MPs being taught Mossad self-defence skills to fight off ‘lone wolves’ after murder of Jo Cox
MPs are being taught hard-hitting combat skills used by Israeli special forces following the murder of Jo Cox.
Politicians at Westminster are getting free classes in Krav Maga, a mix of judo, boxing and jiu-jitsu skills to fight off potential “lone-wolf” attackers.
Defending swinging punches to the head and knife slashings are taught by instructors.
Firm Parli-Training are offering lessons in the discipline which is used by Mossad spies.
The Krav Maga classes will teach MPs how to tackle attackers’ main moves.
The key principle behind the martial art is to disable and put down any attacker.
Chokeholds and boxing punches are key skills.
But company founder Mendora Ogbogbo said the techniques being taught were mainly defensive.
She said: “We are teaching them techniques where if someone comes at them with a knife or a gun, they can disarm the weapons and then run.
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“Another technique we teach is the “rhino”, where they know how to cover the vulnerable parts of their heads when someone is punching them.
“We also teach a method where if someone is lying on top of them in a fight, they can wriggle from under them and run.
“This will give them a vital three or four minutes before someone intervenes.”
Many MPs and their staff have told of threats made to them.
Krav Maga, invented by Jewish martial expert Imi Lichtenfeld in the 1930s, is Hebrew for “contact combat”.
Two MPs and 18 assistants have attended the first session while another will be held in November.