The HaganaH Blog

The Best Never Rest…with 4 new Combat Wrestling and 9 new Combat Fitness Instructors this last weekend, we are not about to slow down!

Tomorrow starts FIGHT Instructor Certification…14 candidates, time to Rock’N'Roll!!!

The first course taught at the Israeli Compound this weekend was IPTT Level-1 and Level-2 handgun course by Garret. Those who attended can tell you how great this course was!

Also, Garret will be teaching a Special Knife Fighting class tomorrow here at the Israeli Compound at 7:30pm….this Special class will cover techniques that Garret learned both in Lotar and Shadav…

On Fri/Sat/Sun James Cooper will be here from TX, teaching the Combat Fitness Instructor Level-1 Certification. This Certification is the next level after the open-class certification , the Coach level. At the Instructor Levels Certification it is no longer an open-class certification, on these levels there are physical pre-requisite requirements. While Coop and I teach the Combat Fitness Instructor Level-1 Certification , John Clarke will be busy teaching his Combat Wrestling Certification on his mat.

LOTS OF GREAT ENERGY ALL UNDER ONE ROOF!!!,,,    see you on the mat

….over 100 people are traveling in the next 2 days to Vegas :   HaganaH Black Belts, FIGHT Instructors, Combat Fitness Coaches, Combat Wrestling Instructors and FIGHT Students from all over the country are heading to the 6th Annual HaganaH Conference which will  kick off this friday afternoon, safe travels to the entire HaganaH family!!!!

14 ladies started a 6 weeks intense Combat Fitness Boot-Camp here at the National Headquarters yesterday morning…

While most of the women enrolled into the program for selfish reasons such as losing weight and/or get in shape, this 6 weeks Boot-Camp is designed as a crash course in our world of Combat Fitness which will eventually turn them into “machines”…for the last couple years I have deployed this program here at the National Headquarters and it has been very succesful among the guys, producing awesome results.

Yesterday the first workout was a “300″ workout, 300 reps total….15 stations, 20 reps each station, no rest!!! It was not an easy task for the ladies to finish…we had one who almost passed out and two pukers, and one that got scared and simply didnt even start the workout.  

Cant wait for tomorrow’s workout…

Lets see how many women finish the Boot-Camp , and how many of them turn Combat Fitness into a a lifestyle thereafter!

will keep you posted………

As I travel and teach seminars around the country I get the following question a lot :  What is your training regimen consist?

since arriving in the USA about 22 years ago I have been following a Matrix method that has been updated throughout the years. My first Matrix was divided according to ranges of empty hand combat. Kicking range/skills, Punching range/skills, Trapping range/skills, Clinch/skills and Grappling range/skills.  I entered in the Matrix a skill number system with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest. In the beginning all the numbers were at 2 or 1 and I then decided to work on rising all of them. For kicking I joined a Tae Kwon Do school under Grand Master Je in Sunrise FL, which later on I ended up opening a Tae Kwon Do school. It took me about 4 years to pick up that number 2 to number 5 in kicking, that included jump kicks as well…for punching I became a Joe Lewis student and learned how to box. That  took me about 2 to 3 years years to become a good boxer…Joe Lewis also adjusted some of my kicking , especially my side kick, to power kicks versus “scoring” kicks. To this day I still do Joe Lewis Fighting Systems at my school in my kick-boxing/sparring classes.For trapping I did Jeet Kune Do under Lamar Davis. That came to me faster than kicking or boxing since I am naturally good at close quarter combat techniques…about a year and a half. For clinching I sought out Legendary Muay Thai Master Kru Vut Kamnark from Thailand. All my elbows, clinching and knees techniques come from Muay Thai…I Love Muay Thai!  For grappling I sought out both the Gracie family and the Machado Family for world class instruction in Brazilian Jiujitsu…this is the art that comes to me the slowest, and I have not to this day reach a number 5 on my Matrix….all other ranges are at a solid 5 , which I maintain through training.

The Matrix above was my original Matrix for my own fighting skills development. It takes time to develop fighting skills and a Matrix can help you focus and not lose your way up…

my Matrix today looks completely different than my original one about 20 years ago. Today it is divided by subjects , not by ranges.  Combat Fitness, Hand-To-Hand Combat Stand-Up, Combat Wrestling, Ground Survival, Tactical Knife Fighting and Combat Shooting. I divide this subjects by amount of percentage I budget in my training. Combat Fitness and Hand-To-Hand Combat consist of  50% of my training regiment. Combat Wrestling and Ground Survival/Fighting consist of 20% and Tactical Knife Fighting and Combat Shooting consist of the remaining 30% of my training regiment. This is my current Matrix. It helps me stay on my game and stay focus….not to mention it helps stay young lol

I hope this can help you in your training plans….have a Blast building your training Matrix.

This was a great group of Instructors…I had a Blast teaching this FIGHT CErtification, the group was focused and motivated.

On the first day of the Certification I ran the group through an intense  F.I.T.2 FIGHT  session before teaching any FIGHT materials…they did great. The drills in this session will be implemented in their FIGHT programs when returning to their schools. Then it was all FIGHT for the next 2 days here at the National HaganaH Headquarters!  With the group being technical and focused the smoked the first two days of training…Combatives and the 18 Street Scenarios were broken down to the littlest details, it was nice to see the group really sharpenning up their techniques.

Then, on saturday morning , as usual it was time for the Combat Fitness work-out of the Certification. This is where I get to see what an Instructor is made of…on the inside!!! A few struggled, but overall the pushed throught. I am proud to say that my 2 candidates attending this Certification, JB Glossinger and Luis Rosario, Smoked the workout.

Then for the next 2 days it was all knife defenses and gun disarms. This is where things got real technical…

Great Certification, Congrats to all that graduated.

FULL house of candidates here at the National Headquarters going through a two long days of intensive training taught by Master Instructors James Cooper and Mike Lee Kanarek.

This certification  is designed to educate and train the participants to teach and run a proper and safe Combat Fitness workout/class for their students/clients. This is a “Hands On” certification covering the first 3rd of the entire Combat Fitness curriculum…these candidates have been going through a LOT of drilling in the last day and a half, and the hardest part of the Certification is still ahead of them this afternoon!

Last night it was a rocking Combat Fitness at the HaganaH Davie HQ’s! The night group got started at 7:30 and rocked it till about 8:45. The workout a combination of fighting drills, running, circuit and cardiovascular was just at the right pace.

Everyone is getting ready for the Combat Fitness Coaching certification coming up in April! Diet, Nutrition and working hard is a large part of combat fitness. It is a true overall fitness experience!

Here are a few pictures from last night.

Bag work at HaganaH Combat Fitness

Combat Fitness