrating proper techniques.

The class was well-organized and started with some warm-ups, a couple laps around the dojo, then straight into a series of combative moves to defend against front and rear attacks, punch kick combinations. Within 30 minutes, students were sweating and fully-engaged. I would guess that close to 300-500 calories were burned in this one hour session.

Hard music was playing in the background as students worked in pairs. Each with gear as needed, and each with some form of full-contact. In this case, low back kicks. What seemed to be an odd move, or sequence of moves, became clear to me that after a couple of repetitions this could be a real-life scenario if approached from behind.

Every class, students learn new techniques that are independent of one another. This makes it easy for new students to join in at any time. Further, the repetitive role-play keeps knowledge at the front and students energized. All together, the Krav Maga process takes about three years to complete its full training, or about 300 hours. Students level-up after 30 hours and can reach the highest level of nine in Krav Maga.

The Karate Americas in Clay County pride their locations on keeping goals realistic, making family a priority, and building fit and confident students. In talking with one instructor and a couple of students, the consensus is two great outcomes results from the sport – one who is well-defended and confident, and one who is fit – stronger, faster and prepared for more fitness challenges.

Weekly classes are held several times a week and on Saturday at both the Wells and Fleming Island locations. For more information, visit http://www.karateamerica.info/product/krav-maga/ or call the dojo at (904) 724-7544.

What are you waiting for? Have a personal fitness or nutrition success story that you would like to share? Ran or competed in your first race or exercise program? Lost or losing weight? Gained some muscle or mass? Email or contact me at bernie.rom828@gmail.com. Tag/follow me on Instagram @berni3trirun. Facebook Clay Today Newspaper. Instagram @claytodaynewspaper #claytoday #claytodayfitlife #fitlife