Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, March 7
Revamping its training to meet emerging field requirements, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) has introduced Israeli martial art ‘Krav Maga’ for its personnel for hand-to-hand combat.
The training programme for the first batch of 50 personnel, which is of nine weeks duration, commenced at ITBP’s Basic Training Center in Bhanu near Chandigarh on Tuesday. The trainees are sub-ordinate officers who will be trained as instructors to further impart training to the rank and file on a regular basis.
Krav Maga was first introduced in India in 2007 by the Special Protection Group, responsible for the Prime Minister’s security. After the violent face-off with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh during 2020, a need was felt to revamp close combat training in the ITBP, sources said.
Developed by the Israeli defence forces, Krav Maga uses a combination of various martial techniques like judo, karate, boxing and wrestling in a “no holds barred approach” for offence as well as defence, and teaches the combatant to adapt any object as a weapon in a practical and effective manner.
“For some time now, the ITBP has been working out ways to enhance the unarmed combat potential of its troops and modify its training procedures accordingly. Krav Maga was also explored and an instructor was trained by a team from Singapore, who in turn had conducted a training programme for some other personnel on a pilot basis,” an ITBP officer said.
Face-offs and at times clashes and jostling with Chinese troops occur frequently along the Line of Actual Control. “After the Galwan incident, where various types of crude weapons were used, the move to revamp hand-to hand combat training, along with some other measures, got a fillip and Krav Maga has been made part of the institutionalized training programme for all personnel, including recruits,” he added.
Once their training is complete, the new instructors will also be sent to various ITBP establishments and units to conduct training programmes. This will also be extended to women personnel as well as officers.
Krav Maga also forms part of the training curriculum of the British Special Air Service and the US Marines. It is said to be extremely efficient as it was derived from the street-fighting experience of Israeli martial art experts. It is focused at finishing a fight as quickly and aggressively as possible, with attacks aimed at the most vulnerable parts of the body which are not limited to avoiding serious injury or even death.