Krav Maga Yashir
Head Instructor: Gershon Ben Keren (5th Dan)
Welcome To Krav Maga Yashir!
Medford's First Krav Maga School!
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Welcome to Krav Maga Yashir! Our training facility is less than a 15-minute drive from the center of Medford. We are situated just off of I-93 N (exit 30) and I-95 S (exit 54). Our training facility has free on-site parking, so you never have to waste training time searching for a place to park.
We teach authentic Krav Maga that comes direct from the source. Head Instructor, Gershon Ben Keren, first started training Krav Maga in Israel in 1993, and his instructor certifications and belts were awarded there. In 2010, he was inducted into the Museum of Israeli Martial Arts in Herzliya, Israel by Dr Dennis Hanover. To read more about him click here. Our Krav Maga program has the same goal as that of the IDF’s (Israeli Defense Force): to get an untrained individual combat ready in the shortest possible time. From the moment a class begins you are developing and training fighting skills, rather than simply being put through a workout e.g., doing push-ups and burpees, and repeatedly hitting a pad etc. Our Krav Maga program should not be confused with “Cosher Kravi” (Combat Fitness) training, as in Israel - and the IDF - the two are recognized as being distinct and separate types of training.
In our Krav Maga classes you will learn how to take advantage of the natural/instinctive fighting skills and abilities you were born with. Rather than trying to train you to fight using a learnt system of responses, Krav Maga utilizes the bodies in-built responses that have developed and evolved over time to protect us when attacked. A significant part of our Krav Maga training is spent unlocking these and teaching you how to trust and rely on the inherent skills you already have. This is what makes Krav Maga a very different system of self-defense to other martial arts etc., and one that is much easier and quicker to learn than others. Our goal is not to prepare you for fighting in a ring/competition where you have the time to mentally prepare yourself for the fight but to teach you how to act and respond when attacked unprepared – this is one of the reasons why it is necessary to learn how we naturally respond in such instances, and how to work with these responses. If you want to learn why Krav Maga is recognized as such an effective system of self-defense and fighting, click here, and/or if you are ready to start training in Krav Maga, you can attend one of our beginner classes by clicking the button below.
Beginner Classes
I have trained in martial arts since high school, and this is easily the best school I've ever attended. The instruction is practical, fun, and supportive. The students are there to help each other, while still learning serious skills. I've been training here for about five years and look forward to many years to come. S. Garland.
Before I joined and since joining, I have visited practically all Krav Maga schools in the Boston area and this is by far the best! Adam. K.
Gershon Ben Keren moved to the US, from Europe, in 2008, and set up his first school in the USA in Medford, MA at the Roshankish Martial Arts Center (at that time the building located at 393 Main Street, Medford was known as Roshankish Tae Kwon do), before moving the school to Charlestown/Boston in 2012. In 2022, Krav Maga Yashir Boston moved to its current location, just 15 minutes north of Medford. To learn more about the history of Krav Maga Yashir in the US click here.
Gershon Ben Keren Google Author Talks
In 2015 Gershon was asked to do a Google Author Talk around his first book, "Krav Maga - Real World Solutions to Real World Violence". The talk was so well received both online and in person, that he was invited back in 1017, to present on his second book, "Krav Maga - Tactical Survival". He is one of only a handful of authors who have been invited back to do a second talk.
Krav Maga Books By Gershon Ben Keren
Krav Maga Yashir, Head Instructor, Gershon Ben Keren has written three Amazon Best Selling books on Krav Maga. To learn more about the techniques and solutions contained in them, and the way the books were produced, click on one of the book covers (each one deals with a different area of violence).
Krav Maga - Real World Solutions
In 2011, Tuttle Publishing, approached Gershon Ben Keren, whilst he was still teaching in the Krav Maga Yashir, Medford location, to write a book about Krav Maga. In 2012, “Krav Maga – Real World Solutions to Real World Violence” was published. The photographs for the book were shot in full color, and at full speed, in the locations where violent events happen. Solutions to attacks and threats were shot on the streets of Sommerville and Medford, and in pubs and bars. The approach taken was to have an assailant make a threat or attack at fall speed and show/photo (taking multiple pictures) the Krav Maga response/technique over and over again. Over 12 000 photographs were taken, and out of these around 900 were selected to be included in the book. You can read more by clicking the button below.
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Krav Maga - Tactical Survival
Krav Maga - Tactical Survival, was Gershon's second books, where as well as building on and developing solutions that were presented in the first book, he also outlined methods of de-escalation and conflict resolution. An approach that he has developed and evolved over the last 30-years. Based on academic research and in-the-field experience, his approach is based upon dealing with the psychological state of angry and aggressive individuals in context. Keeping the same method of shooting techniques and solutions in real-time, solutions were shot in the locations and situations in which they were most likely to be experienced. The book also touches upon improvised weapons, and the categorization system that Krav Maga uses to identify them and direct their use.
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Krav Maga Extreme Survival
Whilst Gershon's first two books looked at common violent incidents such as robberies and assaults etc., his third book looked at more extreme situations such as active shooter events and car-jackings etc. Using extensive academic research, and interviews with law-enforcement internationally, "Krav Maga - Extreme Survival" represents a comprehensive and up-to-date manual on preventative measures and solutions to extreme violence. Like theprevious two books the Krav Maga techniquse and solutions were filmed in the locations where such incidents and events occur e.g., the section on school shootings, was filmed in a school. Although the types of violence shown in the book are extreme and uncommon, they are the types of events that have significant consequences.
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