Spring Break
Taking the Krav Maga defense
Patrick Moehrle
Issue date: 10/26/07 Section: News
Matthew Katz came to the university with a background in karate, but he said he felt compelled by the recent crimes in College Park to attend a two-hour self-defense class last night at Hillel.
"It's a great way to bring people together in an experience that you do not always get," said Katz, a sophomore business government and politics major. "Last year I came for the martial arts, but this year I wanted to refresh my memory if, God forbid, I was ever in a situation where I needed to defend myself."
The techinique that about 50 students learned is krav maga, a martial art focused on self-defense in hand-to-hand combat most notably used by Israeli security forces in combat.
The university's chapter of the Zionist Organization of America hosted the event, which was led by Moshe Katz, an expert from the Mountain Spirit Warrior School of Self-Defense in Israel. Katz exhibited techniques to escape from dangerous situations but emphasized that the right attitude is necessary to overcome attacks.
Katz said that too often during attacks, the victim freezes in fear and lacks the correct mindset to escape the situation.
"Without the right attitude, technique is useless," he told the class. "You have to go into situation with a winning attitude. You cannot go in thinking you have no chance."
Katz, who was born in the United States, began studying karate 20 years ago and moved to Israel a few years later. In Israel, he met Itay Gil, the former trainer of Israel's counter-terror force, and began to study krav maga under him. Katz will spend the next five and a half weeks traveling to college campuses around the country teaching students how to stay safe.
Katz spent the class demonstrating how krav maga helps practitioners escape from hand grabs, threats with dangerous weapons and sexual assaults.
"One in four women have been sexually assaulted on college campuses," Katz said. "krav maga empowers you, it makes you feel better about yourself and confidence itself can thwart an attack."
"It's a great way to bring people together in an experience that you do not always get," said Katz, a sophomore business government and politics major. "Last year I came for the martial arts, but this year I wanted to refresh my memory if, God forbid, I was ever in a situation where I needed to defend myself."
The techinique that about 50 students learned is krav maga, a martial art focused on self-defense in hand-to-hand combat most notably used by Israeli security forces in combat.
The university's chapter of the Zionist Organization of America hosted the event, which was led by Moshe Katz, an expert from the Mountain Spirit Warrior School of Self-Defense in Israel. Katz exhibited techniques to escape from dangerous situations but emphasized that the right attitude is necessary to overcome attacks.
Katz said that too often during attacks, the victim freezes in fear and lacks the correct mindset to escape the situation.
"Without the right attitude, technique is useless," he told the class. "You have to go into situation with a winning attitude. You cannot go in thinking you have no chance."
Katz, who was born in the United States, began studying karate 20 years ago and moved to Israel a few years later. In Israel, he met Itay Gil, the former trainer of Israel's counter-terror force, and began to study krav maga under him. Katz will spend the next five and a half weeks traveling to college campuses around the country teaching students how to stay safe.
Katz spent the class demonstrating how krav maga helps practitioners escape from hand grabs, threats with dangerous weapons and sexual assaults.
"One in four women have been sexually assaulted on college campuses," Katz said. "krav maga empowers you, it makes you feel better about yourself and confidence itself can thwart an attack."
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