WOMEN'S KRAV MAGA

Krav Maga has always been a pioneer in recognizing the importance of training women; the founders of the discipline observed that women are frequently targeted, but are not often taught how to neutralize the threats that they face. An egalitarian system that welcomes both men and women has always been a hallmark of Krav Maga training: we affirm that anyone, of any size, can learn. In this, it benefits from the input of modern physical sciences and selective incorporation of martial-arts techniques. There can be no guesswork when it comes to safety. We proudly follow in these footsteps: Rafi’s schools in Canada had the largest contingent of women in an instructor certification course to date. We take enormous pride in knowing that we’re bringing life-changing training to those who, at times, need it the most. Because the main aim of Krav Maga is to prepare students to defend themselves against real danger in the outside world, we make our classes as realistic as possible. It’s a simple truth that the way that you train inside the studio is the way that you’ll react outside the studio. For this reason, we strongly encourage women to train in co-ed environments. The unfortunate reality is that women are most frequently attacked by men, who tend, on average, to be taller, heavier, and have greater distribution of strength in the upper body. Unless women become accustomed to training with men, they may not be fully prepared in an altercation on the street; it takes practice to learn and deploy the amount of force required to deal with attackers of greater physical stature. Again, it is ideal for women to train in co-ed environments in order to be as fully prepared as possible for situations that they may encounter once they leave our studios.

We realize, though, that there are times that a woman may be unable, or feel uncomfortable and unwilling, to train with men. In cases of abuse and victimization, it makes sense that a woman may be too distressed to train physically with men. In other cases, religious exigencies make co-ed training difficult. While our mandate requires us to train students as realistically as possible, we feel that some training is always better than none. We try to bridge the gap in these cases by offering different accomodations. This can range from semi-private and private classes for female students, as well as special group classes currently available in India.