In the darkness of every night lurks a potential danger. You may go your whole life without experiencing the terror of an attacker darting out an alley. Or you might find yourself forced to fight or lose your life when an unstable force comes hurtling your way. How will you respond?
Imi Lichtenfeld invented the technique known as Krav Maga on these violent streets of Eastern Europe. The balance had swung in the favor of Nazis and he had no choice but defend himself or perish. In those days, Lichtenfeld learned how to counter assailants wielding knives, bats, guns, chains and weapons no had even seen before. It was survival of the strongest – survival of a fighter who could bring unparalleled mental toughness to every encounter and overcome physical limitations with sheer cunning and lightning-quick reflexes.
The Vinidication of a Self-Defense Style
Lichtenfeld survived that ugly period from the mid-1930s all the way up to the Nazi takeover of the region. He made it out of Europe on one of the last refugee boats that took to sea. It was a painful experience, but the proof was indisputable: Lichtenfeld was a survivor and his technique had worked. Upon settling in Israel after the war, the IDF quickly made a place for him in special forces training.
Incorporating these survival techniques to suit modern times took less refining than you might think. The same concept applies to modern-day muggings. You are walking down the street and you happen to notice a shadow moving in an alleyway. No one is on the street. As you approach, you see movement. An attacker jumps out…are you ready to engage, or do you feel hopeless?
Living in fear is no way to respond to the challenges of this world. Krav Maga is not a system designed to get you asserting yourself in violent situations. It is a technique meant to reassure you. It is confidence, pure and simple. When your life is on the line, you’ll know you are ready to respond.
Don’t wait for the moment when you are caught unprepared. Act now and get your free private lesson to see for your self the difference between a prepared person and an unprepared person.
Krav Maga is an excellent antidote to this trend. With confidence and physical strength from this technique, your child will be able to respond to attempts at undercutting his or her routine at school. Krav Maga is the ultimate mental and physical training for children of all ages. Here are its best features:
Developing character: Sports that demand intense focus and dedication from your children are excellent for character building. Krav Maga is the product of fighters trained in boxing and wrestling, disciplines known for their intensity. By training in Krav Maga, your child will develop that resilience that is a part of every sound mind. Instead of looking for the easy way out, Krav Maga teaches to look for the best way out.
Teaching leadership skills:Krav Maga’s founder quickly realized he had a gift and needed to help friends in Slovakia’s Jewish ghetto develop survival skills. This technique teaches children to be leaders; to stand up for what is right; to protect friends; and help band together to thwart the efforts of evil forces. Allowing your child to be a leader in his earliest communities will be a positive experience later in life.
I want to give a special shout out to all the members of our Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team that are out today fighting for cancer! Tap cancer out is not only a great competition for out team to get some practice in, but it is an amazing fundraiser for cancer. Too many people are loosing the fight to cancer everyday. I’m sure we all have had an experience with a cancer patient. We need to do all we can to help these people. And what better way then combining our favorite sport with a fundraiser? There is also a way for people who cannot or don’t compete to just donate a little money. People fighting cancer are giving everything, even their last breath to try to make a break through for someone else. Let’s keep fighting the fight. Dragon within teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu not only for a street fighting stand point, but will also teach anyone who is willing to learn, the fundamentals of competing. We will make you the best competitor you are capable of. If you’re willing to put in the effort, we will take you the distance. Way to go team dragon for competing this weekend and for fighting in the fight against cancer. You truly are an inspiration to those less fortunate.
Tap out cancer has only been around since 2011, but has already made a huge impact. Together with donations, these competitions have raised over $135,000 for numerous cancer causes.
Statistics show that over 560,000 people lose the fight against cancer every year. This equals to 1,500 people a day. Can you imagine how many 1,500 is? That is a lot of people to die in one day. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. This is equal to 1 out of every 4 deaths are due to cancers.
“At Tap Cancer Out, believe that the jiu-jitsu community can come together to help raise money and awareness to support these organizations, hospitals, doctors, researchers and volunteers who won’t quit until they’ve forced cancer to tap out.”
We need to make people understand that BJJ is not only about fighting and being big and strong. It is not as intimidating as some make it seem. Bjj students are like a family or a unit. They take their skill and turn it into a way of life for themselves. Bringing all these families together to raise money is the same as bringing the running community together to run 5k’s for cancer.
