Looking for a Martial Arts school in CA

Backwoods · 06-24-2010, 18:38

Gents,

I am trying to find a Krav Maga school in or around Monterey, CA. If that is not available suggestions will be appreciated.

J

PedOncoDoc · 06-25-2010, 06:30

A quick google search shows a gentleman teaching two nights weekly at the Aikido of Monterey club. The gentleman is listed as a "level 2 instructor" of "Commando Krav Maga" - which I assume is the same as Krav Maga.

Classes M/W starting at 2015
Aikido of Monterey
1251 10th Street
Monterey
Across from the Naval Post Graduate School

Impressions from the Aikido of Monterey website - the dojo appears well established (been up for 35+ years) with senior instructors. The announcement of the Krav Maga classes was from 17May2010 so I am assuming they are still going on, but a quick phone call could verify.

You may want to vet him with someone for the organization - he is not currently listed as a certified instructor on the Commando Krav Maga website.
List of certified instructors in California

HTH.

Backwoods · 06-25-2010, 07:48

Thanks for the reply back. I appreciate you taking the time to look that up. I saw that and others when I did the google search. What I am looking for is info from anyone who has been stationed in the area and can give a good recommendation.

jw74 · 06-25-2010, 09:43

I've heard good things about the jujitsu school on lighthouse but it looks too "traditional" if you're wanting Krav. I haven't seen too many schools in the area that seem like efficient systems to me (mostly family dojo stuff) I'll ask around though

Backwoods · 06-25-2010, 17:10

Thank you. I would really appreciate it

jw74 · 07-02-2010, 10:50

When I ran this topic by friends and acquaintances I got the, "my instructor/art is the best" feed back that is virtually worthless. The commando krav maga web site that comes up on google makes me cringe.
I taught Kempo for 17 years and I tend to judge martial arts instructors the way I judge wine: the fancier the label, the shittier the content. Krav Maga is an excellent system if its taught by an excellent instructor. I'm afraid I didn't get any referrals in the area that were worth passing on.
Please let me know what you find.
JW

Backwoods · 07-02-2010, 11:22

JW,

Thank you very much for asking around. It looks like I will be doing some hunting when I get there to find something that fits. The biggest thing is I don't want to deal with all the superflous BS that comes with some schools. I want to be able to tell the instructor I am looking to work on my mind and body for combat, not to dance or spend tons of money on their belt system.

f50lrrp · 07-02-2010, 12:03

My son, Chris, used to take Martial Arts at KUGTAR MA on North Main Street in Salinas (19 miles from Monterey. He studied there for two years and liked it alot because of their no-BS attitude.

TPMNPS · 07-25-2010, 17:08

I'd stay away from the Commando Krav Maga at all costs... it is NOT the Krav Maga you are looking for. The founder of Commando Krav Maga, Moni Aizik is a fraud. He claimed to be an Israeli commando (not true), been one of the only survivors of a huge ambush (not true), and then helped recreate/update the Krav Maga system with the original founder (not true either). Plenty of info on him online, like here: http://www.kravmaga.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2838

I'm in Monterey myself and the jujutsu place on Lighthouse is pretty good as was mentioned in a previous post; however there is still the formality to it and not so much of a workout.

I've also been looking for real Krav Maga and the closest you will find it is in Santa Clara, about 1 hr 20 minutes north of Monterey. There are 2 gyms there. I've been to one of them- Academy of Self Defense (http://academyselfdefense.com/). They are very military friendly (good discount) and they'll work your ass off as well as show you very practical Krav Maga. A ton of their students are cops and if you are military you can do classes with them and see different variations of a lot of techniques (like how to roll around on the ground with body armor on and weapon retention stuff, etc). They have tons of class times and also do private lessons for like $40/hr. The first 2 weeks you can go to any class (Krav, BJJ, fitness, etc) for free.

There is another guy who is newer but I'm hoping to check out sometime. He was the former head Krav Maga instructor at the Israeli Counter Terror School. I thought it was a fraud so I had him verified by two independent sources- he is the real deal. His name is Shlomi Katz and he is at: http://www.kravmagabayarea.com/about..._bay_area.html
He only has class at night which is a pain if you are trying to go to/from monterey (if class ends at 10 you're on the road pretty late; pray your car doesn't break down). He does private lessons too but they are freakishly expensive (like $120/hr or something like that).

Anyways, I try to go once a week. Let me know if you want to carpool (cost of gas really adds up)

**The Reaper** · 07-25-2010, 18:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by TPMNPS

I'd stay away from the Commando Krav Maga at all costs... it is NOT the Krav Maga you are looking for. The founder of Commando Krav Maga, Moni Aizik is a fraud. He claimed to be an Israeli commando (not true), been one of the only survivors of a huge ambush (not true), and then helped recreate/update the Krav Maga system with the original founder (not true either). Plenty of info on him online, like here: http://www.kravmaga.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2838

I'm in Monterey myself and the jujutsu place on Lighthouse is pretty good as was mentioned in a previous post; however there is still the formality to it and not so much of a workout.

I've also been looking for real Krav Maga and the closest you will find it is in Santa Clara, about 1 hr 20 minutes north of Monterey. There are 2 gyms there. I've been to one of them- Academy of Self Defense (http://academyselfdefense.com/). They are very military friendly (good discount) and they'll work your ass off as well as show you very practical Krav Maga. A ton of their students are cops and if you are military you can do classes with them and see different variations of a lot of techniques (like how to roll around on the ground with body armor on and weapon retention stuff, etc). They have tons of class times and also do private lessons for like $40/hr. The first 2 weeks you can go to any class (Krav, BJJ, fitness, etc) for free.

There is another guy who is newer but I'm hoping to check out sometime. He was the former head Krav Maga instructor at the Israeli Counter Terror School. I thought it was a fraud so I had him verified by two independent sources- he is the real deal. His name is Shlomi Katz and he is at: http://www.kravmagabayarea.com/about..._bay_area.html
He only has class at night which is a pain if you are trying to go to/from monterey (if class ends at 10 you're on the road pretty late; pray your car doesn't break down). He does private lessons too but they are freakishly expensive (like $120/hr or something like that).

Anyways, I try to go once a week. Let me know if you want to carpool (cost of gas really adds up)

This is not where your first post goes.

Please review the board rules and stickies.

TR

Noslack71 · 07-25-2010, 19:20

Backwoods:
I had some limited KM experience in Austin, TX . I was fortunate that both of the instructors were certified. There are different levels, and with your resume, my guess is if you find one that is truly certified you can get the training not generally avaliable to the general public. I believe this link will helped you find the cfertified instructor(s).
This link might be of help http://www.kravmaga-clubs.com/kravmagatexas.html

Noslack

mark46th · 07-26-2010, 21:57

I know Krav Maga is the latest sexy martial art but if the Aikido sensei is any good at that school, I would go with Aikido. Seems more efficient, practical.... Just my opinion on martial arts...