{"id":8946,"date":"2014-11-07T00:12:03","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T08:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=8946"},"modified":"2014-11-05T16:44:44","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T00:44:44","slug":"teaching-self-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/11\/07\/teaching-self-defence\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching self-defence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Fader, left, and his business partner Borhan Jiang show a class at Urban Tactics Krav Maga how to disarm an attacker who has a knife. (photo by Albert Law)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When Jonathan Fader copied the Jewish Independent<\/em> on an open letter that he posted online in mid-August, Operation Protective Edge was winding down. Noting the sometimes violent antisemitism that it had evoked in places around the world \u2013 including in some protests that took place in Canada \u2013 he stressed the need for members of the Jewish community to know self-defence. Since then, there have been two terrorist attacks on Canadian soil.<\/p>\n

In the letter, he wrote, \u201cI am asking you to please take it seriously and find your local krav maga gym and start learning to protect yourself. If there is none near by, at the very least find the most comparable style, just learn something!\u201d<\/p>\n

Intrigued, the Jewish Independent visited the Richmond location of Urban Tactics Krav Maga, Inc., in September. Fader and his business partner, Borhan Jiang, who has been featured in the Independent<\/em> on more than one occasion, also have a Burnaby site.<\/p>\n

Raised in a somewhat observant household, Fader, 27, said he nonetheless \u201cdidn\u2019t really identify with being a Jew.\u201d He describes himself as secular, and doesn\u2019t \u201cbelieve in religion but, of course, if the world is going to call me a Jew \u2026 I might as well accept it, and I\u2019m a proud to represent the culture, but I\u2019ll do it realistically\u2026. I support Israel and what it does because, realistically, that\u2019s just the way it is, but I have criticisms like anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

From 2009-2011, Fader lived in Israel. He went there for the purpose of joining the Israel Defence Forces, and he served in the 424th infantry battalion in the Givati regiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came back, I literally did nothing,\u201d he said. He had some savings and, \u201cI was just living with my parents, living off of [my savings] for like five months. I did nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke about some of the difficulties soldiers have in returning to civilian life. In his opinion, the \u201creason that they\u2019re so slow to deal with PTSD and depression in Israel is because it\u2019s less apparent, as everyone does the army and, when you go home, people understand, and you have people to talk to. So, the rates are much lower, but there \u2026 [are] still suicides and still depression…. But, when you come back here,\u201d he said, referring to Canada, \u201cyou don\u2019t have the support of your family or your friends because nobody understands what it\u2019s like,\u201d even if PTSD is more recognized.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that, as a result of the work of veterans here, \u201cmore PTSD and depression is being dealt with now and in the North American armies at least.\u201d Once an \u201cinvisible group of people,\u201d he said soldiers have become more vocal. If you look at the Canadian army, they now are starting to put psychiatrists actively in duty, he said.<\/p>\n

For these and other reasons, Fader is studying psychology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University College. \u201cI find that psychology really helps me understand everything, from marketing to trends to people, just everything,\u201d he said, attributing the effectiveness of krav maga as a system of self-defence to the fact that \u201cit\u2019s working off of real psychology, action-reaction rate, fight or flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted about Urban Tactics\u2019 clients, \u201cInteresting thing about that is, when we first started, we figured it was going be all young guys \u2026 but that wasn\u2019t the case.\u2026 For the first year, it was predominantly males age 30 to 50 with families who wanted to protect the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

In general, Canadians don\u2019t understand \u201cwhat self-defence is and when aggression is appropriate, when violence is appropriate,\u201d said Fader. Noting that women tend to be more vulnerable, he said, to defend yourself successfully, \u201cyou need to be able to hit hard and fast, and really be willing to damage the person who is attacking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Krav maga instructor Jonathan Fader prepares to get out of a choke hold. (photo by Victor Totten Photography)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People here have the idea that you should never hit back and that you can talk yourself out of every situation, he said. And, he agrees, to a point: the first step for self-defence is to avoid the conflict completely, to not put yourself in a position where you might end up being in danger. However, if you do end up in trouble, you need to be able to assess whether talk will be enough because, \u201cif you think you\u2019re in danger, you need to attack first \u2026 because [with] action versus reaction, reaction is always slower\u2026. [In] proper self-defence, it is absolutely OK to strike first.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gave the example of a person walking through an alley at night and being attacked. First, he noted, the choice to walk down the alley was probably not a good one, \u201cand you have to take some of the blame now because that\u2019s a grand scheme self-defence: Why are you there? If you go there thinking nothing is going to happen, that\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d But, now that you\u2019re in trouble, he said, if you have the chance to run, \u201cit\u2019s OK to run, it\u2019s OK to avoid the situation.\u201d If you can\u2019t run, then you have to act first if possible, \u201cbecause if you wait, you could be knocked out \u2026 [so] kick him in the groin, go for his eyes \u2026 push, run.\u201d<\/p>\n

A good instructor, said Fader, will drill it into your head to avoid a situation, then teach you some basic techniques. But still, all the technique in the world won\u2019t help you if \u201cyou\u2019re not willing to hit that guy in the groin, go for his eyes, go for his throat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Krav maga isn\u2019t a fitness class. \u201cI\u2019m not teaching cardio kickboxing,\u201d said Fader, \u201cbut the thing is that you need to be in some physical capability in order to legitimately defend yourself against a violent attack…. You have to be able to move correctly. Some people who are \u2026 limited in what they can do but they mentally are willing to hit hard, hit fast, will be OK, reasonably, if they\u2019re up against a trained attacker\u2026. We don\u2019t teach fitness but you will get in shape \u2026 but I don\u2019t care if you lose five pounds \u2013 I want you to know that you can defend yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that both he and Jiang have trained in Israel sets Urban Tactics apart from other places that offer krav maga, said Fader. \u201cThe fact that we understand both cultures \u2013 North American and Israeli \u2013 is what truly makes us different.\u201d While most martial arts will teach you techniques that will help you stay upright during a conflict, if you do fall to the ground, and if your opponent has a weapon or an accomplice, \u201cgoing to the ground is the worst possible thing you can do, even if you\u2019re a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt.\u2026 We teach ground stuff, but it\u2019s about everything you can do to get up.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, said Fader, the techniques he teaches focus on reality, how people react in a physically threatening situation. \u201cHow do you need to deal with it, what\u2019s the strategy? It\u2019s a constant assessment. We don\u2019t just do a move and stop [in our instruction]. We always make sure, Are your hands still up? Are you paying attention? Are you looking around arbitrarily or are you actually actively scanning?\u201d Proper training, he said, will teach you how to continually assess your situation, as every second counts.<\/p>\n

Fader acknowledged that he may lose in a boxing match or a karate bout that only allows certain types of hits, but \u201cin a street fight, I\u2019m going to beat this guy because I\u2019m playing by no rules. I do whatever I have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about self-defence courses and Urban Tactics, visit urbantacticscanada.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Fader, left, and his business partner Borhan Jiang show a class at Urban Tactics Krav Maga how to disarm an attacker who has a knife. (photo by Albert Law) When Jonathan Fader copied the Jewish Independent on an open letter that he posted online in mid-August, Operation Protective Edge was winding down. Noting the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2423,2422,2424,2425,2421],"class_list":["post-8946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-borhan-jiang","tag-jonathan-fader","tag-krav-maga","tag-self-defence","tag-urban-tactics"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}