From now thru December 17th you can get 20% off our Next Generation kids Certification.  This is a great opportunity to expand your Krav Maga program and learn how to teach kids!

The Certification will be January 13-15th at the KMA headquarters in Los Angeles.  Register soon!

We've just updated our calendar for 2012.  We've added more level 1, 2, 3, and 4 Instructor Certifications as well as a Next Generation kids certification.  Advanced training and testing will be in July and August, and save the date for an Alliance Gathering that promises to deliver some hard, challenging, kick ass training, coming June 8-10th.

Register online for these events before they fill up!

We had a lot of good feedback from the schools that participated in our Wounded Warrior Project Fundraiser.  I'm very happy to report that so far we have raised a total of $4,760.  I'm expecting that number to go up as we hear back from a few more schools.  This Thanksgiving the Krav Maga Alliance is thankful for the opportunity to give back to the troops who have given so much for us; and for the KMA affiliates who give so graciously!

Krav Maga Alliance Brings Nir Maman To Its Advisory Board!

The Krav Maga Alliance is proud to announce that we have named Nir Maman to our Advisory Board. Nir's remarkable record and experience with the Israeli Defense Force, and his exceptional teaching abilities, will help the Krav Maga Alliance pursue our stated goal of constant improvement.

Nir Maman's resume and experience are far to extensive to list in full. A brief biography includes the following:

Nir was a member of one of the most elite units in the Israeli Special Forces, the Central Command Counter-Terror Unit (C.T.U.) and the Special Forces Counter-Terror and Special Operations School (C.T.S.O). During his service he held several positions including Commander of the Counter-Terror School’s International Training Section where he was responsible for developing and delivering specialized Counter-Terror, Hostage Rescue, and Krav Maga training to Special Forces Units from various countries around the world that attend the Israeli Special Forces Counter-Terror and Special Operations School in preparation for high risk deployments such as Iraq and Afghanistan. This included training all the U.S. Special Forces Units such as Marines MARSOC and Anti Terror Company, Rangers, Army Special Forces (Green Berets), and several others.

He also held the position of Lead Counter-Terror Instructor on the Counter-Terror School’s Designated Hostage Rescue Take-Over Units Instruction Section, where he was responsible for training new recruits and active operational members of the Israeli Special Force’s Designated Hostage Rescue Units in all areas of Counter-Terror warfare and Hostage Rescue including Hostage Rescue Operations in domestic and hostile/foreign environments, Close-Quarters-Combat, Dynamic Entry, Aircraft, Ship, Train, and Bus Interdiction, Suicide Bomber Interception, Urban Warfare, Tactical Shooting, and Krav Maga.

Nir was also assigned to the C.T.S.O. School’s Chief Instruction and Research and Development Section where he was responsible for developing operational Counter-Terror tactics and Tactical Training Protocols that are currently taught to all Israeli Special Forces Units. His duties in this section also included training the Counter-Terror and Special Operations School’s instructors in Counter-Terror Warfare, Tactical Shooting, and Krav Maga.

He also held the position of Operational Team Leader on the Central Command Counter-Terror and Hostage Rescue Unit during high risk deployments which included Direct Action Operations, Arrests of high threat terrorists, and high risk entry and searches terrorist strongholds throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip regions. In January 2009, Nir participated operationally in ‘Operation Cast Lead’ in Gaza.

In April 2009 Nir was awarded the Israeli Defense Force Ground Forces Command Soldier of the Year Award of Excellence for his service in developing Counter-Terror tactics for the Israeli Special Forces and for excellent service in commanding the Counter-Terror School’s International Training Section.

Nir is currently a Use of Force and Police Tactics Instructor at a Police College in Canada, and is still active in the Israeli Special Forces Reserves. He trains Military Special Operations and Police SWAT units across North America in Counter Terror and Hostage Rescue operations, Active Shooter Intervetion, Tactical Shooting, and operational Krav Maga.