“Tap Out: A combat sports term for yielding to the opponent, and hence resulting in an immediate defeat.“
The guard is a significant part of the Jiu Jitsu game since it offers both offense and defense on the ground even while situated on your back. The ability to pass the guard gives a Jiu Jitsu player an edge as well. Through being able to consistently pass the guard, the offensive and defensive capabilities of an opposing Jiu Jitsu player become less effective. Becoming talented at guard passing does not refer to learning a ton of different guard passes and merely memorizing them. Good guard passing skill is based on understanding a number of basic principles and being able to effectively execute them.
This is not always safe. At Dragon Within, we understand that without decent control of an opponent and good posture on your part, a weak guard pass leaves you vulnerable for sweeps and submissions. The process of passing the guard the properly begins with establishing good base and posture. Base refers to maintaining both stability and a low center of gravity, two traits critical to prevent from being off balanced or swept. Posture means your positioning protects the neck, arms, and legs from attacks. Once your posture and base are solid, the time comes to control the legs and, if the guard is closed, uncross the ankles.
Opening up the closed guard requires putting some level of pressure on the legs to force the ankles to uncross. Again, without good base and posture, this is not going to be easy at all. Once you have opened up the legs, you must control them along with the hips. With the open guard, you do not have to uncross the ankles. You simply go right into controlling the hips and legs, although this can sometimes be difficult based on the positioning certain open guard present.
Whether you choose to go over or under the legs, you positively must put pressure on your opponent. Controlling the hips is important to prevent an opponent from putting you back in the guard, although focusing solely on the hips while ignoring the importance of pinning him can make a guard pass weaker. The finishing positions of a guard pass is a pin be it side control, the scarf hold, or even the North/South position. To make a pin work effectively, you have to really anchor your weight down. This process has to start during the guard pass because, quite simply, a loose guard pass is not going to help keep anyone in place for a pin.
Among the best ways to become better at guard passing is to drill. Your training partner can put you in a number of different guards. While the partner offers moderate resistance, you work on guard passing and pinning. Correct your flaws and mistakes and try to improve with each training session. Your guard passing skills might increase immensely as a result. And great improvement could come far quicker than you ever imagined.
No one likes to be pinned down in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Pinning and holding is a large part of the game so anyone interested in learning Jiu Jitsu must learn how to deal with pins. The various top positions such as mount, side mount, north/south, scarf hold, and even knee on stomach are all designed to keep someone in place so in order to be submitted. Escape is the goal when you are pinned, but escaping is not always easy to do. You could end up being pinned for several minutes. To help reduce the chances of being submitted, your posture has to solidly defensive while also creating the best leverage for escaping.
Keeping the elbows close to the body would be among the most important of all posture considerations. There are two major problems present when the elbows are too far from the core of the body. The first is the arms are very vulnerable to submissions. An opponent can easily wrap under the elbow and go into a spinning armlock. The reason it is so easy to wrap the arm is the distance from the elbow and the body presents a significant amount of space.
The second problems is the arms lose a great deal of strength since supporting muscle groups cease to be involved. As a result, forcing the arm down to execute a bent shoulder lock is not all that tough. An opponent on top has a lot of leverage. Having weak arm posture further reduces the ability to defend the arms. Pulling the arms and elbows in towards the body makes attacking them dramatically more difficult.
In order to escape from the bottom, your elbows must press into points on the opponent’s body in order to create space. This is very difficult to achieve when the elbows are even slightly out of position. When they are too far from the body, they can offer no effective leverage at all.
Does this mean all hope is lost when your elbows are out of position. No, it just means you must make it a priority to bring them back in. Performing a simple short bridge to bump an opponent up can create enough space for just enough time to return the elbows to their correct position.
The is Kyra Gracie. The daughter of the original founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Anyone can do jiu-jitsu and even if you think you cant, well show you that you can. Here I will give you the ins and outs of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and when you have finished reading, you’ll want to give it a shot too.
Grappling is a term used in martial arts to describe maneuvers, combinations, and ground work. It does not include striking of any sort or weapons control. Now some martial arts will include striking along side with grappling, but this does not mean it is the same thing. It is mainly just a term for grabbing each other. Jiu-Jitsu is a specific combination of moves that consists of pins, locks and gaining control over your opponent while on the ground. It is a sport that will make you a patient person. It takes years to get to a high rank. There is a reason for this. Technique is not the only thing Jits counts on; it also counts on maturity and age. It is one of the more political sports.
Throws: A throw is a technique in which one grappler lifts or off-balances the opponent and throws that opponent off of him. The purpose of throws varies, must mostly emphasizes throws with the potential to make the next move, position ones self in a standing position or to gain the pin.
