Adrian Padeanu asked:

As you very well read from the first part of our article, Rio de Janeiro stands out from all of the other cities in the world with its plentiful of events that occur each and every month throughout the entire year. May is no exception whatsoever and with the help of this article we will continue to present other important events which we consider to be an eye grabber not only for locals but also for the thousands of tourists that pick Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as their vacation destination.

On the 24 of May, Mirian Stanescon-RORARNI will organize the “12th World Peace Crusade”. The objective of this great event which will be held by the gypsies in Brazil is to pay tribute to the Jews, native Indians, afro-descendents and of course, the gypsies; showing solidarity towards the unity among all people, regardless of belief, religion, social status, trying to obtain world peace, something that is crucial in today’s hectic world. The event is part of the celebrations of Saint Sara Kali Day which is the patron saint of the gypsies.

This show will start with an ecumenical gypsy mass – blessing, various shows, and exhibitions along with ethnic dances. Release of the Gypsy People’s primer, “The law in your hands”, which was written by Mirian Stanescon Batuli and produced by the Human Rights Department and supported by Ministry of Culture and SEPPIR – Celebration of National Gypsy Day. The venue for the event will be Parque Garota de Ipanema – Posto 7 – Rua Francisco Otaviano – Arpoado.

Between 25 and 29 of May 2010, the South American Federation of Krav Maga will organize the Lichtenfeld’s 100th Anniversary and 20 years of Krav Maga in Brazil. For this year, they will celebrate together two dates that represent a milestone in history: first, the centenary of the creator of Krav Maga, Imi Lichtenfeld; second, twenty years of the arrival of Krav Maga in Latin America.

From 30 May until 3 June this year, Sociedade Michelin de Partipações Indústria e Comércio Ltda. will organize the 2010 10th Challenge Bibendum in Rio de Janeiro. The theme for this edition is “rallying together towards a renaissance of road transport after the downturn”. The event will be held at Riocentro – GL Events Centro de Convenções – Av. Salvador Allende, 6.555 – Pavilhões 1, 2, 3 and 4 – Jacarepaguá. “Challenge Bibendum merges the forces that will drive the future of road mobility – sustainability and technology. This powerful combination is good business, and it’s what we’ve been doing for decades. Our technology has put us in the forefront of making transportation more sustainable, and it will continue to underpin the Chemicals success story”.

All things considered, if you have not planned your long deserved vacation for this year, you might take into consideration Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as it can be breathtaking not only in the days of the Carnival, but throughout the entire year as the list of events keeps getting longer with each passing month.

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Warren Frump asked:

Kimbo Slice, the Internet marvel who transformed from backyard brawler to MMA fighter and whose fights were on YouTube to mixed martial artist, to whose fights are on Showtime and pay-per-view, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and an interesting name came up as a potential future opponent. When Kimmel asked, “Is Mike Tyson someone you would like to fight?” Slice said, “Yeah.”

Undoubtedly Mike Tyson really is retired — not just “retired” like so many fighters who aren’t really finished — but I must say, if he ever wanted to fight Kimbo Slice, it would be one of the all-time greatest freak shows in the history of sport. And that means it would make everyone a lot of money.

As for the prospect he’s fighting next, former UFC star Ken Shamrock, Kimbo Slice said, “I don’t think nothing about Ken.”

The congregation also got a little personal. Kimmel asked Slice if he conditions his beard, and Slice said, “I take care of it because it takes care of me.” Kimmel told Slice, “It really is one of the shiniest, cleanest-looking beards I’ve ever seen.” And then it got insane personal. Kimmel said to Slice, “Have you ever had a romantic relationship with a man? Be honest.” Slice replied, “No, man.” But I think we know better!

Ken Shamrock will have his hands full with Kimbo Slice, but only because of his age and confidence. Shamrock has the skills, the experience in the ring, and the name, but nobody’s giving him much of a chance. Hopefully he’ll believe in himself.

