Want to become a fighting machine? A practical workout is the answer

MANILA, Philippines - From the very short list of female action stars we have (which still includes the apparently retired Angelina Jolie), we can glean that women who know how to kick butt and fight back are lissome yet nubile, can verbally parry with the best of them, don’t take crap from anyone and, most important of all, have razor-sharp killer instincts. Oh, and that they still look fantastic from any angle even when doing a roundhouse kick.

Action films, though, are hardly based on reality. No amount of trying to dress up like Beatrix Kiddo or being as smart-mouthed as Karen Sisco can prepare the average conflict-averse woman for an unexpected attack; not even training for boxing thrice a week will (and I speak from experience). Some women are lucky enough to have a well-developed sense of fight-and-flight, but most are more likely to freeze up in terror in the face of a violent overture: a shirt grab, a fist coming out of nowhere, a bear hug. It is one thing to huff and puff in the gym as you shadow-box for an hour but when a degenerate intent on hurting you comes a-hurtling, all those cool-looking stances are worth nothing if you don’t know how to deflect an attack.

And that is why Krav Maga is the perfect form of self-defense for women. Regardless of her age, size, weight and fitness level, a woman who has had Krav Maga training has a fighting — literall — chance to fend off an attacker, maybe even score a hit back, and escape.

Fight club: Don’t let your heels and pencil skirts get in the way of self-defense and butt-kicking.

On the trial class that I recently took under the International Krav Maga Federation Philippines (IKMF), instructor Dindo de Jesus promised, “The self-defense techniques that you will learn today would be immediately applicable in real life.”And he was right: with the focus that day on how to deflect knife attacks, De Jesus, together with his assistants, demonstrated the kinds of knife thrusts that an attacker could make (overhand and underhand) and how to keep the blade from nicking an artery and doing serious damage to your body. Using his wrists and forearms as the main weapons of self-defense and the legs as secondary ones, De Jesus pointed out the practical reasons why certain defense techniques and body positioning are important to follow. “You’d be lucky to escape from a knife stabbing with no wound on your wrist or outer arm,” he said, “but getting wounded in these areas is better than letting the blade hit you on your major arterial points or on your face.” Minor wounds are par for the course in a knife attack, as a typical crazed attacker will probably make four consecutive stabbing motions before noticing whether he has made a hit or not.

As the participants took turns in playing the roles of attacker and defender, De Jesus’ pointers ran through my mind: Block with your forearm! Keep it at a 90-degree angle! Push the attacker with your other hand! Kick him in the groin! Run! Walking around to observe the students, the instructor kept reminding us to try to be as realistic as possible in our attack scenarios. “If you’re playing attacker, be quick and try to surprise your partner with the kind of attack you’ll make. If you’re defending yourself, keep your eye gaze on your partner’s chest so you can practice seeing in your periphery.” With both wrists bruised and throbbing later, my friend and I agreed that we should practice knife attack deflection every day “Someone should invent a robot who’ll greet you every morning with mock knife attacks so it’ll become instinctive,”she said. It’s not a bad idea altogether. As with other forms of self-defense, Krav Maga techniques must be practiced on a regular basis so that they become second nature to anyone, as those few precious half-seconds that the untrained would spend on thinking about their next move could mean life or death.

Girl power: IKMF’s upcoming seminar for women only will teach the fairer sex to fight back in any instance of assault.

What makes this Israeli self-defense system highly effective, especially for women, is its focus on practical skills and strength, on how to make every body part a weapon and to turn the attacker’s weakness into one as well. That class on knife attacks is just the tip of the iceberg: there are methods on how to disarm someone with a gun, how to defend yourself in a carjacking situation, how to deflect an assault from the back, and many more. Unlike other combat sports that often have to be transitioned from the gym to the streets, Krav Maga is designed for combat on the street; it trains a woman to make quick and explosive movements that can incapacitate an assailant and leave her free to escape. It ingrains in them the awareness of potential danger, the knowledge of how to avoid trouble, the mastery of the appropriate response to a real-time attack, and the self-realization of one’s physical power skills that are necessary in real life for self-protection. While watching action flicks can impart in us a sense of kick-ass hell-yeah invulnerability, Krav Maga training develops a lasting sense of determination, persistence and even aggression that can be easily called upon in the face of an attack.

Never mind trying to be flexible and photogenic and tough; with this form of workout, any woman can be transformed into a mean fighting machine, no costume necessary.

IKMF will hold the Women’s Krav Maga Seminar: Assault From Behind on Mar. 18 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the FTX Fitness Exchange in Makati. The seminar is open to women only, from ages 12 and above, and seminar fee is P1,500. To register and for inquiries on Krav Maga training, call 211-7261 or 0917-894-2728 and visit www.kravmaga-ikmf.ph.