Sprawling: When being taken down, one can sometimes counter act that take down with sprawling. Sprawling is done by shifting the legs backwards and spread out in one fast motion. If you do it correctly you will land on the opponent’s back and gain control.
Submissions holds: Submission holds consist of chokes and locks. Chokes can strangle or suffocate someone. Locks are more to trap the opponent and possibly cause injury or breakage to body part. This is one effective way to get your opponent to tap out or give up.
Securing or controlling techniques: securing is basically exactly how it sounds. You are attempting to hold down the opponent and secure them for a win, or until help arrives depending on your situation.
Escapes: This too is exactly how it sounds. This is the act of getting out or away from danger/opponent.
Turnovers: The point of a turn over is to get someone on their back. This is more used in competition style for point’s advantages.
Reversals or Sweeps: Think of a sweep as you are sweeping yourself off the rug. In most cases you are on the bottom sweeping yourself on top of the opponent to gain the control.
Jiu-Jitsu is one of the oldest forms of martial arts. It is know to be founded in ancient time, although no one certain on what time exactly. It was founded in Japan, China, Persia, Germany Egypt and India. There is a weaponless form of wrestling that has similarities to Jiu-Jitsu. During Alexander the Great’s times (356 b.c. -323 b.c.) he brought this Greek culture of wrestling to many other areas such as India, were Jiu-Jitsu is likely to be born. Now although founded most likely in India, there is proof of the Shaolin Temple, built in the center of China, hosting Dharma as the creature of Buddhism and Boxing.
Later in history, the samurai warriors took this and created jiu-jitsu in its original form. Buddhist monks perfected it through their knowledge of the body’s law of physics, leverage, momentum, balance, center of gravity, and weight transmission of the body parts. They had it down to an exact science.
From 1860-1938 a man names Jigoro Kano, a practioner of Jiu-Jitsu, and a man of many talents not only created Judo, but took his arts to other countries and began teaching. During WWII we even got the knowledge of Judo and took it back to America. But the real story is how Kano taught in Brazil.
There are many types of Jiu-Jitsu. All types can be practiced in real life situations and in competition setting. The whole point of Jits is ending a fight quickly. Compared to UFC fighting which is older than Jits competing, no one knows how to handle a fight on the ground or if they do, they cant finish the fight. Now a days things have come a long way and people tend to practice more Jits in any sport of fighting they take. To compete in Jits, You tend to win by point or by submissions. The more locks and submissions, equals more points. Just because you think you got the last pin, doesn’t mean you win. It has to be about technique and point value.
Now I could on and on about the art and history of BJJ, but the fact is you need to see it yourself. So what are you waiting for….
Don’t wait, Schedule your FREE, that’s right, FREE private lesson. What do you have to loose, besides weight and laziness. You have everything to gain, including technique, style, control, and much more. So act now and get in here with us
*We put together a team of hard working students. They worked after class to prepare for a demo at the 8th annual Culture fest. These martial artists are truly inspirational.*
So at Dragon Within Mixed Martial Arts, We could have basically taken all of our students and made a fantastic demo team. We have approximately 100 child students in 3 different age groups. These age groups make up our 3 classes; Little Dragons, Juniors, and finally Young Adults. Our little Dragons are 4-6 years old. Our Juniors are ages 7-10 years old and our Young Adults are ages 11-14. We gathered as a team and hand picked 15 kids from all three classes to perform in the demonstration.
We pair up all our students carefully with each other to avoid any size or strength issues. No child is set up for failure!
We keep them motivated with rewards and special attention and praise all the time. We even offered a snack in between classes because they get hungry after all that exercise.
-Baylie walks down the street and yet again, runs into that mean ol’ bully of her, Autumn. Autumn puts her hands on her one more and time and Baylie has had enough She defends herself with a crazy monkey in 50/50 then a take down. But she doesn’t stop there, no she mounts and pins that mean bully. She takes total control of the situation and then calls for help. This is great way to assert yourself against a bully with our hurting them. Remember our intention is not to hurt anyone, but do defend and evade the situation.
-Sarah and Steph (one of our adult students) demonstrate a little competition mixed with some real life skill. The show walking teep kicks into roundhouse kicks. This shows a more traditional Thai Kickboxing and what its all about.
Each student looks absolutely adorable up on stage, and not one student got stage fright. They were all excited and pumped to perform!
The Dragon’s at Dragon Within have been involved in martial arts training for over 50 years combined. This school has been alive for more than 10 years and is constantly growing. Our philosophy is to teach students self defense within the Art. The staff and students show compassion when training in the Dojo.
