![Priya Article 1a](/wp-content/uploads/priya-article-1a.png)
Ms. Priyamvada has been training in Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India) for few week at the time of writing this article. This is her quest to struggle with her fears, insecurities etc in the process to join up to a class of self defense. We at Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India) acknowledged & admire the courage to speak about this quest lot of girls / women face.
To read her second article on PowerToWomen.in Website – “Quest towards a Warrior Mindset” Ms. Priyamvada Click here.
Ms. Priyamvada. J
Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Self Defense Academy (Bengaluru, Karnataka) Practitioner / Warrior, India, India
Advocate
![Priyamvada. J, Advocate - Journey towards Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India) training](/wp-content/uploads/priya-article-1a-640x427.jpg)
Like most girl, one of my biggest fear just one month ago was being unprepared in a situation of physical or sexual assault. I lived with that fear somewhere in the back of my mind at every moment. To some extent, it was created by my lack of physical size & strength. It was a psychological spiral that I could not get out of. Everyone reaches a stagnation point. Certain occurrences in my life, personal and professional, made me understood one thing. No matter how many speeches I give and preach about gender equality, unless I stop blaming the society for lack of morality, take responsibility for my own issues, internal and external, and face them in the right way, overcome them and inspire others like me to overcome their own insecurities and vulnerabilities, there really is no point to all that I talk. It was with this intent of overcoming my own insecurities and vulnerabilities enough to defend myself in the face of unfortunate situations, I decided to learn Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Israeli Military Self Defense.
At first, I had absolutely no clue on which kind of defence is the best and read about many kinds of martial arts based self defense. However, one thing was clear to me. I wanted to learn how to defend myself in real life situations, it was not my intention to enter into any tournament or sports. When I googled on these lines, the first thing that appeared was Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Israeli Military Self Defense system. I read about it and watched a few his Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India) Youtube videos, and that got me interested.
Now my issue was to look out for a proper trainer. I did not want to learn online, particularly since I am still recovering from neck and lower back injuries. I wanted to train properly. So, I searched for classes in Bengaluru, India, and that is how I came to know about these training sessions. I did not tell any of my friends or confidants that I am going to enroll. I just wanted to see the place and training and then decide whether this is what I really want.
I just dropped a text to Guruji Franklin Joseph and received a reply almost immediately that I can enroll for the class. Guruji Franklin Joseph had sent long messages about what this was entirely about. I did not want to read them. I wanted to first see how this works and then decide. I reached the location towards the end of one of the sessions at Wilson Garden. I saw that the training studio was in 4th floor. And I was skeptical to actually go inside, particularly when I had absolutely no clue about what was there, who was there, and that I had not told anyone that I was there. Somehow, curiosity and courage won over and I entered the building. My first thought was “Damn this building looks shady. It is such a closed space. Where the hell am I going to run? What am I going to find there? What the hell did I just get myself into?”. I just wanted my brain to shut up. I plugged in my earphone, calmed myself down and walked up the stairs. There were 2 people training, one of them was a kid. I admit, I felt just a little better then.
Guruji Franklin Joseph asked me the reason for me joining the class. I did not particularly feel like sharing any details. I said I need it for my profession. Then he gave me certain situation analysis questions. Though I was answering them all to the best of my knowledge, one part of my mind was telling me that the training session was over and the students would leave. I was scared to be alone. Only the fact that the conversation was interesting enough to hold my curiosity kept me in that place, or I would have probably just run off. Maybe my face mirrored my mind and Guruji Franklin Joseph somehow sensed I was scared. He then spoke about how he had trained girls to defend themselves including his daughter Ms. Krystal Joseph who is now the CEO of iTeachiPower.in; she now conducts Girl Safety Empowerment & Military Girl Self Defense Workshops for different School & Colleges, and made me feel a little better about all this. To just be there and continue the conversation was a major shift in my mindset. By the end of the conversation, Guruji Franklin Joseph just told me one thing. “No matter how scared you are or what the hell goes on in your mind, never show it out”. I’m still wondering what he noticed. I wanted to learn. I decided to enroll though I was totally scared of what it involves. Physical contact. Combat. I recognized how unprepared I was in real life and wanted to get over it. That entire week I thought about every incident in my life, how they impacted me, how such impacts were an impediment in my work and daily life, and I took a week to just face myself with my insecurities, fears and vulnerabilities.
