Real Self-Defence in the North East!
Welcome to Cleveland Krav Maga. Based in the North East, we are a club at the cutting-edge of practical, effective self-defence and self-protection. We practice a system based on Urban Krav Maga (UKM). UKM is one of the fastest-growing self-defence systems in the UK. Why? Because it's easy to learn and it works. It's that simple.
Why does our system work?
Because there's a lot more to effective self-defence than just learning a bunch of clever tricks. You need to understand why you may be targeted, how you are likely to be approached, and what that will feel like. How will you react? If you freeze, all the clever tricks are a waste of time. You need to know how to avoid confrontation altogether if you can, and learn what to expect, and how to control your reactions and responses if you can't.
Our aim is that all our students develop a working strategy to avoid trouble whenever possible, together with the genuine ability to deal with real violence quickly and effectively, if they have to.
Our system is built on a simple but effective Self-Protection Strategy, including training in Awareness, Avoidance, Escape and Conflict Management, as well as unarmed combat. Our reality-based training focuses on all aspects of urban self-defence.
What is Krav Maga? (pronounced krav m'gar)
It's a hebrew phrase meaning 'contact combat' or 'close combat' and it describes the close-quarter combat training given to the Israel Defence Force (IDF) and Israeli special forces. All adults in Israel must do national service, so it's a system that must work effectively for everyone, regardless of gender, size or strength.
How is Urban Krav Maga (UKM) different?
It's a civilian version, adapted and developed for use by civilians in all kinds of self-defence situations. Many of the military aspects of Israeli Krav Maga are irrelevant for civilians, so we cannot promise that all the techniques you learn will be identical to those used by the Israeli commandos. However, we can promise that they are based on the same principles. They are tried and tested, we know they work, and we are happy for you to judge them on their own merits.
UKM is a solution-oriented system. We don't spend months or years perfecting techniques before learning their practical applications like many traditional martial arts. Nor do we learn 'self-defence applications' that are too stylised or complicated to work in the real world. Our approach is 100% practical - "what's the threat, and how do we deal with it, simply and effectively?". You will learn real, useable skills in your first lesson, and in every lesson.
We draw on the best elements of oriental and western fighting systems, as well as Israeli Krav Maga, to constantly refine and improve UKM; but we take from them only the skills and principles that work in real urban combat situations.
Thugs, muggers and rapists don't 'play by the rules', so UKM is definitely not a sport. We routinely train in the use of self-defence techniques that are banned from all martial arts competitions and combat sports, including MMA, because they are considered too dangerous (which really means 'too effective') for use in a sporting context.
We also train in defence against weapons. With the government announcing in late 2008 that 5 people are killed in knife attacks every week in the UK, we consider this aspect of our training very important.
To gain acceptance into our system a technique must be rigorously tested against our core principles:
It must be quick and easy to learn, simple to use, and it must work under pressure.
UKM works for men, women and teenagers, regardless of size, weight, strength or 'punching power'.
Our training focuses on realistic "what if..." scenarios, teaching you key principles that you can adapt to enable you to deal with any situation that might arise.
What will you learn at Cleveland Krav Maga?
