Airmen learn Self Defense and combative skills with Krav Maga

Staff Sgt. Brooke Alf, 332nd Expeditionary Aerospace Medical Squadron, demonstrates a Krav Maga defensive move to students with the assistance of Army Sgt. Rodney Moore at the Joint Base Balad Red Tail Fitness Center Nov. 5. Alf, a health services management journeyman deployed from the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, volunteers to teach the self-defense class on her free time. Moore, a veterinary food inspector specialist with the 43rd Medical Detachment, assisted Alf by playing an attacker. Alf is a native of Pittsfield, Ill. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Rich Lisum)

Airmen learn Self Defense and combative skills with Krav Maga

Staff Sgt. Silvia Galan, an aerospace medical service journeyman with the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron, practices a Krav Maga offensive move on a training pad as another Airman assists at the Joint Base Balad Red Tail Fitness Center Nov. 5. Staff Sgt. Brooke Alf observes Galan's form and delivery of the move. Alf, a health services management journeyman assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Aerospace Medical Squadron, volunteers to teach the self-defense class on her free time. Galan and Alf are deployed from the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Rich Lisum) Released

Airmen learn Self Defense and combative skills with Krav Maga

Staff Sgt. Brooke Alf (background) demonstrates a Krav Maga offense move to students at the Joint Base Balad Red Tail Fitness Center Nov. 5. Alf, a health services management journeyman assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Aerospace Medical Squadron, volunteers to teach the self-defense class on her free time. She is a native of Pittsfield, Ill., deployed from the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Rich Lisum)

Airmen learn Self Defense and combative skills with Krav Maga

Staff Sgt. Brooke Alf, 332nd Expeditionary Aerospace Medical Squadron, demonstrates a Krav Maga offensive move to students with the assistance of Staff Sgt. Silvia Galan at the Joint Base Balad Red Tail Fitness Center Nov. 5. Alf, a health services management journeyman deployed from the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, volunteers to teach the self-defense class on her free time. Galan is an aerospace medical service journeyman with the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron. Alf and Galan are deployed from the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Alf is a native of Pittsfield, Ill. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Rich Lisum)

Airmen learn self defense and combative skills with Krav Maga

Published Nov. 12, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Craig Lifton
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- In a back room of the Red Tail Fitness Center here, an Airman fends off a choking attack by a lone assailant, so she may teach servicemembers to survive.

They're being taught the official self-defense and fighting system of the Israeli Defense Forces, Krav Maga, from certified instructor Staff Sgt. Brooke Alf, who volunteers to teach here one night a week.

Alf, a health services management journeyman assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Aerospace Medical Squadron, first took up Krav Maga in 2003 when her husband deployed.

"My instructor said I had a lot of talent and that he was really proud of me," said Alf, who is deployed from the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. "He asked if I had interest to become an instructor."

After six months, 200 hours of instruction, 30 hours of instructor education, a written test and sparring with other instructors in training, Alf, a native of Pittsfield, Ill., became an instructor.

Krav Maga was created by a former police officer, Imi Lichtenfeld, when the new government of Israel asked him to develop a self defense technique for their military in 1948. After testing and refining it during more than 16 years of combat, Lichtenfeld started to teach it to civilians.

"The average person can learn Krav Maga," said Alf. "It's easy and simple to learn. It's how your body reacts."

Krav Maga uses natural, human instinct to move and react to attacks. It teaches students to quickly alternate from defense to offense. But most of all, students of Krav Maga learn to neutralize a threat quickly.

"I had a lot of females at Lackland who were interested in learning how to defend themselves against any kind of attack," Alf said. "If I can share it with others, just maybe I can prevent one or two attacks."

After arriving here, Alf contacted the fitness center staff, and she said they were happy to
have someone teach a self defense course.

One of the students is Staff Sgt. Silvia Galan, an aerospace medical service journeyman with the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron.

"Krav Maga seemed interesting," said Galan who is deployed from the 59th MDG. "You learn how to get out of situations if you were ever in them."

Each class starts out with Alf pushing her students through five to 10 minutes of cardiovascular warm-up, followed by five minutes of stretching.

"I get everybody's heart rate up and loosen up their bodies," Alf said. "Then we go into our first combative, which is either a kick, punch or choke. After that, we move into a self defense technique that will defend against the combative just taught."

After several minutes of intense drills and evaluation of students' techniques, Alf moves on.

"We continue with another technique, which consists of at least one defensive and two combative moves," Alf said. "Put everything together in one big drill, a stress drill, and wear people out."

This is when the class looks more like a controlled riot: small groups of students fight each other with large pads and just their bodies. Some matches are one-on-one while others are two-against-one sparring. Alf walks from group to group encouraging the chaos and ensuring students safety.

"There's a lot of noise, movement, running around, lots of yelling and a lot of pads hitting you," said Alf. "You have to get used to being out in the open, and with all these distractions going on, you still have to be able to focus on what you're doing."

With all of the sounds, stress and action, Alf just wants her students to survive an attack.

"My goal is to give my students what they need to at least get away from the attack," Alf said. "Sometimes all it takes is one good kick."