Martial Arts Boston

Martial arts have long been recognized as a practical and effective means of self-defense, however when it comes to real-life violence not all martial arts are created equally e.g., many traditional martial arts like Karate and Tae-Kwon-Do were designed to be used in a specific context, such as one-on-one sparring type competitions. Even Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), which combine systems and styles such as BJJ (Brazilian Ju-Jitsu), Muay Thai and wrestling etc., is context-specific in that its goal is to win competitions where there are rules and a certain structure to the fight, and a referee who “manages” the contest etc. If a martial art is to be effective and applicable in a real-life confrontation, then it must be practiced for the context when/where it will be used i.e., when the fight is non-consensual, happens without warning, there are no rules (weapons and multiple assailants may be present etc.) and the fight itself has no structure e.g., there aren’t rounds, that allow you to rest and recover, and the fight has no preset time limit; it goes on for as long as it does.

Training for reality means that your martial arts training needs to reflect these things, as well as others. At our martial arts training center just north of Boston we train the Israeli martial art/fighting system of Krav Maga, a reality based martial arts system that is designed to prepare you for the realities of real-life violence. We don’t teach Katas or Forms, or get caught up in traditions etc., but rather every moment spent training is in preparation for dealing with a violent assault, that may involve weapons (knife, stick or gun etc.), and multiple attackers. Our martial arts training covers all the potential dimensions of a fight; we train striking, grappling, as well as ground-fighting. Again, our focus is on survival rather than “winning” i.e., winning in the martial arts implies some form of structured/organized, consensual competition etc. In a real-life confrontation it is about coming out the other side with as few injuries as possible and being able to go to work the next day and generally get on with your life etc., with as little trauma (physical, psychological and emotional) as you can.

There are many reasons to train a martial art e.g., it could be for fitness, to be part of a lineage and tradition etc., however if your goal is that of self-defense then you need to train a system that was designed to deal with modern real-life violence, rather than ancient combat, or a sports/competitive setting/environment etc. If you are interested in learning an effective and proven martial art/system of self-defense you can register for one of our beginner martial arts classes using the button below (our martial arts school is located north of Boston at the intersection of I-93 north and I-95.

Beginner Class

Head Instructor - Gershon Ben Keren

Boston Head Instructor, Gershon Ben Keren, first started training in the martial art of Judo when he was eight. He holds a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Judo, as well as a 1st Degree Black Belt in Kyokushin Karate. In 1993 he started training in Krav Maga, an Israeli martial art that is taught to members of the IDF. He is currently a 5th Degree Black Belt in the system and has written three books about this martial art – the photos of which were taken in and around Boston, MA. He also holds a third-degree black-belt in Hisardut (a system that blends Judo, Karate and traditional Japanese Ju-Jitsu), which is taught to elite units in the Israeli military. If you are interested in learning the martial art of Krav Maga you can register for one of our beginner classes, using the button below.

Beginner Class

In 2010 Boston Martial Arts Instructor, Gershon Ben Keren, started writing a weekly blog that looked at the practical application of martial arts techniques and training for self-defense. The blog also looked at the psychology needed to make martial art training applicable for real-life violence. Since its creation in 2010 the Boston Martial Arts Blog has expanded to look at violence prevention, situational awareness, de-escalation and conflict resolution etc. Effective martial arts training needs to look at how to predict and prepare for violence rather than simply relying on techniques alone. Due to the non-consensual nature of real-life violence effective martial arts training needs to look at how violence actually occurs rather than to try and fit it to a particular format that resembles a sparring match etc. The weekly blog articles attempt to provide this education. You can access the blog using the button below (this will open a new tab in your browser)

Blog

Google Author Talks

Krav Maga Books