As a member of the Krav Maga Alliance Advisory Board, Nir will offer insights into current techniques and training methodologies taught by Israeli Special Forces, as well as adding his own techniques and training that have helped him as an operator.

"We want to provide ourselves, our instructors, and our students with the best training possible," says John Whitman, founder of the Krav Maga Alliance. "That means looking outside ourselves to other experts. Nir was an obvious choice, and I'm honored that we are on the same team."

In addition to offering training insights and consulting on technical issues, Nir will run at least one seminar per year hosted by the Krav Maga Alliance.

The Krav Maga Alliance is a worldwide network of Krav Maga school owners, instructors, and practitioners dedicated to constantly improving themselves and each other. For more information on the Krav Maga Alliance, please visit www.kravmagaalliance.com. For more information on Nir Maman, please visit www.ct707.com.

The Krav Maga Alliance is excited to announce the addition of Ernie Van Gorp from The Netherlands to the Alliance Training Team!  Ernie is a Krav Maga black belt with 12 years of military experience.  He also a law enforcement officer responsible for training other officers in arrest and control, firearms, special tactics, and use of force.  In addition, Ernie has a bachelor of arts in education, making him the perfect candidate for the Training Team.

I was very impressed by Ernie during a recent advanced training session in Europe. Not only is he extremely talented physically, he has excellent knowledge both of Krav Maga and other systems.  He is not just a good Krav Maga instructor, he is an exceptionally smart one, and he brings years of experience to his teaching. I am sure that new instructors will benefit from working with him.

With Ernie working in the Netherlands, the Krav Maga Alliance will be able to offer more certification courses in Europe.  In addition to the regular certifications, we will offer several FREE training seminars for instructors each year. These seminars will guarantee that the quality of Alliance teaching remains very high.

Look for a COMPLETE CALENDAR of training courses in northern Europe coming soon!

I will still be involved, of course!  The Krav Maga Alliance has an "open door" policy, and ALL affiliates in Europe will communicate directly with me any time they want to.  We do not want to put any barriers between the affiliates and the Alliance.  Also, I will come out to test all instructors for several levels of certification, and to give seminars in Europe. In addition, I will continue to make several trips each year to Italy, to train with all their instructors.

If you get a chance, please send Ernie an email of congratulations at info@impactkravmaga.nl.

Let us know how you'll be participating.  We're excited to be working to help this great charity!

KMA Force, our law enforcement and military division, has added another certification.  This three-day course is for current Law Enforcement Officers only, and will be conducted Nov. 11-13 in Simi Valley, CA.  The course will prepare current Law Enforcement Officers to teach Krav Maga to their fellow officers, and comes with a full KMA Force certificate.

KMA Force. For warriors, by warriors!

We'd like to give an official welcome to Erica Juergens-Bow, who has joined the Krav Maga Alliance staff as the full-time Coordinator.

Some of you will already know Erica.  Not only is she a fantastic Krav Maga instructor, she has also been the front desk manager at our headquarters gym for the last year and a half.  She will still teach classes at our gym, and run our local Next Generation Krav Maga kids' program, but on the administrative side she is moving full time into the Krav Maga Alliance to help support our remarkable growth. For those of you who have communicated with Valerie, she will still be available in her regular part-time role. Believe me, there is enough work for everyone!

I'm very excited to have Erica working full time to support the Krav Maga Alliance. You can reach her at erica@kravmagaalliance.com.

Thanks!

"Dear John,

Thanks for all the help this weekend. I learned more from you in 3 days than I did in the prior Krav Maga training. You forced me to dig deeper into my teaching toolbox and I feel as though it has improved my teaching greatly. And yes I did have a lot of fun (along with all the hard work) this weekend."

-- Chris Dammann, Hudson Valley Krav Maga

This event is FREE!  Register today!

Certified Instructors will receive a 25% Discount on the Fight in Flight/Car Jacking Seminar the following day!