We believe that within the structured class our students develop self-confidence, motivation to set and reach goals, respect, discipline, and self control. Our class is taught at a pace, which allows students to advance in their belt over time. The time and work it takes to stay in class and earn a higher rank is what grows character, self-discipline, and patience. We understand that it is a difficult thing to stay motivated towards, which is why it is such a great achievement when they receive that belt. We stay focused on the Art and the way our curriculum is designed helps develop positive characteristics in our students over time.
Our kickboxing class has the same mentality. The curriculum is designed to keep you focused and motivated. You will feel like you have accomplished something new after each class whether it be physically or mentally.
If you have a Facebook and would like to see a recent album or see the flow of the way we operate please find us at facebook.com/dwmma . We also post schedule changes and member notifications there as well so definitely a good idea anyways!
We have experience with students of all backgrounds and maturity levels. Even children with social disorders and anxieties tend to thrive at Dragon Within
Our goal is to help our members to develop, grow, and improve both physically and mentally through their progression in Mixed Martial Arts, Krav Maga, Thai Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Self defense and Fitness Training. We accomplish this by offering the most functional, realistic, innovative, and enjoyable martial arts and fitness training available.
**We would also like to give a special thanks to Miss Jess, kids program coordinator and lead instructor, for putting together such an amazing show. And huge thanks to the A3D for hosting the 8th Annual Culture Fest in downtown Salem and inviting us to be a part of it.**
Guard passing remains one of the most important skills to develop in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The guard is a significant part of the Jiu Jitsu world since it offers both offense and defense on the ground even while situated on your back. The ability to pass the guard gives a Jiu Jitsu student an edge as well. Through being able to consistently pass the guard, the offensive and defensive capabilities of an opposing Jiu Jitsu student become less effective.
Once your posture and base are solid, the time comes to control the legs and, if the guard is closed, uncross the ankles.
Opening up the closed guard required putting some level of pressure on the legs to force the ankles to uncross. Again, without good base and posture, this is not going to be easy at all. Once you have opened up the legs, you must control them along with the hips. With the open guard, you do not have to uncross the ankles. You simply go right into controlling the hips and legs, although this can sometimes be difficult based on the positioning certain open guard present.
Does this mean all hope is lost when your elbows are out of position. No, it just means you must make it a priority to bring them back in. Performing a simple short bridge to bump an opponent up can create enough space for just enough time to return the elbows to their correct position.
All of this takes practice and experience, but that is what training is for. As long as you continue to focus on good posture on the bottom, the chances are likely you will improve in no time.
USA TODAY WASHINGTON says “More than 40% of U.S. colleges and universities have conducted no investigations of alleged sexual assaults over the last five years, according to an explosive survey of more than 300 schools by a congressional subcommittee.
Federal law requires colleges to follow up on reports of sexual assault, yet dozens of schools have failed to provide basic training on how to do that, the survey found. Nearly 73% do not have protocols for how campus authorities and local law enforcement should work together when cases arise. And some schools have no designated coordinator to handle such efforts even though federal law requires it.”
Why not prepare now for what may or may not happen in the future. Why let yourself become a statistic. Don’t end up letting anyone take advantage of you. Learn how to use a bigger aslant’ body weight against them. At dragon Within, we teach specific combinations of moves to help any person defend themselves in an altercation.
So why wait for something to happen. Don’t be that person walking home from a party or study session, that gets abducted. There had been too many cases of people getting hurt or taken. Be prepared, and be aware of your surroundings.
There is so much moreto gain from Martial Arts classes than you could ever gain from a typical gym. Instead of mindlessly picking things up and putting them down, Martial Arts increases your physical fitness by stimulating your brain and coordination to target, and work muscles. Martial Arts classes will keep your muscles constantly learning new moves which ultimately burns body fat faster than ever. Our instructors provide the motivation and new self defense tactics to keep your mind active while your body works hard towards your goal weight. This mind and body combination alleviates stress, and helps provide a mental space for you to vacate your problems and focus on Martial Arts. The benefits you gain from Martial Arts class could change your life forever. Plus it looks great on a resume!
Martial Arts is significantly more valuable than a generic gym routine. It looks great on college and career applications. It provides an organized hobby that directly shows employers and colleges that you are a disciplined, hard working, and dedicated individual. Employers understand the time and commitment it takes to earn a black belt in Martial Arts. This hobby also reflects a solid sense of mental wellness, and in the work force today, that is exactly what they are looking for. The belt progression and ranking systems reflect the amount of time and commitment you have put into the hobby. By saying that you are a black belt in Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or Thai Kickboxing, essentially you are telling your employers and colleges that you are goal orientated and you can stay focused and committed to working hard to reaching your goals. Ultimately your belt provides proof that you can put down on paper that you are not mindlessly spending your time goofing off but you are voluntarily learning and even exercising in a productive environment. Colleges and employers really are impressed to see that Art under your Skills or Activities section of your resume or applications. If you cant get the career you have always wanted, start by taking Martial Arts for a few months, and then see how you feel about going after that position.
