School Address
165 (Unit E) New Boston Street
Woburn MA 01801
Welcome to Krav Maga Yashir (meaning “Direct Contact Combat” in Hebrew)! We teach relevant and effective self-defense, that provides solutions for dealing with real-world violence. Our system is reality-based, in that we look at how real-life violent incidents and events develop and play out. Our training is neither sanitized nor sensationalized and is realistic and practical in the approach it takes. Our program is taught by Krav Maga 5th Degree Black Belt, Gershon Ben Keren who first started training in Krav Maga in 1994. Originally an instructor with the IKMF (International Krav Maga Federation), he has trained with some of the most experienced Krav Maga instructors in the world, including Miki Assulin, Eyal Yanilov, Avi Moyal and Haim Gidon etc. As a criminologist working in the security industry Gershon brings both his first-hand experiences of violence along with his academic understanding of violence to create a program that is researched and evidentially based.
Our program teaches solutions to both unarmed and armed threats and attacks, against both single and multiple assailants, when standing, seated or on the ground etc. Our system is complete in that no potential dimensions of a fight are excluded or ruled out e.g., we have a full striking and grappling syllabus that doesn’t need to be supplemented by training in other martial arts or combat sports etc. If you are looking for a complete system of self-defense that also teaches you how to predict, prevent and avoid violence, our program will meet your needs. Our solutions are direct and straightforward allowing them to be recalled and applied under the stress and duress of a real-life encounter. To learn more about Krav Maga Yashir please use the button below.
Krav Maga is the official hand-to-hand fighting system of the Israeli Military. It makes use of natural reflexive and instinctive movements that people automatically make when attacked. These reactions and responses become reference points that people can use as their starting point for making a defense that is quickly followed by an attack, putting the attacker on the back foot, and forcing them to defend. Using consistent, continuous, and aggressive attacks (Retzev in Hebrew), an assailant is immediately put under pressure i.e., the “prey” becomes the “predator”. Krav Maga recognizes that real-life violence is not the same as a combat sport, such as MMA e.g., combat sports are consensual, both participants know the date, place and time of the event, and there is a referee who initiates the contest etc. In real-life violent incidents an assailant uses surprise to give them the advantage, so the individual attacked has no or little time to prepare themselves for dealing with an attack. Krav Maga is designed to work from the position of being surprised and unprepared and uses the body’s natural/instinctive movements to initiate a defense.
Using instinctive movements coupled with simple and strightforward techniques that have no complex movements Krav Maga is afast and easy to learn system that performs well under the stress and duress of real-life violent attacks. The system also groups techniques into "families", so that the same movements used to defend against one threat or attack can be reused to defend against others. This reduces the number of techniques that need to be learned. To learn more about Krav Maga use the button below.
I have trained in martial arts since high school, and this is easily the best school I've ever attended. The instruction is practical, fun, and supportive. The students are there to help each other, while still learning serious skills. I've been training here for about five years and look forward to many years to come.
Although the idea of martial arts can be intimidating (and it does require hard work), the atmosphere is very welcoming and positive, and the result is that you can learn great skills without being uncomfortable. If you want to learn *practical* self-defense (and not Karate Kid-style martial arts ballet), this is the place.
The quality of teaching found at Krav Maga Yashir is exceptional. The instructors know how to present and teach the exercise as well as cue you on how to improve the technique your working on. You can tell that the instructors not only know what they are doing, but they actually love teaching and genuinely care about the level of instruction given as well as each students individual experience in class.