Boston Martial Arts Instructor

Head Instructor: Gershon Ben Keren

Gershon Ben Keren is a highly regarded martial arts instructor who specializes in the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga. Based in Boston, he is the head instructor at Krav Maga Yashir Boston. With over 30 years of experience, Ben Keren is a fifth-degree black belt in the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga and has studied under prominent figures in the field, including training in Israel with original students of Imi Lichtenfeld, the founder of Krav Maga, including Miki Assulin, Eyal Yanilov, Avi Moyal, Gabi Noah, and Haim Gidon.

He began studying martial arts in 1980 with Judo, earning a second-degree black belt and competing successfully at the national level. His martial arts expertise also includes black belts in Kyokushin Karate and Japanese Ju-Jitsu. Ben Keren's experience extends beyond martial arts into security work. Starting as a nightclub doorman in the UK, he gained firsthand experience handling real-world violence, which informed his practical and effective teaching approach.

Academically, Ben Keren holds advanced – master’s - degrees in psychology (Newcastle University) and criminology (University of Essex), focusing on violent behavior and environmental criminology e.g., the spatial and temporal aspects of violent crime etc., This academic background shapes his evidentially-based training programs, which address realistic scenarios such as street robberies and workplace violence e.g., his research includes analyzing over 140 active shooter incidents to better inform self-defense strategies against this particular type of violence.

Ben Keren is also an accomplished author, with three books on the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga (Tuttle Publishing) that emphasize practical self-defense solutions to real-world violence. His school just north of Boston is dedicated solely to Krav Maga (rather than other martial arts), ensuring an authentic training environment that is focused solely on practical self-defense. Classes cater to all experience levels (and audiences including adults, kids and teens etc.), emphasizing realistic, effective techniques and solutions for dealing with aggression and violence.

He also heads and instructs the SEPS (Situation Effective Protection System) Women’s self-defense program in Boston. This is a free women’s self-defense and personal safety program that has been available to women in Boston, Massachusetts and New England since 2010. This is more than a martial arts program for women, offering practical instruction in how to predict, prevent and avoid violence by understanding the signals and methods that predatory individuals give off/use/demonstrate.

Gershon Ben Keren runs a full-time dedicated martial arts training facility just north of the city of Boston, offering both martial arts training as well as self-defense, personal security training to individuals and organizations. If you are interested in attending one of his introductory martial arts/Krav Maga classes, please use the button below.

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