On Monday, January 10, the first class of Krav Maga began at GaleForce Martial Arts. GaleForce is a locally owned martial arts school which teaches Taekwondo, a martial arts style heralding from South Korea. 

Two 4th degree black belts and certified Taekwondo instructors, Mr. Dan Cubbage and Ms. Emma Ball, recently transferred to GaleForce from North Carolina. Together, they have begun introducing Krav Maga to the school. 

Krav originally began as an Israeli military self-defense martial art. Now, it has been propagated throughout the world and modified for civilian use. The purpose of Krav taught at GaleForce is practical and accessible self-defense for the general public.

Both Cubbage and Ball are highly qualified to teach Krav. Ball began learning Krav at 16 and started teaching at 21 while Cubbage began his journey of Krav in 2014. Both instructors have been certified to teach by the Warrior Krav program which is a nationally recognized organization. 

When compared to other self defense martial arts, Krav is one of the most accessible. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu takes upwards of two years to feel any semblance of safety. Kickboxing takes a similar amount of time. 

“The whole goal of Krav is by the time you hit orange belt, you’re safe,” Cubbage said. “You have measurably improved your self defense skills in 30 days.” Krav is also based much more on reality rather than sport based like BJJ or kickboxing.

Krav is something anyone can do. When Ball started Krav, she said, “I was the smallest person in class, but it was still something that I could train with the adults. I was safe, I was learning things, and it made me feel a lot safer in everything I was doing.”

While self defense is the program’s entire purpose, picking up fitness is an added bonus. “This whole program is designed around high intensity interval training,” Cubbage said. “So it is brief periods of full intensity sprints followed by rest periods which have been shown to cause metabolic gains for longer than the workout itself.”

Krav is open to anyone 15 and up. No martial arts experience is required and the only thing needed is comfortable workout clothes and shoes. A free trial is running until February 10, so bring a parent or a friend and come try it out. Even if you are on the fence, “Come try a class,” Ball said. “You get a month free.”