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Michael Russell asked:

Many martial arts focus on one range of fighting and some of the more diverse martial arts may incorporate two ranges of fighting. The ultimate goal of any martial art is to instil both the skills and the confidence in its students in order for them to be able to defend themselves in a real life situation. No other martial art does this as effectively as the Israeli system of defensive tactics knows as Krav Maga. Krav Maga which is a martial art that incorporates all ranges of fighting was created in Israel in the year 1948 by a man named Imi Lichtenfeld.

During the time period that Krav Maga was created, the Israelis were still under British rule and had to find a way to defend themselves, without bearing arms. In its infancy this martial art was one of the most brutal hand to hand combat systems as it was created to train the military for World War II as well as training the Israeli civilians for anti-terrorism defense. In 1964 Imi Lichtenfeld retired as a soldier and started to adapt the martial art for normal every day use for civilians. The association of Krav Maga was created in 1975 by Imi Lichtenfeld and his most accomplished students.

The advantage Krav Maga has over other martial arts is that not only is it extremely adaptable, it is also constantly evolving. Whatever real world scenarios that may occur, Krav Maga finds realistic defenses for them. Most martial arts (especially traditional ones) tend to teach rigid curriculums that aren’t up for discussion or change while Krav Maga encourages its students to find creative ways to use the techniques and even incorporates new lessons learned from real life encounters. Krav Maga is not a sport! It is a complete fighting system that was created for street attacks. There are no rules and students are taught to use anything in their arsenal to be able to defend themselves. This would include pressure points and vulnerable areas such as the eyes, temples, throat, back of the neck and groin. This martial art focuses on training its students in a repetitious manner as they hope to instil the instincts needed to survive a street attack. Cardiovascular and callisthenic training is incorporated into each training session, as being physically fit is a necessity. The focus of this art is to counter hard and fast. The faster you can attack your opponent the better your chances of surprising them. Most martial arts have both specialized weapons defense and training while Krav Maga teaches its students to use everyday ordinary objects as weapons. The point is how often does a person get attacked in the streets and have a set of nun chucks or a staff to defend themselves with?

When a martial art teaches you to both throw and defend against punches and kicks, teaches you joint locks and ground defense, as well as takedowns and weapons training, it is hard for anyone to use any other words then “complete system” to describe it. The world we’re living in is getting progressively more dangerous and many of the traditional martial arts, while great for exercise and pleasure, are not used to such extreme conditions. Krav Maga should be the martial art of choice for anyone looking for a highly effective system to defend themselves.

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Jeffrey Miller asked:

One of the most commonly known, and yet misunderstood set of techniques within modern Ninja training is known as the Kihon Happo. These basic techniques are introduced to new students who are looking to learn ninjutsu, very early in their training.

This article will give you a deeper understanding of this so-called set of “basic” techniques, and allow you to see through the forms to the true lessons waiting for you. But, to begin your understanding, you must first know what I’m talking about.

The concept of the Kihon Happo is said to have originated in the Gyokko-Ryu (“Jewel (or Jade) Tiger School”), one of the 9 historical combat lineages that make up the Bujinkan Dojo of current generation grandmaster, Masaaki Hatsumi. However, what is collectively known as the kihon happo is really a combining of 2 important sets of techniques which teach:

1) The effective use of the Ninja’s kamae (body-mind-spirit postures) for controlling an attack, and…

2) Effective use of body dynamics and strategies for escaping from grabbing attacks

Together, both sets convey the foundational techniques and skills that will show up again and again, regardless of the technique or kata being used in future training.

And this leads to knowing just what these “secrets”, strategies, and “basics” are, that a student is supposed to be learning.

One of the questions that I ask my intermediate and advanced students who have learned these models is:

“What are these techniques teaching us?”

