Take 'em down with one punch

Achour Esho, 27, wraps his arms around his student's neck and yanks it down. "If I've got him, and I've got him in that position, I'm gonna squeeze like heck," he explains to his class.

Then Esho shows how to knee his opponent in the chest, as he stands in a lunge and brings one knee forward, while continuing to hold his opponent's head down. "When you knee, keep that foot down," he says. "Boom! And then switch. Boom! And then switch."

This is the kind of stuff you learn in Krav Maga, a self-defense system developed by the Israeli army to train citizen soldiers. It's now being taught in gyms and is gaining lots of converts in the Chicago suburbs.

"They coin it self-defense of the modern world," says Burt Witte, the only black belt in Krav Maga in Illinois, who teaches at Buffalo Grove Martial Arts.

Unlike traditional martial arts, some of which were developed hundreds of years ago to train samurai warriors to attack people with swords, in Krav Maga you learn how to fight people who might be carrying knives, guns, shotguns or grenades.

"They actually have a defense for people throwing rocks at you," Witte says.

In Krav Maga, you don't wear a white gi, you don't bow to your sensei, you don't try to win points in a match. It's not a sport; it's for real.

The moves are a pastiche of other martial arts, combining elements of karate, boxing, jujitsu, Thai boxing and judo.

"Krav Maga was mixed martial arts before it was cool to mix martial arts," says Dino Spencer, a Krav Maga instructor at FLO Mixed Martial Arts in Palatine.

Because everyone in Israel serves in the army, Witte says Krav Maga was designed to be simple enough that everyone could learn it. Students only learn a few basic techniques so they can get themselves out of jams as fast as possible.

"You don't have to have 2,002 defense techniques in your mental Rolodex to figure out what you're doing," Witte says.

Spencer and Witte say as a form of fitness, you can't beat Krav Maga. They say the idea in Krav Maga is to explode with a short burst of energy, overcome your opponent and get away, so you have to make every move count.

"The fitness we get out of our Krav Maga training is from our explosive punching and kicking," Witte says. "You've got to be able to punch as hard as you can and kick as hard as you can to overcome that person."

Spencer agrees.

"Really trying to finish a guy with one short (attack) is what separates Krav Maga," he says. "When you do everything 100 percent, it's a much harder workout than a 45-minute run on a treadmill. That intensity is what makes it a great workout."

Spencer starts a class having students jump rope or perform military-style calisthenics. Then they pair up with a partner and try out their defensive techniques, using combinations of punches, kicks and holds.

"Street fights are short and fast," Spencer says, explaining that students train to fight hard for 30 to 60 seconds at a time. "In a street fight you flurry, so they're learning to put their elbows, knees, kicks all together."

In a recent class at FLO Mixed Martial Arts, John Sarantopoulos, 29, of Palatine sparred with Billy Kerpiniotis, 29, of Chicago. Kerpiniotis held up a pad on either hand, and Sarantopoulous punched it twice with his left hand, once with his right, again with his left and ended with a high kick. He paused for a second then did it again.

Sarantopoulos says he's seen an incredible change in his fitness level since he started Krav Maga eight months ago. "I dropped close to 30 pounds since I've been coming here," he says. "Now I can do jump roping for 10 minutes without being tired."

Sarantopoulos likes the intensity of Krav Maga. "I am a very angry person. When I come here, I release it all," he says.

Kerpiniotis comes to be safe. "It teaches you in real time experience," he says. "I don't like to fight. I just like doing it so if something happens I know what to do."

Where you can learn Krav Maga

• Buffalo Grove Martial Arts

144 McHenry Road, Buffalo Grove

(847) 215-8333, Bgma.us

• FLO Mixed Martial Arts

709 S. Vermont Road, Palatine

(847) 934-1356, myspace/flomma.com

• POW! Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness Facility

950 W. Washington, Chicago

(312) 829-7699, Powkickboxing.com

• Ultimate Martial Arts

3922 W. Touhy Ave., Lincolnwood

(847) 679-3330, Ultimatemartialarts.us