Krav Maga is a practical form of self-defense that collegiettes can use in any dangerous situation. It was officially founded in 1978 by martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld and is currently used by the Israeli Defense Forces. It teaches practical fighting with no rules because when an aggressor attacks you in real life they have no fighting code of conduct. Krav Maga enables people to defend themselves against someone bigger and stronger. The training teaches someone how to defend against multiple attackers and start a move from any position, even if caught off guard. Krav Maga stresses avoiding a fight if possible, but if there is no escape it teaches how to attack your aggressor in the most damaging way to keep you safe.
The University of Connecticut’s own Krav Maga Club teaches aerial and ground level attacks. The group teaches ground level attacks that females can easily master. “She can do this, its easier to do as a smaller person to bring them down to your level, you’re already closer to the ground,” Krav Maga Club secretary Anna Ebora said.
Effective moves in Krav Maga are combinations that put you in control positions, such as wrists releases and choke defenses. These defenses can help you regain control, and your attacker will go down for at least a few minutes. Krav Maga also teaches pressure points, groin kicks, eye gouges, knife techniques, and even has punching drills that help strengthen skills. “Two hour circle drills with pads where you have to fight your way out, it was intense but really cool,” Ebora said.
Krav Maga ensures that the next time a collegiette is being harassed at the bar, stalked walking to her car at night, or threatened in anyway, they can launch an effective assault that will save them from a harmful situation. If a drunken friend is the perpetrator they can always use a soft technique to get out of being dragged by the wrists, such as wrist release.
Krav Maga is not just for defense, it offers exercise and serves as a healthy release from stress. “I started to like it, just being able to have a place to take out all your stress,” Ebora said. College is a handful with balancing studies, internships, work, clubs, sororities, dreaded exams, and the pursuit of a social life, but there is hope.
“Had an exam, a bad day, for me I have a tendency to let everything build up,” Ebora said. “It helps to have a place to focus to just have one focal point to throw your energy and get clarity,” she said.
Every collegiette deserves to walk in peace without the threat of attack, and Krav Maga acts as an outlet to empower, strengthen and energize yourself. “It doesn’t matter when you start we always go over the basics. Just come in with an open mind,” Ebora said. In Krav Maga the goal is to learn what it takes to survive and get out alive, it teaches exactly what is necessary for every collegiette’s guide to life.