And, while it is very easy to just describe the step-by-step actions being performed – there is so much more that you cannot see if you’re only looking at the form of the technique. Because, if you’re only focusing on say, Ichimonji no kata, from the perspective of…

Step 1 – Receive his punch
Step 2 – Strike his neck (etc.) with an omote-shuto (palm-up sword-hand fist)

Then you are either a brand new beginner to the art, and this is exactly what you should be focusing on. Or…

You are still stuck in “beginner mindset” – what I call “white belt thinking” – and missing the point of the models.

The real power hidden within the models of the kihon happo is not in “what” you are doing, but in:

WHY you are doing it

WHEN you are doing it

WHERE you are positioning your body, limbs, and targets relative to your opponent, and…

HOW you are delivering your strikes

The kihon happo is said to be about “creation.” But, unless you know what you’re “creating,” it doesn’t help much to know that. And, while I talk about this concept in other articles, and it’s covered quite extensively in my Advanced Sanshin & Kihon Happo Home Study Course, the thing to know about this concept is that it transcends the physical aspects of the technique models themselves.

It has to!

Because the point of kihon happo training is to create variation after variation of each technique – 8 variations, and then eight variations of each variation, and then 8 of each of these, into infinity – until the base models become just variations among variations.

And yet, through all of this, the concepts and principles – the very foundation of the kata models and the invisible lessons that you need to learn to see – never change!

krav maga

Kier Marston asked:

Krav Maga is designed to provide the most effective response for an individual across the whole range of situations in which one’s safety is in danger. Here is a brief discussion on four key areas that I’ve picked up on in the time I have been training in krav maga. These are not exhaustive of the principles behind krav maga but do give a good overview of some important considerations that go into training:

1) Attack vulnerable areas of the body. Consider that when someone attacks you and you are able to fight back, any action that you take can be said to have an ‘opportunity cost’, that is the cost of the action you didn’t take weighed up against the one you did. Given that when your life is in danger your aim is to survive it makes sense to ensure that your efforts in defending yourself are focused on inflicting as much damage on your attacker as possible so that they are neutralised and no longer a threat to you. As such krav maga encourages attacking the most vulnerable areas of the body. The groin strike for instance is a staple of many techniques as are eye gouges, kicks to the knees and all manner of strikes to the face targetting the nose, ears, temples and so on. When making combative moves such as punches, kicks, elbows etc the emphasis is not placed on set patterns or routines but on a continuous flurry of vicious and sustained attacks at the body’s weakest points to quickly overwhelm the opponent.

2) Go from defending to attacking ASAP. Again consider a situation where your life is threatened by an attacker. The ideal way to escape such a situation is to avoid as detailed below, or to escape from it quickly. Krav maga teaches numerous blocks and ways of coping with all the kinds of physical attack one can encounter. However the system teaches that we should block and attack simultaneously if possible, and if that is not possible then to counter attack as soon as possible and then make our escape. Why is this the case? Well to put it bluntly unless you are Neo you can’t stand and block a continuous flurry of attacks without getting hurt. Many knife attacks in particular involve not one, but numerous attacks in quick succession. As such counter attacking represents your best bet of blocking the attackers thought processes and allowing you to escape or neutralise him.

3) Three hundred percent defense. There are numerous methods of blocking any physical attack to your person. In krav maga you are trained to deal with attacks using three simultaneous strategies if possible. The first would be the hand or foot defense, which would involve blocking or deflecting a strike or maybe plucking or otherwise breaking a choke or similar attack. The second is the body defense and this simply involves turning or moving your body to remove it from where the attacker is attacking to. So for instance against a straight punch to your head you move your head and upper body to the side. The third principle is ‘moving off the line of attack’ and simply involves moving round your opponent so that the line of attack, that is the direction in which he is or can attack you is no longer going through you. This is important for numerous reasons. As stated above an attack will rarely make one discrete attack, there are likely to be several planned. Blocking or deflecting the initial attack and then swiftly moving to the attackers side and rear is a good way to avoid further danger and place your self in a prime position to neutralise the attacker, flee and also scan for further attacks in the blind spot that you previously had as he attacked you.

