Israeli martial arts fights its way into local police training regime

Typical small-town police forces are not trained in Israeli military martial arts. The police forces of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, however, are far from typical.

In May, some of the area's police officers will supplement their law-enforcement skills with Krav Maga — the martial art designed in the 1930s specifically for Israeli defense forces.

David Kahn '94, who is coordinating the workshops, first suggested training Borough and Township police in the martial arts after returning to Princeton from a trip to Israel earlier this year. He said Public Safety and other police forces in the area also have been invited to the workshops.

"What separates Krav Maga is that its origins are in the military and this makes it important for the police to know," Kahn explained. "It's developed for soldiers and police forces."

Krav Maga incorporates tactics to avoid weapons such as handguns, rifles, knives, other sharp edges and rocks. This makes it very useful to defense and police forces.

"It is designed to defend against weapons," Kahn said. "Krav Maga teaches how to deal with a violent person very quickly while injuring the person as little as possible."

The FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard Interdiction Team and the Drug Enforcement Agency are some of the American agencies that practice Krav Maga.

So far, several local law enforcement agencies have expressed interest in the special training.

Township police will be required to attend the training, which is being subsidized by the department. The workshop will be optional for Borough officers. Borough Police Lt. Charles Davall said, however, that only a few of the 34 Borough police have expressed interest in the Krav Maga sessions.

"The cost might be a deterrent, but there is a good chance that the department will reimburse the officers for it," he said.

Davall added that he expects the training to be useful for the department. "Dave wants to do something good for the police," he said. "He thinks so highly of this training and that Krav Maga would be great for us as well."

Kahn first learned of Krav Maga six years ago when he was in law school at the University of Miami. He is now one of only five Krav Maga instructors in America who are certified by the Israeli Krav Maga Association.

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He has spent more than 400 hours training in Israel under the grandmaster of the martial art, Hiam Gidon, who is a tenth-degree black belt. Though the fighting style includes elements of Aikido, Karate, wrestling and boxing, Krav Maga is meant to be used in self-defense.

According to Kahn, there are no Krav Maga tournaments because the moves used attack a person's more vulnerable body parts and can easily cause injury. "It is very practical," he said. "It builds on the instincts that people have in dangerous situations."

Krav Maga also uses tactics that were designed for women because women fought in Israel's war for independence and continue to play an important role in the country's military, Kahn said.

In addition to the police training in May, Kahn hopes to give a course for women that will focus on how to avoid sexual assault. "This is probably also the best defense system for women," he said. "It helps if you are athletic, but the style was designed for people of all sizes."