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	Mike Lee Kanarek (right) faces his opponent (1). He avoids the man’s kick by moving forward and off the line of attack and by checking the leg with his hand (2). He then short-circuits the attacker with a punch to the neck (3). Next, Kanarek enters one of haganah’s points of reference—the outside clinch—and pins the attacker’s arm as he slaps downward and grabs his shirt (4). He then yanks the man forward and knees him three times (5). To finish, Kanarek twists him to the ground (6),
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	The assailant begins to choke Mike Lee Kanarek (1). Kanarek immediately grabs his wrists and yanks downward and outward. He keeps the attacker’s hands pinned against his body—thereby depriving him of his natural weapons—and short-circuits him with a knee to the groin (2). Kanarek then executes an elbow strike (3) while transitioning to a point of reference called the outside clinch (4). He drives his knee into the opponent’s abdomen several times (5).
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	A knife-wielding attacker threatens Mike Lee Kanarek (1). He avoids the blade by moving off-line and seizing the knife arm (2). Next, he short-circuits the assailant with a kick to the groin as he yanks his arm to counter the man’s natural tendency to pull away (3). The kick provides a transition to haganah’s knife-defense point of reference (4). Kanarek then moves his knee backward (5) and drives it into the man’s torso three times (6).

His life reads like a movie script. An orphaned Vietnamese- American war child named Lee Van Hong is adopted by Jewish immigrants. Upon settling in Israel, they change his name to Mike Lee Kanarek, keeping the “Lee” as a tribute to his Asian heritage.

As further tribute, they enroll him in judo at age 6, setting him on the path to earning black belts in five systems. Even though he’s not required to serve in the military because of his adopted status, he volunteers —and demonstrates sufficient intelligence and skill to be selected for an Israeli special-operations force in the Golani Brigade. He later immigrates to America, where he crosstrains in numerous martial arts. He uses his unique background and experience to found a progressive fighting system that addresses the needs of everyone from housewives to homelandsecurity professionals. He secures the endorsement of the father of American kickboxing, Joe Lewis, a veteran of the same war that produced him.

His system, called haganah, is now taught at more than 50 locations across the United States with additional instructors set to begin operations in the near future.

Kanarek has certainly overcome the odds, and he’s developed a system designed to do the same. Haganah is able to accomplish that goal, he says, because of the following fundamental qualities that went into its construction.

Composition
Haganah is a mix of the right stuff.

Israeli krav maga techniques were combined with hisardut, the no-holdsbarred fighting system of Israel, to form the core of its hand-to-hand tactics. Lotar counterterrorist tactics were added to form the basis for its weapons skills. Kapap, a style of military training based on British SAS methods, influenced more than a few of its strategies and tactics, and Brazilian jujutsu and Russian sambo have left their mark on its groundsurvival curriculum. Kanarek’s experiences in the Golani Brigade and various martial arts schools provided of Israel and from information provided by its American instructors.

Structure
Haganah is composed of combatproven methods and techniques that cover all aspects of self-defense, including ground fighting, stand-up fighting and weapons. Each part of the art benefits from and builds upon every other part as if it were a block in a pyramid.

the unifying element.

When he blended those components, only the most tactically sound approaches from each system were used. He had no vested interest in perpetuating any specific art or style, so he was free to keep the best and discard the rest. That philosophy remains in place to this day; haganah is still being enhanced by state-of-the-art tactics flowing out At its base lies Fitness Impact Training (FIT). It’s composed of conditioning programs and tactics that use haganah techniques combined with objective-specific exercises to prepare practitioners to succeed. Elements of FIT are incorporated throughout the self-defense and weapons programs.

Above that layer are two hand-tohand self-defense specialty programs for people of all ages. One, called Self-defense And Fast Escape (SAFE), is designed for situations in which fleeing is an option. The other, called Fierce Israeli Guerrilla Handto- hand Tactics (FIGHT), is intended for situations in which escape is not a viable option and victory must be pursued after initial self-defense reactions are used.

