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Israeli martial arts becomes popular with celebrities and others in UK

Independent:

A self-defence system devised for the battlefields of the Middle East which has become the preferred fitness regime of celebrities and thousands of other civilians across the world is taking off in Britain.

Krav Maga, a highly effective form of unarmed combat pioneered by the Israeli Defence Force and adopted by security professionals, has become the fastest-growing self-defence system in the world.

Adapted to civilian needs, the system, which is based on natural human survival instincts, is now practised by more than 200,000 people globally and has been adopted by Hollywood celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Kristanna Loken and Shannon Elizabeth as both a means of defence and fitness.

The growth of Krav Maga in Britain comes as an increasing number of Britons turn to martial arts and self-defence classes as a way of gaining both fitness and a skill useful for modern life.

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"People are reacting to what is happening in society," said Paul Clifton, publisher of Britain's leading martial arts magazine, Combat. "Knives are easy to come by and so, increasingly, are guns. People are looking to get fit and stay safe."

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Krav Maga, which is based on an individual's own natural instincts and automatic responses, uses hands, forearms, elbows, knees, legs and heads to strike vulnerable parts of a body including ears, eyes, throat, groins, knees and anything else which achieves the aim of its one and only philosophy of "protect and survive".

Classes often involve the use of rubber knives or guns to simulate various scenarios as students are trained to deal with a variety of situations.

It is not at all surprising that martial arts is becoming popular in the UK. The country has disarmed its citizens and left them more vulnerable. Martial arts became extremely popular in Japan during a period where the Samurai were so dominant that no one else was permitted to own a sword. As a result all those weapons used in the martial arts movies were invented by people who were denied the use of the sword for defense. Many of them are based on equipment used by Japanese farmers.