April 2011 Newsletter
Happy Holidays, readers!
Whether you were celebrating Easter or Passover (Pesach) we hope you had a great time and managed to find the Easter Eggs or the Afikoman. 
Greetings
A New KMG Branch
Before we go on to review our activity in April, we would like to give a warm greeting to the newest branch of KMG, KMG Slovenia.
KMG Slovenia is led by our representative, Instructor Matjaz Petan, who is a G1. We wish him the best of luck!
A Master is born!
Few in the world of Krav Maga have attained the rank of Master and we would like to give a big round of applause to Ze’ev Cohen who has joined this exclusive club and achieved the rank of Master 1.
Ze’ev, who has trained many Expert level KM artists has been studying Krav Maga under Eyal Yanilov since 1988 and been teaching since 1989.
Ze’ev: “I would like to thank Eyal for teaching me for so many years; it’s a great honor getting the Master level from you. Eyal who put almost single handedly Krav-Maga on the global map is with no dispute the true successor of Imi.”
Krav-Maga’s Straight Punch – History and some Science:
Short excerpt from the full article
By Eyal Yanilov
The straight punch in KM has had several developments and changes during the years.
Imi’s background was diverse. At the age of 19, Imi became a champion sportsman on an international level, in both Boxing and Wrestling.
During later years he gained his experience in real life situations in violent confrontations against the fascist thugs.
You can see him executing a right punch. The picture was taken in the mid 60′s for the first military manual of the IDF, published 1967.
 Imi demonstrates a straight right punch (cross), first KM manual, IDF. |
 The right punch, from the IDF's manual, published 1979 |
 The straight right punch, pictures for civilians, taken early 80s |
 The stance, pictures for civilians, taken early 80s |
When I started KM in 1974, both the straight left and right punches were already different. We used to turn the body almost 180 degrees to the target. For the right (rear hand) punch, we advance with the back foot to the line of the front foot and turn the heel outward (sideways). Here you can see a picture from the second military manual from the late 70′s.
Another example is a picture from a set of photographs we took in the early 80′s, that were to be in the first civilian KM book in Hebrew (eventually the set of books were written by Imi and I, starting the mid 80′s, only one of three has been published until now). The first picture is the ‘general ready’ stance; the second hand picture is the straight right punches. See the body turn and rear leg pivot.
A major change, practically a small revolution, and the latest developments.
In 1984, I was already the closest assistant to Imi and together we were writing the KM books and developing the system. It was in the midst of my studies of engineering, mechanics and bio-mechanics. During one of our many meetings I told Imi that the way and form we do the straight punch contradicts physics. We talked about the overturning of the body and the over pivoting of the back leg (especially during the right punch), the position of the fist, the recoiling effect and more. After few minutes Imi agreed and then we had come out with major changes that partly brought Imi back to his origin.
Thus in 1984 we made the major changes in punching and after that we also defined the different rhythms ofintegrating attacks and different actions.
During the last year, this time with KMG, we revealed a couple of changes in the teaching and the execution of the straight punch:
- Extending the pressure on the back leg and the contracting of the abdominal and relevant core muscles, especially during the last portion of the strike (the impact with the target and strike into it). This enables a stronger transference of momentum and energy into the target, meaning increasing the destructive effect.
- Bringing the striking shoulder above the imaginary center line that passes through the pelvis and torso. This enables a straighter line and more direct transference of momentum and kinetic energy into the target.
In my opinion this is optimal in cultivating the abilities with the straight strikes.
A Review of April
April was a month characterized by large scale activities with many participants.
In Australia, Eyal Yanilov conducted a General Instructors Course with no less than 26 participants – the future instructors of KMG.
Alongside the course, Eyal conducted a seminar which hosted the record breaking number of 140 participants from all over the continent.
Eyal continued on to the Philippines to conduct a seminar with scores of students and instructors, in addition to a Law Enforcement seminar for 250 officers belonging to the PNP Protection Group, which is charged with the personal protection of the president, ministers, Supreme Court and dignitaries. He was assisted by our local instructors, and it was held in the presence of the commanding Senior Chief Superintendents.
The seminar included a lecture about Krav Maga and focused on: dealing with dangerous lethal attacks; using a pistol as an impact weapon; weapon retention; defending a third party against knife attacks; “fighter” mentality and capabilities, and more.
A Certificate of Appreciation was presented to Eyal and to Kenneth Asuncion our local director.
In addition to the GIC in Australia, KMG Conducted a GIC (part 2) with Tal Kvores in England, a GIC (part 2) in Germany by Ilya Dunsky, who then flew to Argentina to conduct a GIC (part 2) there and a GIC (Part 1) in Holland with Franklyn Hartkamp.
KMG conducted the annual ExtremE event in Holland with Ilya Dunsky and Meyrav Bar Haim. Meyrav also passed a seminar for Women only.
This successful event included many students and instructors who practiced different techniques of fighting in water, on the beach, in low light conditions, in a moving bus and more.
In Sweden, Eyal conducted an open Seminar.
In England, Ze’ev Cohen conducted a Seminar and Testing which was followed by another Seminar and Testing lead by Tal Kvores and Albert Kagalski.
Additional seminars were conducted in In the Czech Rep. by Tal, in Spain by Shachar Klarfeld and in Finland by Ilya Dunsky.
