Journey to powerhouse DIY darling: REACT DEFENSE SYSTEMS- Life changing

The country is changing. Life is changing. The world you grew up in no longer looks like it used to. Warm summer nights playing outside till after dark, walking to school, riding your bike to your friend’s house. It has been said that after the events of 9/11, America lost its innocence. Since then people have opened fire in movie theaters and schools, ending innocent lives. Much has been lost. The feeling of safety and security is fading. In the face of this new reality, you decide you need to take your safety and the safety of your family into your own hands. You make a choice to learn self defense. The choice Krav Maga, the place React Defense Systems.

Krav Maga is a hand to hand military combat system. It is specifically designed for the Israeli Defense Forces (commonly referred to as the IDF). Every Israeli citizen must serve two years in the IDF and learns Krav Maga, which literally translated, means Hand to Hand combat. The system was designed by Imi Lichtenfield and is based off of primal, easy combatives and natural instinct. It has to be learned quickly, by everyone and be able to fly out of you under intense stress and adrenaline. Basically, it is street fighting and combat. It is somewhat under the martial arts umbrella but it is a far cry from any actual martial arts and as the instructors will tell you, “it is all martial, no art”. Being that is is a military system, some things were changed to be taught to civilians, but not much. The system as taught by Krav Maga World Wide and React Defense systems is pure.

React Defense Systems (referred to as RDS) offers an array of items from Krav Maga, their fitness program A.L.E.E.T. (Advanced Level Explosive Endurance Training), Tactical Black (weapons, weapon retention, fighting and sparring) and yoga! They cater to all levels, ages and body types. They make the training for everyone, that is the point, their mission and their passion.

Walking in to RDS you are greeted by a friendly instructor at the desk or walking around chatting with members. It is a very friendly atmosphere. People are all talking to one another and welcoming you there. Your first class is called your trial class, you fill out a scary looking health history with a few legal waivers making what you are about to do a little bit scarier. You are told to relax, go at your own pace and if you feel faint to sit down, and best yet, if you need to throw up, try and get to the bathroom or a trash can. What did you get yourself in for?

Everyone shuffles into the room where you all line up in front of the instructors they tell you again, take it at your own pace and where the bathrooms and trash cans are. Then it starts. You move through a battery of physical exercises, jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, squats. You struggle to make it, and it seems like everyone else is just breezing through! You push through too. Then the instructors do a quick demonstration of a combative and then teach you and the whole class how to do it.

Kicking a pad while wrists are bound, simulating a hostage situation

Then you get to go at it! Throwing combatives as hard as you can, running around the room hitting pads. The instructors wander around the room yelling different instructions, like to keep your hands up, make some noise, hit harder etc. They are there to encourage and motivate you, and make you want to fight for your life. After you learn the combatives and a self defense, they do what they call a drill at the end of the class. You have to do the self defense you learned that day and the different combatives. You are working in a group, so you are hitting one and are getting choked or bear hugged by another, you have to defend that, all the while having to keep in mind the other people around you.

Kicking attacher while wrists are being held

It is as real as you can get without out actually knocking people out. It is all safe and with pads, but the adrenaline in your body is intense. They have you do all this at the end because they say this is when it works best, when you are exhausted. It flies right out of you. Once you are a member you will learn all the different combatives and self defenses around the body, being choked, bear hugged, ground fighting, weapons etc. The classes are intense. Probably more intense then anything you had ever done, however, the feeling you have is amazing. You learn how to be aggressive, and you pushed through when your body wanted to give out. RDS trains you in a unique way, unlike other disciplines, you train hard to the end of your perceived self set limits, but you blast through them and keep going. The instructors were very attentive to the students and genuinely care about them learning. Not just that they learn to physically defend themselves, but also how they carry themselves. Also, the students themselves were very helpful with each other and really worked hard to build each other up and encourage each other to get through the class.

Defending against being choked from the side.
RDS have been in the valley for 13 years, they are the only authorized Krav Maga World Wide in Arizona. They have three different locations, and you can train at any of them once you are a member. The prices for the gym were competitive with the other Krav Maga studios (ranging from $99 a month to $161 depending on program and length of contract). However, there really is no comparison between RDS and other places offering what they call Krav Maga, most of them have only been in business a few years (mostly less then a year) and their lineage was pretty scuffed up and mostly not even connected to the creator of the system. RDS boasts a very tight lineage from Imi Lichtenfield (who developed the system), he taught Darren Levine who taught Jay Ackerman, and Jay is who brought it to Arizona and all the instructors are under him. RDS is a regional training center and train and certify other instructors around the county. The training is legitimate. You can ask any student there, and they will go on and on about how much they love the training and how it has changed their life. Twenty percent or more of their membership is law enforcement ranging from patrol officers to SWAT and vice officers, many boarder patrol agents and DPS officers.

Anyone can walk in and train there, in any given class you will see all ages and shapes. It is truly unique, where else can you go and train like that and with all ranges of people from all different walks in life, from grandmothers and grandfathers to young kids in high school, stay at home moms to the head of the drug and gang unit in the phoenix police department.

RDS is truly set apart, you can go there and learn life skills. You cannot just trust your life and training to anyone. What you learn is what you will do. When your life, or someone else’s life is in your hands, you better be sure that what you know will work and will safe a life, possibly your own.