Kapap

Whilst many folks have heard about Krav Maga, not so many are aware of Kapap, short for Krav Panim El Panim. Kapap is possibly the oldest of the Israeli Martial Arts and is taught to Police and Counter Terrorism squads.

I recently attended an introductory class on Kapap, where some key concepts were introduced. Amongst them was the concept of Kadeema, meaning forward. It was explained that Kadeema referred to keeping on pushing through any barriers you encounter. It is similar to what I was taught in the Army about reacting to an Ambush. In an Ambush, we were told, there is only one way to go and that is Forward. You have to get through the Ambush if you hope to survive. Retreat will get you killed. Stopping will keep you in the 'killing ground' with predictable results.

We were also introduced to Kapap's system of Combat Conditioning, which included exercises such as the Frankenstein, which challenged my cardiovascular fitness.

Here is some footage of Kapap, to give you the flavour of this system.

I found the training to be as realistic as anything else I've experienced and hope to have a chance to learn some more.