Not happy with your current job or lifestyle? The self confidence you gain from class will allow you to step up to the plate and make those risky decisions it takes to move up in the world. Martial Arts will bring you to a higher level of awareness and wellness so that you can see the changes in your life you need to make. The confidence you gain from the classes may provide that boost it takes to make those transitions in life much easier for you to control and manage. After taking a Martial Arts class you simply know your self better. Wether you are kicking higher in Thai Kickboxing, or throwing a bigger jab hook combination, the classes show you exactly what you are physically and mentally capable of. You will be surprised how much you can grow in a single month of taking Martial Arts classes. You become more flexible and as you see the changes in your body; you may then begin to see the changes you need to make in all aspects of your life to continue growing in a productive, happy, and energetic environment.
Your entire life can turn around when you consistently show up to Martial Arts class. Wether you have a good day or a bad day, by simply showing up to class you are getting that much closer to another belt, and a better body. The fact that you continue going to class even on days you don’t feel up to it, you are positioning yourself to build character and self discipline. The good effects Martial Arts has your mental wellness are endless.
If you just can’t stick to a diet or exercise plan, call Dragon Within today. Our instructors take the time to motivate you to stay committed to reach your goal weight. If you don’t feel like you are getting the recognition you deserve at your current job, take Martial Arts classes. The confidence you could gain from Krav Maga classes will make you stand out from the crowd. The mental efficiency you gain may send you soaring above your fellow coworkers and into that new position you have been working so hard for. It will give you self discipline it takes to wait for the opportunity. It will give you the self control it takes to make decision to make the change you really need. Your life could completely change for the better by consistently coming to Martial Arts class. From exercising, to learning self defense, you are expanding your mind for greatness. If you need a change in your life now is the time to start. Make this year one for the books, and try a class today!
Training in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) is a lot of fun because there is so much variety to it. There are many different ways in which you can develop your self-defense and fitness program into the practice of Brazilian Jiu-Jistu. This variety of BJJ beginnings help create a unique competitive edge as you progress within the art. For example, depending on how you start BJJ, you may naturally be good at a specific element of it. Some competitors may become known for their guard, while others will have a fantastic top game. From there, different styles of practicing the art may arise. For example, you may prefer grappling with Gi practitioners, or even with no Gi specialists, or you may even join in with all those who just have a talent for the world of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). Every BJJ artist holds a different journey and therefore becomes their own unique BJJ competitor.
Again, there is a lot of choice available to you within the art and you can develop as a BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) competitor in many different ways. This is definitely a good thing but there is a drawback that can sneak up on you if you are not careful. That drawback would be falling into the trap of accumulation.
What is accumulation? It is the art of being a technique collector. As the name suggests, being a technique collector refers to learning an enormous amount of moves on a superficial level. Refining the material and learning about the fine points never occurs. The nature of trying to learn something new all the time makes it next to impossible to refine material. Basically, “refining” means performing the same material over and over again to know, and understand it on a deeper level.
Why do so many beginners wish to accumulate so much? It is just the exciting nature of being a beginner. Everyone that starts out in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) wants to see more and more of the art.
There is also a lot of peer pressure that comes from wanting to buy the top new DVDs offering the classic moves of a top BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). Certainly, viewing such material is a smart move. However, trying to memorize it in a week and then moving on to new material a week later just simply is not be the best strategy to follow.
Since refinement requires a lot of repetition, many will wonder if it is a boring process. The answer is no because the deeper your understanding grows of the art, you will find the deeper the power grows within your take downs and submissions. You will learn there is always something new to learn about a particular move, and refining that move you will create an entirely new power within yourself. An arm-bar could take a lifetime to study and still only the surface of the art will be scratched.
If you want a little motivation for refining your BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) game, all you need to do is accept the fact that all the top players do this to be at the top. This is why you don’t see sloppy fighters throwing everything at an opponent. Rather, you will see fighters with solid, tight games that are focused and their performances are very controlled and specific. All that comes from refinement. So, refine your BJJ game and become a top fighter!
Forged Bjj Krav Maga Self Defense Salem MA 