Self-defence only the first step, says Krav Maga practitioner

Krav Maga is a self-defence combat art that was developed by the Israel Defensive Forces and Sreeram has been practicing the art since 2007. “Krav Maga is a form of self-defence that is not a structured martial art like karate, nor a sport like boxing. In this fighting style, you can use the things around you to get the upper hand,” he said.

He explained that he takes a specially curated self-defence class for women, centered on preventing sexual assault. The class has two parts – a preventive course for sexual assault, which contains lessons on cyber bullying, and a fighting course which involves teaching of many kinds of grips, holds, punches and kicks.

“I included the part on preventive measures even though it is not Krav Maga so that the girls could be more protected. It is better for a situation to not escalate. I also make sure the girls train with men much larger than them so that they are prepared for the real world,” said Sreeram.

However, Sreeram concurs that just self-defence would not solve the root of the problem. Thereby paving way for Penn, an initiative to address crimes against women across sectors, along with a few others. The initiative was launched at Narada Gana Sabha on Saturday.

“This problem needs to have NGOs and other initiatives working with the judiciary, the police force, the legislative, and most importantly, the men to inform them of these behaviour patterns,” said Sreeram.

Through seminars, multimedia informative content, workshops and awareness camps, Penn hopes to include men in the discussion of sexual assault and harassment to curtail it. “Organisations must work together with the public closely to ensure that the change comes from within society. All this while, they can also work with the judiciary and police to ensure that there is a smooth passage of cases. Without this community effort, we cannot hope to tackle crimes against women,” said S Sridhar, managing trustee, Penn.