Next in the progression are two weapons-training programs: Israeli Combat Shooting (ICS) for personal defense and Israeli Tactical Knifefighting (ITK) for blade combat.

Finally comes Israeli Professional Tactical Training (IPTT). Reflecting haganah’s combined military and civilian heritage, it incorporates tactics that are used to train various law-enforcement and military units—mostly in counterterrorism and worst-casescenario street combat.

Objective-Oriented Strategies
All haganah tactics, whether handto- hand or weapons-based, are designed to flow toward the accomplishment of specific objectives.

In sport fighting, the objective may focus on scoring points or achieving a knockout or submission. In hand-tohand combat, it may be a matter of escaping, restraining or incapacitating.

In a weapons engagement, it could mean neutralizing or terminating.

Haganah teaches practitioners to select an objective at the outset of an encounter. Its tactics allow for an easy shift from one objective to another, if necessary, to enable students to adapt as they become aware of additional factors. Because they know where the engagement is going and how it will end, they enjoy increased confidence and operational flexibility.

Technique Flow
A key concept in haganah is “funneling” its hand-to-hand tactics into a point of reference. That refers to a position practitioners battle for while they’re fighting, a position of momentary dominance and control. Kanarek’s system teaches four primary points of reference. Three are used in hand-tohand engagements, and the fourth in empty-hand-vs.-knife defenses. While there are many possible attacks, most haganah self-defense reactions funnel to a point of reference within one to three movements regardless of the initial offensive technique.

By combining this concept with objective-oriented fighting, practitioners are required to learn fewer tactics.

Their training is accelerated, and they can attain proficiency more quickly.

Anatomically Based Tactics
In its tactics and strategies, haganah takes into account the physical and mental functioning of the attacker and the defender.

The attacker has an intention and is following his path toward achieving it. His mind is occupied with it, and he’s focused on whatever tactic he’s using at the moment to achieve it. He operates at his own pace, with his own rhythm, attempting to control the “beat” of the engagement.

Haganah capitalizes on that. It uses each one of the practitioner’s touches—be it a punch, elbow, gouge, pinch, etc.—to momentarily short-circuit the attacker’s thought process and interrupt his mental and physical flow.

In essence, it enables the defender to steal a part of the attacker’s intention.

Haganah practitioners operate between the assailant’s beats—on the half-beat, if you will. They continue to short-circuit him by overlapping their techniques so he’s mentally and physically overwhelmed. That prevents him from getting back on track, and it continues until enough damage has been done to facilitate the achievement of the practitioners’ objective: escape, restraint, incapacitation or termination.

All haganah strikes are designed to yield tactically desirable physical effects that support the objective of the engagement. They are derived from an understanding of human anatomy. For example, blows intended to stun usually target the side of the neck under the ear. To inflict pain and move the attacker forward, they home in on the groin. To unbalance, they hit the ears.

Only tactics that are effective in creating short-circuit effects and/or damage are taught. In general, they are consistent with and build upon the instincts and physical capabilities of the defender. Haganah assumes the student is at a size and strength disadvantage, so there’s no wasted effort or motion. That translates to speed, which translates to frequency, which translates to rapid short-circuiting and physical debilitation of the aggressor.

Simplicity
Although haganah includes techniques and tactics that address a broad continuum of self-defense needs, they’re easy to learn and execute.

Funneling to a point of reference simplifies the execution of initial selfdefense reactions. Common tactics associated with each final objective simplify the ending of the engagement.

Limiting the number of techniques simplifies the development of muscle memory. Eliminating all wasted motion simplifies the development of speed. Using only strategies and tactics that work regardless of size or strength simplifies the training of the student’s body.

All these characteristics make haganah simple to learn, simple to apply and simple to be confident in. It’s truly a complete combat system for today’s self-defense needs.