On June 17th , Father’s Day, I woke up early to to spend a great one hour with my family at home and got on the road to drive up to Fort Dobbins a little north of Atlanta in Georgia. I arrived there around 8:00pm checked into my hotel and got a good night sleep before a long week of intense training.
The next morning I met HaganaH Black Belt Misha Novitzki at the guard gate of Fort Dobbins to get my clearance for the week to enter the base to train the group of Soldiers and SWAT members of Atlanta PD for the week. Misha teaches an HaganaH and Army Combative program on a weekly base at Fort Dobbins and is always presence when I teach at Fort Dobbins, he has so far , including this recent week help me three times to teach specific military groups with specific objectives and ALWAYS is a Great help when I teach there. Thanks Ruuuuuusky!!!
The training consisted of 5 packed days : Two days of Israeli Tactical Knife Fighting (ITK) and Three days of Ground Survival. Each day began with a 45 minutes Combat Fitness workout specifically designed for these guys at the respective Level II. I had a BLAST teaching these guys and I pushed the training pace strong and steady throughout the week.
Here is what two of the attendees had to say about the week of training:
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Georgia National Guard
Counterdrug Taskforce
1651 Perry St, Bldg 826
Dobbins Air Force Base , Georgia 30069
July 2, 2012
International Haganah Federation
Attention: Mike Lee Kanarek
6851 SW 21st Court, Suite 14
Davie, Florida 33317
Dear Mr. Kanarek
I want to thank you for the world class training you provided to members of the Georgia Counter Drug Task Force, US Air Force, Atlanta SWAT, as well as Police officer’s from other local agencies. All the attendees remarked that the training was instructed professionally and was both mentally and physically demanding. It was what professionals in the line of work we do, look for in training. Soldiers and Police Officer’s made comments that they walked away from the (MIA) Military Instructor Certification Training with a better understanding, and confidence in training their Soldiers and officer’s, relating to Combat Fitness, Knife Fighting, and Ground Survival.
The (MIA) certification Training conducted from June 18 – June 22, 2012 covered: Combat Fitness, Tactical Knife Fighting, and Ground Survival.
The training sessions were instructed with professionalism, They were broke down, demonstrated and practiced, until each student was confident in his ability to perform the task utilizing muscle memory, These men understand that having to think about every move they make, takes time, Time is ALWAYS against us in the line of work we do.
You knowledge and experience show in every aspect of the training, Your commitment and dedication to training the Fighting Man to survive is so much appreciated from all the Soldiers, Airmen, and Police officers who attended the Training. We can only repay your kindness by continuing to practice and pass it on to others.
Thank you again.
Sincerely
SFC Jon D Hughes
US ARMY RANGER, GACDTF
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Georgia National Guard
Counterdrug Task Force
1651 Perry Street , Building 826
DOBBINS Air Force Base, Georgia 30069-5007
July 2, 2012
International Haganah Federation
Attention: Mike Lee Kanarek
6851 SW 21st Court , #14
Davie , Florida 33317
Dear Mr. Kanarek,
I want to express my sincere gratitude for the training conducted at Camp Clay National Guard Center from June 18-22 2012. This training was specifically designed for the Soldiers and Airmen of the GA National Guard Counter Drug Task Force and was superbly executed.
The students in attendance were exposed to your combat fitness, Israeli Knife Fighting techniques, and surviving the ground fight. We also had the opportunity to open attendance in the class to some of our local law enforcement partners, and they were as impressed with the training as we were.
Each day began with combat fitness, which allowed each participant, regardless of fitness level, to not only gauge the weak points in their own physical training, but to open their eyes to the reality of how much endurance training plays in role in surviving a fight on the street.
Our week long instruction then moved on to the knife fighting for the first two days and then ground fighting for the last three.
I found the knife training to be some of the most beneficial and realistic I have attended to date. I would recommend it to anyone. I left those two days with enough confidence to understand the dynamics of a knife fight and to know that I needed to continue to practice and drill in order to ensure these techniques would become second nature if I were to ever find myself in that situation.
The ground fighting portion was similarly conducted. Gone were the traditional rules about a fair fight or winning a title in a ring. The training was broken down and instructed to seize the advantage and survive by any means necessary. I would recommend this block of instruction to anyone. The techniques taught throughout the whole week apply to those in the military and law enforcement alike.
SFC Jeffrey Stewart
US ARMY RANGER – GADCTF
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After a long week of training the soldiers I headed a little south to Atlanta to teach an Israeli Trench Fighting Seminar at HaganaH Atlanta on Saturday. I was exhausted from the week with the soldiers , but was excited to be at HaganaH Atlanta for a very special day!
Saturday at noon HaganaH Atlanta made History by conducting the first ever FIGHT Black Belt in our Organization. This curriculum is the fruit of the hard work of Stu from PA. It took Stu literally two years to put together this testing curriculum going back and forward with me with countless phone calls, emails and meetings to finally me approving these testing procedures from Basic Level all the way up to FIGHT Black Belt! Stu, while you were not there in person, you were definitely there is spirit Brother!!!
But, before testing even began , I had a promotion to make…..Colonel Brock Gaston, the Founder of HaganaH Atlanta , was promoted to 2nd Degree Black Belt in HaganaH. This promotion was due last year , but Colonel Gaston was at WAR College last year at the time and this promotion had to wait for this year. Additionally , this promotion was only possible if a HaganaH 3rd Degree Black Belt was presence. So brilliant Misha orchestrated the presence of HaganaH 3rd Degree Black Belt , Anthony Kuntz, from Tampa to be there. So the board of promotion for the first ever FIGHT Black Belt was : HaganaH NUCLEUS 1st Degree Black Belt Misha Novitzki, HaganaH NUCLEUS 2nd Degree Black Belt Colonel Brock Gaston, HaganaH NUCLEUS 3rd Degree Black Belt Anthony Kuntz and HaganaH Founder myself.
HOW DID YOU LIKE THAT PRESSURE KATE ??? lol
The first official FIGHT Black Belt is Kate Wagner……she did great! the test was over two hours, she demonstrated a high level of technicality throughout the entire test and to top it off, Misha invited Joe Lewis Black Belt Russell from Alabama along with his crew to help testing with his guys sparring Kate at the end of her test. I have known Russel for over 12 years, he is a hell of a guy and a great Martial Artist. Kate you did GREAT, I am very proud of you and am happy I was there for your test 