Jew-Jitsu: The Krav Maga master teaching Stamford Hill’s strictly-Orthodox how to defend themselves

He told the JC: “Throughout my life, I’ve trained with regular commercial clubs rather than Jewish clubs. It was only after October 7, when we felt that everything had changed around us, that I felt the need to specifically train the Jewish community.

“There are two reasons for that. Firstly, there are some Jews who, although they may not say it, would feel uncomfortable training at other clubs, either because of the outspoken radical political views of some of their training partners or simply because those views make them uncomfortable.

“The second reason is that our community is traditionally not the toughest physically, so I felt the need to help where I could to achieve a greater level of toughness.”

Keenan David with two of his young students and Bob the punchbag (TheJC)[Missing Credit]Keinan David and his students drilling an ankle lock with the JC's Jacob Jaffa (TheJC)[Missing Credit]

“Driving around this area for the first time was a real eye-opener for me. Just seeing literally thousands of identifiably Jewish people walking in the streets is a lovely thing. We live in a free country, and that’s great, but I come from a security and self-defence background,” he went on.

“The first question that came into my head was: do they know how to look after themselves? Can they defend themselves?

“Especially because, in the current landscape, being Jewish can mean having a target on your back, I felt a need to help the community here.”

David, with the help of his trusty human-shaped punching bag, affectionately named Bob, coaches his students, primarily Charedi boys and young men, in a mixture of Krav Maga (the self-defence system developed within the IDF in the 1950s), shoot boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, teaching them how to defend against knife, stick and hand-to-hand attacks.

Beyond that, though, he also sees ingraining healthy habits and independent fitness training in his students as a core part of his mission.

“The community generally doesn’t have a background in physical activity or sports, so for me, it’s starting on a blank slate. That has its pros because I can take a blank canvas and start the work the way I want to do it,” he said.

“I’m Jewish. It’s my community. I have a lot of passion and love for my community. To give them vital self-defence tools and toughen them up, to me, is worth a million dollars. It makes me so happy, and it is my life goal.

Keinan David and his students drilling an ankle lock with the JC's Jacob Jaffa (TheJC)[Missing Credit]Keinan David at his Stamford Hill gym with Bob, the punchbag (TheJC)[Missing Credit]

“Working with children, I feel like I’m able to catch them at a young age, and it is a lot easier to instil the skills in them that will take them forward into their lives.

“Kids pick things up really quickly. It brings a lot of joy just to watch them improve week on week until you’ve eventually got a product. You are literally shocked when you started teaching them, and they knew nothing, and after a year they are like little ninjas.”

David also runs another gym, Tribe 12, in Golders Green, focussing largely on young people from the secular, Progressive or Modern Orthodox sections of the community, and he is clubbing together with other Jewish coaches to create the UK’s first all-Jewish youth team for Jiu Jitsu competitions.

Readers interested in signing up can contact him at tribe12cs@gmail.com.