Eyal and Ilya conducted a course for the Special Operations Force in Finland. This unit is justifiably considered one of the top special units in the West and has been training in Krav Maga with Eyal since the mid 90s. The system, the way Eyal and KMG teach it, has been incorporated since then in the basic and advanced training in this and many other such units around the world.
What’s happening in May?
Argentina: We will be conducting a GIC (part 3). In addition Eyal will be conducting an Open Seminar and Ilya Dunsky will be teaching a Law Enforcement Seminar.
Germany: We will conduct a GIC (part 3) with Ralf Ulbig and Eyal and an Instructors Seminar led by Eyal. A seminar with Eyal in Munchen will be held May 21st, 2011.
Croatia: We will be conducting a Seminar and Testing with Tal Kvores.
England: We will be conducting the final part of the GIC (part 3) which will be passed by Eyal and Nick Maison, and an Instructors seminar with Ze’ev Cohen.
Holland: We’ll be conducting the second part of the GIC with Tommy Blom.
Italy: Due to popular demand we are conducting another seminar in Rome with Eyal and Ilya Dunsky.
Czech Rep: An open seminar with Eyal.
Special Events: Register now to ensure your place
Combat and Fighting Instructors Course
As a result of the sweeping success of KMGs first CFIC, and in response to popular demand, we have scheduled an additional course.
Registration for it has already started.
The course will be held on the 24th-30th of October 2011 in Belgium.
The course will be led by Eyal Yanilov who will be assisted by GT members, and is intended for levels G-4 and up.
Please note: the number of participants is limited.
You are invited to visit the following links to view clips from KMG’s Combat and Fighting Instructors Course:
If you participate in the Combat and Fighting Instructor Course, for a little extra you can be certified Hardstyle Kettlebell instructor. The offer is only valid for KMG members.
Touring and Training in Israel
The summer Event: July 1st-10th, 2011
The program will be led by KMG’s Head Instructor, Eyal, with the assistance of our Global Team Instructors.
As in every year we will conduct the event in July and in December.
Even If you have already visited us in Israel you will be happy to know that we have added new sites and locations and new activities for the course. Thus we expect the event to be richer and more diverse, and to be suitable for people who have already done the course before.
Registration for both summer and winter T&T is open!
The itinerary will include training sessions at the Wingate Institute, and touring and training in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Masada (in the Judea Desert), at the Dead Sea, in Haifa, in Sea of Galilee, Arbel Cliff, Hot Springs in the Golan Heights, and more. The group will also enjoy an evening of entertainment in the Galilee that includes authentic Bedouin tent hospitality.
As always, all past participants of the program are welcome to join the “Touring and Training” program again.
For details and registration: info@krav-maga.com
Touring and Training in Israel Facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128933707128776
Additional Touring and Training session will take place in December 30th, 2011- January 8th, 2012.
Survival Safari Competition in Israel
For the tough and rugged: 5-13 November 2011
For the first time ever, we are hosting an 8 day Survival Safari KM Competition for participants who are in shape*.
A team of 10 participants, headed by a captain, will represent the national KMG branches. The captain can be a director/representative, a school owner or senior instructor.
The winning team will get a FREE 5-day Third Party Protection course with Eyal Yanilov in their home country!!!
Teams include up to 10 participants and one captain from each country. So sign up today!
For more information, click here.
*Participants must be in good physical condition. A logistics, security and medical team will be on hand at all times during the week-long event.
All participants and teams must be registered by KMG regional directors, or by a designated KMG representative, and their names submitted to KMG HQ no later than the 1st of September 2011.
Graduate and Expert Camps in Israel
We’d like to remind everyone that the registration for the Graduate level camp and the Expert level camp on June 2011 is underway.
The Graduate Camp may be attended by students of G-1 level and up.
The Expert camp is for G-5 and up.
The camps will be led by Eyal Yanilov and the Global Team on:
June 14th – 19th, 2011 – Graduate Level Camp
June 20th – 27th, 2011 – Expert Level Camp
For details and registration: info@krav-maga.com
SWAT
This course is intended for officers, members in Special Units and for our Civilian Instructors who have already graduated one of the following: Military, Law Enforcement or VIP Protection Instructor Courses.
The course will be held August 7th-14th, 2011 in Russia, and will be conducted by Eyal and Ilya.
Click here for further information.
Kids Instructors Course
Due to popular demand we will be conducting two courses which will qualify KM Instructors to teach kids, using our new curriculum.
The first will take place in Hungary in July and the second will take place in the Czech Rep. in September.
For further information contact: info@krav-maga.com
For details about KMG courses and for registration please contact: info@krav-maga.com
Regarding Facebook
Once again, we are inviting all of you to join our Facebook group – The Official KMG group. Also, it was really cool to see so many of you wearing the KMG Pic-Badge on your profile picture.
Click here to support KMG and add it to your own profile picture.
If you are already in the group, you should know, Facebook has recently changed their information/privacy regulations and settings. Unless you’ve changed it back, the new settings on your wall will be set so that only updates from friends whom you’ve been in touch with recently will appear. This is true for all your old friends and not just for KMG.
To change it, go to your Home Page => next to the “Most Recent” button on the top right corner of the screen. There is a small drop-down menu arrow. Click on it = > Click on Edit Options => Change the “Show Posts From…” option to: “All Your Friends and Pages” => Save.
Now you can see information and updates from all your long lost friends – including KMG
It’s been a great month for KMG and we expect the next to be even better! Remember, you can contact us at any time.
Cheers,
Eyal Yanilov
KRAV MAGA GLOBAL
