The HaganaH Blog

Sir, your wisdom and expertise are priceless. Although I have never had to deploy any of these techniques in a battle or engagement, what you teach us physically and mentally make sense. I believe they may very well save my life should it come to that. Kisslan is a joy to work with for his professionalism, abliites, real world knowledge. I always learn and improve when working with him.

A set of skills are great to have, but to me knowing how and when to apply them can make all the difference. I am grateful for the training you share with us. Thank you sir!

Right on SIR! Chris is awesome and a great guy to train with!
One of the the things that first attracted me to HaganaH, and remains, is the muscle-memory decisiveness of our entry techniques. Being ruthless (not meaning nesssarily cruel) is key, the ability to do what you need to do when you need to do it without hesitation (for any reason). In the split-second reaction of an attack recognition is the crucial window where our muscle memory kicks-in, after that… it’s WILL over SKILL , who wants to dominate the most and who is not willing to accept defeat under any terms… IMHO;)

BTW; great post!!! The ‘what if’s’ and ‘But, I’d do this’ are very common in training sesions and classes everywhere… your students @ HQ are fortunate to have an a seasoned/expert instructor and many senior/experienced guys to train with!!!

Sir, How ironic that this post should go up now. I have been thinking about various scenarios that can occur on the street. How an engagement really starts, what can happen during the engagement and how long it would take to end it. I even went to the extent of finding real street fights on you tube to observe and study. I realized that you rarely “square off” with an attacker and ussually and attack will happen quickly and in a haphazzard manner. I definately see that the best situation is as you stated, finish it in 10 seconds (or less). I had estimated it would be no longer than 30 seconds before I would be in trouble (probably less time than that). I have come to realize that as you have taught us, the basics, the attributes, must be strong for technique to be of maximum benefit. I also find that, at least from my point of view, one of the most important attributes to have is endurance. It seems to me that if you have endurance and can outlast your opponents energy level, you have a much better chance at surviving. Every aspect of training is vital. Technique, muscle-memory, training to be smooth…but you need the endurance as well. My humble opinion.

@Stu Bryant
I have the privilege of studying HaganaH with Stu Bryant, and although I’m new to this system I do have some previous –unsought, undesired — experience with defending one’s self against violence.

HaganaH, for the reasons Stu Byrant emphasizes, has a lot going for it. The techniques can be executed under stress — many of them even if the person has already been struck, injured, dazed, etc. This because the movements are not only trained into muscle memory. But also because the movements are basic (gross motor coordination) and generally work with — not against — one’s instinctive reactions.

Exceptions to every rule, but most people will discover that in a violent encounter, skills that require fine motor coordination degrade very quickly. Likewise, one’s sense of time — and timing — goes out the window. Everything happens too fast/ simultaneously, too slow, or seems to happen somewhere else. All that finesse stuff — forget about it.

What can help you succeed when the tunnel vision starts kicking in? Or even when you start to see through a reddish haze? A few simple and strong moves you can execute without thinking about — without having to plan or choose. And that desire — the WILL — to get out of the situation.

I personally don’t know if HaganaH or any self-defense system can teach that will to survive — to prevail. But I think that a lot of people do have it –even if it’s been dormant, sleeping. & HaganaH can give them the tools to use it, amplify it.

I’m confident that my HaganaH training at Stu’s center in West Chester, PA, will be helpful if, when and should crunch time ever come again. I thank him, his student instructors, and my fellow students for a great training environment.

& I thank MLK for this sensible, pragmatic system. One deliberately missing the nonsense, the mysticism, the tea ceremony, the silly hierarchies, and the “beautiful butterfly” dancing found in too many martial arts that also bill themselves as practical self-defense.

My HaganaH instructors at West Chester, from Stu Byrant on down have been very clear at what HaganaH does and does not do. It doesn’t pretend to have 3000 techniques and all the answers. It’s not an LEO restraint and control style (which is valuable, but not the goal of Combatives). It’s been a no-BS experience with some great people, and may the community always stay that way.