We Offer Our Service to the Realtor Community or Anyone Interested
It is early in the morning in late April. The sun is barely out, rising slowly to the east, behind the outline of the Boston Mountains. The air feels fresh and crisp, the perfect weather for the intense Annual Elite Training Seminar. In the three days ahead, Krav Maga practitioners from all over will gather to practice and share their skills. Krav Maga is a form of self-defense based on the use of reflexive responses to threatening situations. I am here with a few of my advanced students, and we are excited about the full schedule of training.
Fast forward a decade and you find me sitting on my porch enjoying a lazy late afternoon with a glass of peppermint tea when my phone rings. It is a friend and old student of mine, a local veterinarian, reaching out to see if I am interested in offering her a refresher series of classes. A few days ago, I received a request from a Realtor friend to set up a training seminar for the women on her team. And then, out of the blue, came a call from a group of women runners. Suddenly, it seems, there is much interest in realistic self-defense.
For several years my co-instructor, Sal Buzzurro, and I taught Krav Mga at a studio near Forsyth Park. Then the pandemic came, full-contact instruction stopped, and we put training on hold. Now, with the momentum on our side, we have resumed training and self-defense seminars. This offers a much-needed service to our community. Seminars are now held on demand and, our focus is to work with those who feel the need and desire to acquire realistic self-defense skills. We believe in the principle of use of proportional force and teach very effective techniques that help you neutralize an attack quickly. Through continued practice, these techniques become part of you and are your go-to tools when you don’t have other weapons, can’t get to them in time, or their use is not justified. We teach techniques developed to react to dangerous situations and, hopefully, get you to safety. In every workshop, the grand finale is the opportunity for participants to experience and respond to a “realistic” type of situation where they apply the techniques they learned. It is an intense exercise and adrenaline-driven, but confidence-building. That said, we emphasize situational awareness and encourage folks to
avoid circumstances of conflict and confrontation at all costs. To quote the words of Sun Tzu “the wise warrior avoids the battle”.
Note: In addition to these seminars, we also do private and small-group (up to 4 participants) instruction. At this time, all training is held at the Savannah Sport & Wellness and the point of contact for scheduling and fees is Katie Balthrop, the owner. The Center is located at 2110 E Victory Drive, in Savannah. Ph. # 912 307-9203
Ze Santa-Rita is a Realtor with Forbes + Associates – He is a regular contributor to Real Producers and Stroll Ardsley. He earned his Krav Maga Expert Level Instructor from the International Association of Krav Maga in 2012.
 Sal Buzzurro is a retired officer with the Army Rangers with 22 years of service. He has a 3
rd -degree black belt in karate and is a published author in Black Belt magazine.