Sharpen your survival instinct: Meet Delhi-based Krav Maga experts Vicky Kapur, Kaustav Sehgal

Krav Maga is not a strength-based system; it is based on tactics, smartness, and common sense. Also, Krav Maga has only one rule, which is that it does not follow any rules.

Contact Combat India

Watching the perfectly-choreographed moves by Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003) or by Jackie Chan in, well, any Chan movie might often instil in most of us the desire to learn and boast similar martial arts skills.

These moves, however, are not practical in street fight situations. In fact, the most important aspects when experiencing an on-road violent encounter include identifying and being aware of the situation while learning to survive it.

This is what Krav Maga—an Israeli self-defence system that is now picking up steam, especially in Delhi-NCR—stresses on. This physical training discipline is known to help practitioners improve their reflexes and sharpen their survival skills.

International Ultimate Krav Maga Federation

C for combat
Krav Maga—it literally means contact combat in Hebrew—was devised in the 1940s by Imi Lichtenfeld. Kaustav Sehgal (29), co-founder of Contact Combat India, a Krav Maga and Kickboxing Studio in CR Park, Gurugram, and Noida, gives us more insight into the origin.

“Lichtenfeld was a Jew, and he wanted to develop a system to protect his community from the Nazis. Krav Maga is a system formed by mixing different martial arts—Muay Thai, Jujutsu, Karate, Taekwondo, boxing.

It has been adopted by the Israeli defence forces, the Mossad, and by the FBI, CIA, and even by India’s RAW and NSG.”

This self-defence technique was crafted keeping in mind elements from traditional martial arts that are particularly useful on the streets.

Sehgal adds, “Traditional martial arts were made 1000s of years ago, and at that time, they were useful because they served different purposes. But a street fight now is done by using bare hands or when someone comes at you with a knife or a handgun. So, developing that [reflexes so as to fight in such situations] is necessary and that is what Krav Maga teaches.”

Elaborating on Krav Maga, Vicky Kapur (57), founder of the International Ultimate Krav Maga Federation (IUKMF)—they have about 13 centres in Delhi-NCR and 80 spread across India—says, “Krav Maga is the most effective system of self-defence in the world. It helps with total street survival skills minus the rules and fancy stuff [as is in traditional martial arts].”

A must-try for women
“If a woman is 50kg, and a 100kg man attacks her, she will be unable to go in for a full-out physical brawl with him and win. In Krav Maga, we teach women to attack the [attacker’s] vulnerable points such as the eyes, groin, solar plexus, knee caps, etc., so as to just disengage him or neutralise him for a while till she can get away from him or call for help. Basically, it is not just about your fighting ability, but also about your awareness and how to prevent a situation, which is necessary for women to know,” says Sehgal, stressing why Krav Maga makes for a great self-defence system for women to learn.

Kapur adds that not only is it an easy-to-learn system, it is also extremely effective especially to survive in a street fight. He concludes, “Krav Maga is not a strength-based system; it is based on tactics, smartness, and common sense. Also, Krav Maga has only one rule, which is that it does not follow any rules. The only thing to keep in mind is survival.”

THINGS TO FOCUS ON

• Kaustav Sehgal says, “It is important for women to believe that they are worth protecting. Many women we train find it disgusting or are fearful [while doing Krav Maga] about ‘what if it hurts the person too much'. But if you don’t do it, the attacker will do much worse. You need to realise that you are worth fighting for. Do whatever you can to get home safely."
• Vicky Kapur says, “When walking on the streets, keep your hands free. Never hold a phone, bag, or anything else in your hand. This is because, in a situation, you can use your hands in defence—also, if someone pushes you, you will land on the floor and can protect your body or face.”