My instructor, Gideon Hajioff, was not surprised to receive my call requesting training. A Krav Maga teacher of 40 years who has taught self-defence to the CST and who counted the late Rabbi Sacks among his students, he has seen “every form of antisemitism”, and knew it was only a matter of time before the community would come flocking.
“I was sure this would happen – a lot of people in the know did,” he says matter of factly of the barrage of violent antisemitism unleashed at the community. “People are starting to open their eyes. I was saying we need to protect ourselves well before October 7, that we need people trained in self-defence, that we need to build Jews’ confidence. Then, October 7 set the whole thing off. I wish I was wrong. But the truth is that we Jews are becoming more and more isolated. The money that’s been put into protecting the community is fantastic, but community resilience is just as important. Jews have to protect Jews.”
The UK government has this year committed £58 million to protect the British Jewish community, money that will go towards security staff, CCTV, and alarms for schools and synagogues. But, as Melanie Phillips advises in her latest book, Fighting the Hate: A Handbook for Jews Under Siege, all physically able Jews should be learning Krav Maga.
Gideon Haijoff at work[Missing Credit]
For Gideon, the 150 per cent rise in the numbers coming to him for self-defence classes is evidence that British Jews are “opening their eyes”. Those signing up include young teenage girls and boys starting to venture outside in the world, as well as Jewish primary and secondary schools.
And once I have a firm grasp on the basics, I will be bringing my own children to Gideon. As he points out, we teach our children to swim so they don’t drown; teaching them how to protect themselves is no less critical a life skill. If they have an idea of how to escape a dreadful situation, or how at least to avoid running towards danger, we are doing a good thing. And if they can learn the basic skills of self-defence – how to block an attacker’s arm, how to effectively punch and kick – better still.
We may be feeling less safe, but instead of cowering in our homes, let’s be proactive.
Because Gideon’s background is in security, the training is less traditional martial art and more practical, and is also tailored to individuals’ height, strength, age and profession and perceived level of risk. We begin with “foundational” training, with the aim of ensuring the basics are strong, before developing the right mindset for various potential situations in which I might find myself.
Gideon takes one look at my petite, decidedly non-intimidating frame, and concludes that my best moves could involve my fingernails. For someone of my stature, training will also mean learning to throw my entire body weight at an attacker, or, better still, to use the nimbleness of a small frame to my advantage and extricate myself as quickly as possible. What’s more, I learn that I do at least have good coordination and quick reactions. Though, in the event of being chased by someone intent on murdering a Jew, a 5ft1in woman would probably stand little chance.
As Gideon lunges at me with a plastic knife, I learn how to block the weapon before it gets dangerously close to my body, whack him with my other hand, and then run in the safest direction while furtively glancing all around for further danger and simultaneously shouting, “Knife! Run!”
In her book, Phillips also advises Jews to develop the non-martial arts equivalent of Krav Maga – “a system of fighting back that draws upon your personal armoury of mouth and brain”. With this in mind, my training is as much about common sense awareness and prevention as it is about physical combat. It is not just about wrenching a knife out of an attacker’s hand.
“That would mean everything’s failed,” Gideon cautions. “It’s about having awareness of what’s going on around you. You’ve got to be vigilant, exude confidence, and see the problem before it becomes a problem.”
That means not being in your own world with headphones on and absorbed in scrolling. After all, the timeline of an attack begins from the moment you first perceive a threat – the two shifty-looking men jumping out of a car further up the road, for example. Even if you are not certain of a situation, it is safest to treat it as a threat – to cross the road, change your patterns, or head in the opposite direction to the potential attacker. Creating distance and control are paramount.
I am enjoying the fast-paced thrill of the kickboxing and feel momentarily powerful. Though it is one thing to be in the comfort of an air-conditioned gym with a supply of bottled water, and quite another to be in fight or flight mode when the adrenaline and cortisol are pumping and raising your heart rate. Most people go from aerobic to anaerobic so quickly that they have ten to 20 seconds before they are left gasping for air, and without training, most are prone to freezing. This is why training is critical to be able to react and create control over the situation before running out of energy, and why self-defence training, once you have the basic tools, is more about principles than techniques.
“It’s learning to deal with your fear,” says Gideon. “It’s not the kicking and punching. People make that mistake a lot. I’ve seen guys in real fights go to pieces because they’re not used to that type of stress. So the training needs to revolve around stress and learning to optimise the chance of protecting yourself while you’re under it.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis’s comment that the Golders Green stabbings “prove that if you’re visibly Jewish you are not safe” were later echoed by Sarah Sackman, the Labour MP for Finchley and Golders Green. Gideon’s mission, along with CST, is to ensure that everyone in the community can carry on wearing their kippot and generally being visibly Jewish.
“We shouldn’t have to hide who we are. It’s my duty and my quest to instil confidence so you’re able to hold your head up high and be Jewish, and have a chance of protecting yourself. We’re not the same people we were in the 1930s – our eyes are open now.”