4) Situational awareness/scanning. A typical fight in a movie often involves two people facing each other and essentially slugging it out as if they were characters in Street Fighter. Numerous blows are thrown, blocked, taken and so on until a victor emerges. Being attacked in real life is rarely this simple. Attacks are made without warning, from all different angles and by single or multiple opponents. As such it’s very important to be continually aware of your surroundings and to be able to recognise danger signs and react instinctively. Krav maga teaches situation awareness with various kinds of drill and training. All students are also taught when attacked to move off the line of attack so that you can see into what was your blind spot and then to scan for further attackers, methods of escape, common objects to use as makeshift weapons etc. The importance of this cannot be stressed enough!

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Jerry Garcia asked:

When learning techniques from your instructor, you can pretty much be sure that they were developed for self defense. Though they work perfectly in the studio, that’s not the case when it comes down to really using them in a real fight. You don’t know what the other person is going to do. How do you over come this? By training yourself to become independent from your techniques, what we in San Soo call a “Free Fighter”.

In Kung Fu San Soo I’ve learned thousands of different techniques for self defense, yet when involved in a real confrontation I never used a complete technique exactly the way I learned it. Don’t get me wrong you will still fight within the teachings of your art, the way you move and strike etc. It has been my experience that after you learn so many techniques you brain will naturally tend to mix, match them. And I think this is a normal reaction to whats being learned, a learned response or reaction to what is happening to you in training. So when involved in a real fight you will use bits and pieces of what you have in your arsenal of techniques. You have in your brain probably millions of combinations to use and they come out as you react to the situation. Not being restricted to using or having to think, if he does this I have to do that technique, causes your response to become automatic.

Again don’t get me wrong you still have to control where and how hard you strike. But that comes with training. So how do you become a free fighter? If your in an art like San Soo you practice and learn as many techniques as you can. Have your training partner come at you and throw everything thing he has or can think of at you and sharpen your reactions. See what you come up with, and when your actions become automatic reactions you will be a “Free Fighter.”

krav maga

Jeffrey Miller asked:

If you really want to learn ninjutsu, and unlock the power that lies at the heart of the training, then you cannot fall into the habit of being a kata collector. Doing so is no different than being a stamp collector, where the only value your “collection” has is to other collectors. This article will give you a better understanding as to why, if you’re serious about wanting to learn ninjutsu, and you understand the true lesson of the kihon happo – you only need 1 technique to become a master of all of them!

Contrary to popular belief, the ninja’s technique models known as the kihon happo will teach you lessons far beyond mere blocking, punching, and applying joint locks. In fact, if you understand the secrets hidden within any one form, and you apply the formula of “kihon happo,” then you will be able to “discover” all of the other forms through diligent training.

It’s ironic how collecting techniques – as though the techniques were the lessons themselves – will actually limit and distract you from the real mastery that you’re probably looking for. I say “probably,” because there are those students out their who focus more on:

1) Being a celebrity (being a teacher rather than a student)
2) How they look as opposed to what they can do, and…
3) Being able to impress people with their knowledge about historical details, etc.If you’re one of these students, I probably can’t help you. However, if you’re looking for the keys to be able to transcend the models and be able to develop the skills critical to combat survival – then perhaps.

To understand how to master this art with only one technique, you must first understand the secret formula of the Kihon Happo. That formula, when applied, will lead you to mastery, but it will also…
Distract you from the collector mindset (or, at the very least, allow you to use it for beneficial purposes!)And, it will…
Keep you very busy for a long time!In case you don’t know the kihon happo formula, here it is:

Step one – learn any foundational (kihon) technique. Note: It DOES NOT have to be one of the “official” techniques being passed around today. But, it DOES have to be “correct.”

Step two – create 8 variations of this technique. You can do this by

1) doing the technique on the other side, against a left punch instead of a right – against a left hand grab instead of a right, etc.
2) Change the level of the attack or, in the case of grabs, replace a single hand grab with a double
3) Change the attack itself (replace a punch or grab with a kick, or introduce a weapon instead of unarmed, etc.Step three – create 8 more variations of each of the variation techniques that you came up with in step 2.

