Manny Cooke

SELF DEFENCE INSTRUCTOR

BOXING COACH

PERSONAL TRAINER

While I was in school I enjoyed playing sport, training judo and using the multi gym that we had, but after I left music and partying became my priorities. 2009 found me aged 40 and severely out of shape, there had always been a voice in my head nagging me that I should get into shape and learn to protect myself and my wife, and that was the year I decided to listen. Some research into the question “what is the best martial art for street self-defence” led me to an Israeli system called Krav Maga. I signed up for an induction class, loved it and soon I had progressed from training weekly to three times a week, while also attending as many weekend special seminars and sparring sessions as I could. For a while I found myself the highest graded student at my club, often helping my training partners in the same way senior students had helped me when I was starting out.

While Krav Maga (Hebrew for “contact combat”) is purely a self-defence system, with no sporting/competitive element, we did spar regularly, this plus all the high intensity punching and kicking drills soon led to me losing weight and starting to get fitter, which in turn encouraged me to start eating healthier and cut down, and eventually give up alcohol. Sparring also awakened my competitive urge, and in 2018 I joined Double Jab, a local boxing club with a view to doing competitive boxing alongside my Krav Maga. Unfortunately, you have to be under 40 to get licensed for amateur boxing, but I participated in five White Collar camps and had three fights – in one camp my opponent discovered a pressing work commitment after sparring with me (I’m saying nothing!) and the last one was curtailed by the pandemic a couple of weeks before we were due to fight.

Working from home during and after the pandemic made me realise, I had spent long enough on the 9-5 office treadmill and as I always enjoyed helping less experienced students in my classes I felt that coaching could be the career path for me. In autumn 2021 I passed the England Boxing Level 1 Coaching Course and began to coach recreational boxing classes at Double Jab. Around this time I found myself training with one of my boxing buddies at the Commando Temple, as a long time fan of World’s Strongest Man, seeing all the strongman equipment at the Temple made me realise it was time to get into some serious strength training, and so the last piece of my personal fitness journey fell into place. I began training the four basic lifts (squat, press, bench and deadlift) then working regularly with a coach, training four times a week with a full program of accessory exercises, while still training Krav Maga and coaching (and participating in) boxing classes.

At the end of 2022 I completed my British Academy of Krav Maga Self Defence instructor course and decided it was time to leave the office world behind and make a living doing something I enjoy– coaching! Do you want to learn tried and tested fighting skills and self-defence techniques that could potentially save your life? Maybe you want to brush up on your boxing skills for that upcoming White Collar bout or amateur try-out. Or perhaps you just fancy doing some pad work for fun and fitness, with some strength and conditioning thrown in – or all of the above? I can tailor our sessions to your requirements so if you want to get fighting fit what are you waiting for?

At the end of 2022 I completed my British Academy of Krav Maga Self Defence instructor course and decided it was time to leave the office world behind and make a living doing something I enjoy– coaching! Do you want to learn tried and tested fighting skills and self-defence techniques that could potentially save your life? Maybe you want to brush up on your boxing skills for that upcoming White Collar bout or amateur try-out. Or perhaps you just fancy doing some pad work for fun and fitness

Krav Maga:

Krav Maga was born on the streets of 1930s Bratislava. With anti-Semitic violence sweeping across Europe, a successful Jewish boxer, wrestler and gymnast called Imi Lichtenfeld found himself at the head of a group of fighters taking to the streets to protect their community from attack. They quickly recognised key differences between self-defence and competitive sport; for example there will often be more than one opponent, there are no rules or referees and the attackers may have weapons. Imi refined what he had learnt into a system during years of military service before opening a school to teach his self-defence system to civilians in the 1960s.

Krav Maga students learn defences against punches, kicks, weapon attacks and threats, chokes, grabs etc, that are based on the body’s natural responses. This makes them easy to learn and less likely to fail under stress. We train to strike in all directions with fists, elbows, knees and feet as well as more unconventional techniques like web-hands, headbutts and hammer fists, as well as using common objects as weapons. Krav Maga is widely recognised as one of the most effective self-defence systems in the world and the intense striking drills make it an ideal system for both the serious self-defence student and those looking for a fun and interesting way to lose weight and increase their fitness.

Get in touch with me and let’s start building that fitter, more formidable you.

Manny