Krav Maga. Photo: Facebook.

Brooklyn’s famed Gleasons Gym, once a training ground for pugilist greats Mike Tyson and Mohammad Ali, is now home to a new course teaching Israeli close combat fighting system Krav Maga, program director Heather Goldman told The Algemeiner.

Nakash Krav Maga International (NKM) arrived in New York on May 1 with an exhibition followed by public seminars. It will host a women’s self-defense clinic on Monday and a class at the 92nd Street Y on Tuesday before it becomes a resident at Gleasons.

The program is led by a team that has trained Israeli forces for the last decade and instructors are available for group and individual lessons, as well as instructor certifications.

“There has been an increasing awareness of this sophisticated fighting method in the market place and it’s a state of mind as much as it is a fighting method,” Goldman said. “We have a long standing relationship with the [Gleasons] Gym and it’s a great venue.”

The self-defense and hand-to-hand fighting system, developed by the Israeli Defense Force, consists of a wide combination of techniques sourced from boxing, savate, Muay Thai, Wing Chun, Judo, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, grappling and fight training. Krav Maga has been used by most defense forces and law enforcement agencies around the world, according to NKM’s website.

Bruce Silverglade, the owner of Gleasons, believes the program brings something new to his venue.

“It’s self defense. It’ll give people self confidence, boost their ego and I think that’s something very much needed here in New York,” he told The Algemeiner. “Everybody should be able to defend themselves, everybody should be able to walk down the streets of New York and be self confident that they’re secure.”

“Boxing doesn’t provide that. Boxing is a sport and if someone approaches you, you can’t hold your hands up and say ‘OK, I’m gonna throw a punch at you,’  ” he added. “Most people that are going after somebody, whether it’s [a] man or a woman, they are looking for someone that’s weak and what this does is give [a person] self confidence so you’re not weak.”

Goldman, who has been a member at Gleasons for seven years now, called Israeli fighters “among the most elite in the world.”

“I think the history of the regional tensions certainly helped make it a focus and with the mandatory service, it gets everyone involved,” she said about their fighting skills.

Reflecting on his “pride in Israel,” Silverglade added, “I think the Jewish defense organization is the best in the world… What they put up with and what they have to go through every single day is astounding and I think that they are certainly the best in the world. If we can learn from the best in the world it’ll definitely improve us.”