Step four – repeat step three until you have more options than you will probably ever need to survive a real combat attack situation against an attacker (NOT your training partner) who is doing anything he wants, and at an intensity that will be designed to completely end any delusions you have of greatness or mastery!

At the end of all this, you will find that, not only did you attain a level of proficiency greater than you thought possible, but if you took the time to look at the “collectors” lists, you would find that you rediscovered all of the techniques, on all of the scrolls, and then some – from just one technique!

The question to ask yourself now is…

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Aidan Carroll asked:

Krav Maga is the official self defense and hand to hand combat system of Israel and is the most battle tested self defence and hand to hand combat system in the world today. The English translation of the Hebrew name means contact fight. The system was created and developed by Grand master Imi Sde-Or 1910-1998. Imi originally developed the system for the Israel Defence forces (I.D.F) and other national security services. The principle of the system focus’s on the natural reactions of the body when threatened or attacked by an armed or unarmed assailant or assailants. The beginner student will be surprised how quickly they learn to react fast and without hesitation to many different types of threat and attack. The chief instructor of the International Krav Maga Federation is Eyal Yanilov (born 1959). Eyal is highest ranked instructor in the system today. He is the only man in the world to hold the grade of Master level 3/Expert level 8. The system is used by the FBI, S.W.A.T teams and many other elite military and police units throughout the world.

Today Krav Maga has been developed to meet civilian needs throughout the world and has since gained interest with civilians and celebrities and the system is widely used by military and law enforcement personnel. Krav Maga is an ideal self defense system for men and women, and children of all ages and physical abilities – anyone can take part without any previous martial arts background. On browsing the internet you will discover that Krav Maga training is available to all at venues such as sports centres, martial arts schools and dedicated Krav Maga training centres.

A typical Krav Maga training session combines aerobic training with self defense techniques. Emphasis is put on speed, endurance, strength, accuracy and co-ordination especially for intensive Krav Maga training. According to medical and fitness experts, Krav Maga training provides a superb full-body workout. If you are already a martial artist, you will find Krav Maga to be an excellent addition to your training! Krav Maga training focuses on teaching simple Krav Maga techniques which are specifically catered to reality based attack situations and specifically designed to get quick results in a short training period. With self defense as a goal, the Krav Maga programs teach students to expect the unexpected. In today’s world you never know when you might have to defend yourself or somebody else from an unprovoked attack. The system will teach you how to defend yourself against various situations such as chokes, strangles, kicks, knife and weapon threats to name a few. Krav Maga training also carries the additional benefit of greatly improving your physical fitness while increasing your confidence that comes from not being afraid in threatening situations. Krav Maga training will also teach the student to be more aware of their surroundings at all times in order to avoid attack while gaining a greater understanding of reading body language and understanding the body’s vulnerable areas and pressure points.

Increasingly popular with women, Krav Maga is tailored for the average person, combining psychological preparation, strong will, and physical skill. The combination of interesting training and potentially useful Krav Maga techniques for present-day situations has made Krav Maga the success that it is today.

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Steve Chi asked:

When looking for a Krav Maga (KM) instructor, who should you listen to? Moni Azik with Commando Krav Maga or David Kahn with Israeli Krav Maga? Or should you follow the Alain Cohen or Darren Levine style of Krav Maga?

Each one is a master in this field, but each one has a different method of instruction. Let’s take a closer look at the top instructors so that you can decide which one is right for you.

1.) Moni Azik with Commando KM is certainly one of the most famous experts. He has a very polished web site and has been featured on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, Fox News, and a whole host of nationally syndicated magazines.

Commando Krav Maga (CKM) is unique in that it provides training through traveling classes in most major American cities as well as Canada and European venues. These bootcamps are for certified instructors as well as the general public. You can even schedule some private lessons with Moni Azik the day before or after one of his CKM Boot Camps.

