In the world of martial arts, there are tough guys and then there is combat survival commando Moni Aizik.

The world-renowned fighter is coming here for a special seminar next Saturday, April 8. By the end of it, he promises even the most timid amongst us will have a much better chance of outsmarting attackers.

Combat survival is about to become the newest self-defence technique on the island. Bob Smith, who owns The Academy of Martial Arts, has passed a brutal instructors course and starts his own classes in April.

According to Mr. Aizik, combat fighters are able to “defeat any attackers, including attackers armed with knives, guns, bottles, baseball bats etc.” They’ll also be able to “control or debilitate opponents immediately, irrespective of size, training background or experience level.”

Mr. Aizik, who runs up hills with a 40lb backpack for 90 minutes every day, comes with impressive credentials. He started training in judo and jiu jitsu when he was eight and won seven national titles in Israel. Later on, he joined one of the world’s most secret and deadly military units, the Israeli Special Forces and served in the Yom Kippurim War in 1973.

Speaking to us from his home in Toronto, he said reality-based fighting is becoming increasingly popular. “People are looking for the most simple, effective techniques. A lot of the Japanese and Chinese martial arts are made to look nice as a display, but they’re no use in reality. Combat survival takes self-defence to a whole new level.” he said.

Mr. Aizik, who still trains elite Israeli units in hand-to-hand combat, says he always teaches his students to avoid fights, but if it comes to them, he guarantees they’ll be able to handle themselves.

In an interview with realfighting.com Mr. Aizik says he always teaches his students to be flexible and to improvise. He said: “I’ll tell you a story. One of my female students was hitchhiking from the military base one day and was picked up by a man in a car. He drove a bit, then slowed the car and parked on the side of the road.

“He suddenly started touching the girl, but she remained calm. She kissed him back, but suddenly grabbed his tongue with her teeth and dragged him to the main highway in this manner, which was 200 meters away and turned him over to the police.”

He said: “This action was never taught to her specifically, what I did teach her was to stay calm and think, survive.”

Bob Smith is one of Bermuda’s most experienced martial artists. He has a six-degree black belt in karate, but the combat survival instructors course was a real eye opener.

He said: “This guy is the real deal. The course was one of the hardest things I have ever done.” After dealing with individual attackers coming at him with knives, guns and other weapons, the final test was a group attack with people coming at him from all directions. Mr. Smith said: “ I still came out on top.”

For more information call Mr. Smith on 292-5715.