I went to Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Israeli Military Self Defense class the next Saturday, and boom, I was hooked on to the training. Just the feeling of learning something to defend myself boosted my confidence. The transformation in my mindset in that session was unbelievable. I got comfortable enough to train, and with that, I started working out my fears by rewinding and remembering what I had learnt. I don’t know where this came from, but it felt like rewriting memories.
I learnt the basic warm up and tactics, and yes, I did struggle initially to cope up with the Guruji Franklin Joseph & his Krav Maga Israeli Military Self Defense training, particularly since the injuries still affected me and my food habits were hopeless, or maybe it was more of a mental block that I could not do this medium intense training. I soon got the hang of it, and I love it. In just 2 Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Israeli Military Self Defense classes I had been given an hour of lecture on food and its importance, and I’ll be honest, I was pretty annoyed and I don’t know what the anger was directed at. However, I knew my food habits need to improve to cope up with the training. Further, in these two classes, I had learnt the Heel of the Hand punch, Single Hand Grab Release and the Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India) principles behind this. And there was so much to learn in the casual conversations inside the Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India) class by Guruji Franklin Joseph that had a lot of impact on my psyche, like how to face situations, crime has no rules, you have to give it everything you have got in case you are forced to fight, else don’t get into the fight.
I found it ironic that I was training to fight and Guruji Franklin Joseph kept telling us how important it is to avoid fights in the first place. However, the more I got involved in training, the more I understood violence and aggression does not come naturally to me, and that I had to come out of my comfort zone and rewire my brain to switch on and switch off the mode of aggression. I did not want to fight or hurt anyone, but I realised even if I just have to defend myself, I would inevitably have to fight. And if I do, I better do it right and finish it.
I did feel tired after class since it was just the beginning, but it was kind of a nice tiredness, knowing I learnt something that would save my life someday, and I slept peacefully with this thought. Once I decided I’d go ahead with the training, I told my close circle, and they were totally amazed that a girl who was scared in closed spaces, specifically when it involved contact could take this decision to even begin to train. They were a little skeptical when I told them I found this on google and not with any personal reference. But knowing that I would not back off from something I was so sure I wanted to do, they were supportive in every sense.
It really is a nice feeling and boosts confidence when I train Franklin Joseph Israeli Military Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India), like I’m doing something useful that would definitely come in handy. To overcome my issues of so many years was not an easy task for me, and it is still in process. The greatest transformation just happened the moment I started acknowledging the problem and the solution simultaneously. I don’t understand how that works yet. But I could definitely see that I had changed, and it was a point of no return. A moment’s decision was all it took.
It was possible for me to decide on this majorly due to Guruji Franklin Joseph being so friendly and welcoming, which scared me initially but it worked in my favour anyway. I felt comfortable enough to train with him, and yes, as I learnt more, I noticed how much more there really is to go. So yes, thank you Guruji Franklin Joseph, for a new beginning in my life, and for being tactful enough to not force contact combat initially until I got comfortable with it, and slowly pushing me to break my limitations and begin light contact combat.
P.S: The next part of my writing will be about the impact of training in just two classes on a solo trip, and Part 3 would be the experience of the first month training in Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Israeli Military Self Defense system.
Ms. Priyamvada has been training in Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India) for few week at the time of writing this article. This is her quest to struggle with her fears, insecurities etc in the process to join up to a class of self defense. We at Franklin Joseph Krav Maga Self Defense (Bengaluru, India) acknowledged & admire the courage to speak about this quest lot of girls / women face.
To read her second article on PowerToWomen.in Website – “Quest towards a Warrior Mindset” Ms. Priyamvada Click here.
![border](/wp-content/uploads/border33.png)