Use of Force

Gershon Ben Keren

Sun 28th Feb 2016

Just because somebody believes something should be the case, or that something makes sense to them, doesn’t mean that it is. I recently received a critical review of my book, “Krav Maga: Real World Solutions to Real World Violence”, where the reviewer, claimed that my response(s) to dealing with an assailant armed with a blade were both disproportionate, illegal, and a violation of the human rights of the attacker under European Law. I’m quite sure that the writer of the review would like to see me brought to The Hague to answer for my “war” crimes, of “excessive” use of...Click To Read More

Air Rage

Gershon Ben Keren

Wed 24th Feb 2016

Last week I got to witness an incident of air rage. It was during an overnight flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, and was a great example of two individuals who became so invested in their anger, and their justification(s) to be angry, that they were unable to consider alternatives that could have resolved the situation – it was also a great example of a lack of training in de-escalation and conflict resolution, on the part of the flight attendants and airline staff; something that is quite disturbing considering the potential danger(s) that an irate passenger can cause at 30 000...Click To Read More

Kidnappings And Risk Assessments

Gershon Ben Keren

Sun 14th Feb 2016

This blog article is about different types of kidnappings, and how we can determine if we are at risk from them i.e. how to make a risk assessment around kidnappings etc. This article is prompted by a seminar I conducted yesterday, around armed abductions. The first thing we must do if we are to ascertain whether we are at risk or not, or what the level of risk is, is to make a risk assessment. There are three things we need to look at in order to do this: assets, threats and vulnerabilities. An asset is something, which we value, and...Click To Read More

5 Personal Safety Myths That Put You In Danger

Gershon Ben Keren

Sun 7th Feb 2016

At our school, we don’t simply teach techniques, we teach solutions to situations. This means explaining the dynamics of violent interactions, the methods and motivations behind assaults, as well as explaining how situations develop and change based on a Target’s behaviors and actions etc. This means talking about personal safety/self-protection; how to predict, prevent, identify and avoid violence, along with what, and what not to do, when dealing with aggressive and violent individuals. The start of the year has been a very busy one, and I’ve found myself doing a lot of personal safety “myth busting” for want of a...Click To Read More