Mike Lee Kanarek:
2007 Self-Defense Instructor
of the Year
Mike Lee Kanarek:
|
One of the best-known pioneers in the reality-fighting movement is Mike Lee Kanarek, founder of haganah. The Davie, Florida-based martial artist is a veteran of Israel’s spec-ops Golani Brigade. His volunteer tour of duty included anti-terrorism missions in the West Bank region and on the border of Lebanon and Israel. Since that time, he’s striven to evolve his knowledge and experience into a fighting art the public can learn. “I wanted to build a combat-proven system that allows people to be well-trained in just months—the way self-defense is taught in the Israeli special forces,” he said. “I wanted to offer this training to people in America and abroad—whether they’re fighting terrorists or punks on the street.” By all measures, he’s succeeded. That’s due in large part to his curriculum. Haganah, the Hebrew word for “defense,” spans the spectrum of the combat arts: empty-hand techniques, knife and gun techniques, and techniques designed for use against knives and guns. One key to its effectiveness is Kanarek’s attitude toward change. Whenever he devises or encounters a better mousetrap, he’s quick to adopt it. Ego doesn’t matter; what’s important is the benefit to the practitioner. Kanarek’s life history may be partly responsible for his selflessness, and it’s definitely responsible for his toughness. He was born in Vietnam in 1967, the son of a Vietnamese mother and American father. Later, he was adopted by a Jewish family whose father happened to be a soldier serving in the Haganah, the Israeli military unit from which Kanarek’s art takes its name. He learned judo at age 6, and when he was 10, he and his family relocated to Israel. Since then, Kanarek has majored in the martial arts. He earned a sixth-degree black belt in Joe Lewis’ American Full-Contact Karate/Kickboxing system, a fourth degree in hisardut and taekwondo, and a first degree in krav maga, and a blue belt in Brazilian jui-jitsu. He also received instructor certification in Thai boxing and sampled the Israeli military arts of kapap and lotar. Every component of that eclectic mix bolstered his credentials in the reality-fighting world, and once he set up shop in Florida, the public immediately took notice. And liked what it saw. Kanarek now teaches agents affiliated with the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Secret Service and several SWAT units. In addition, he guides the development of thousands of civilian students, and his art is taught at more than 100 schools across the United States. Because of his unending efforts to make the world a safer place through propagation of the martial arts, Mike Lee Kanarek has been named Black Belt’s 2007 Self-Defense Instructor of the Year. (This profile originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of Black Belt.) 
Complete Combat Israeli-Style |