2.) Another expert and instructor is David Kahn with Israeli KM, a school in New Jersey. David Kahn trained under Grandmaster Haim Gidon, who is the highest ranked KM black belt ever promoted by founder Imi Lichtenfeld. It has been said that “David is quite possibly the most connected with honest to goodness Israeli special ops guys of anyone in North America.”

David Kahn has written one of the essential books for the for the method called Krav Maga: An Essential Guide to the Renowned Method – For Fitness and Self-Defense.

3.) There’s also Alain Cohen, who heads the KM Federation. His specialty is security and close protection. He is a security consultant for large firms and has written several books including Israeli Defense System Krav Maga.

Alain Cohen also has a DVD course and a seminar that travels around the United States.

4.) Darren Levine is probably the most well-known instructor in the United States and has a center in Los Angeles, California. He has one of the largest studios in the world called KM Worldwide Training Center. He also has the largest reality based self-defense organization in the world with over 240 licensed schools and claims to have trained over 500 law enforcement and government agencies.

Darren Levine is a prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and was awarded a Founder’s Diploma by Imi Lichtenfeld for Special Excellence in KM. Imi awarded this diploma to only 2 individuals in the world: Darren Levine and Eyal Yanilov. These diplomas were given to the people that Imi wanted to be the future leaders in the field.

5.) Eyal Yanilov with the International KM Federation is another Master and holds the unique “Founder’s Diploma of Excellence,” which was given to only one other instructor, Darren Levine.

Offering one of the first classes for American citizens, Eyal Yanilov has been teaching instructors’ courses around the world, under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Education and the International Krav Maga Federation (IKMF). Eyal Yanilov is the key force in spreading the method throughout the world.

Hopefully, you can now identify the major players in the Israeli self-defense method. Each expert has his own personal style of instruction, and each instructor appeals to a different demographic.

Whoever you choose to follow, realize that Krav Maga is a “no holds barred” method of real-world self defense on the street.

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Philip P asked:

Strictly speaking, Krav Maga is not actually a martial art in the traditional sense.

Whereas martial arts like karate have spiritual and sporting elements, it has one real purpose: to save your life and neutralize your attacker as quickly as possible. There are no fancy spinning back-kicks that look great on television but will put you at risk in a real life fight, Krav Maga techniques are based on simple, instinctive movements that you will be able to carry out when you find yourself in the stressful situation of being physically attacked.

Also unlike in traditional martial arts, when you train in Krav Maga you spend your time learning how to defend realistic attacks and and how to counter attack and not on movements that are useless in the real world or on perfecting “forms” like the Kata in karate. Unfortunately, many martial art black belts have found that the skills they have spent years perfecting let them down when attacked by a common thug.

Techniques include strikes using the knees and elbows, kicks (usually to the groin or legs when standing), punches and even headbutts. It’s not pretty, but it is brutally effective and may just save your life.

Training in Krav Maga also helps you prepare for the mental aspect of defending yourself against attack. Not only do you train to defend against multiple attackers, you will learn how to defend yourself in a number of everyday situations: how to defend against attacks when seated for example. You will also learn how to defend against various weapons including knives and firearms, and when necessary how to improvise weapons from ordinary items around you such as a chair, for example.

There are no off-limit techniques in Krav Maga, if you are being attacked it is vital you use whatever force necessary to defend your life, or that of your loved ones. However you will also learn how to avoid potentially dangerous situations and how to de-escalate a confrontation, only resorting to a physical level when it is clear your well being is threatened.

Originally developed by Imrich Lichtenfeld for the Israeli military, it’s effectiveness in real life conflict has seen Krav Maga techniques adopted by agencies around the world who’s members find themselves in dangerous situations on a regular basis. However, it is also growing in popularity with the civilian population, and today men, women and children train in Krav Maga in the knowledge that they are learning an effective, proven form of self defense.

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