Cabbies learn the art of a fare fight to stop attacks
23 Dec 2010
London cabbies are learning martial arts used by special forces to counter a rise in road rage attacks.
They are being taught krav maga, a form of self-defence designed for use in confined spaces.
Show of force: taxi driver Dom Alvarez, who was attacked by a road
rage motorist, learns krav maga moves from instructor Ricky Manetta
The Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association started the courses after increased reports of assaults and robberies, especially around the Blackwall Tunnel.
Drivers are being trained to deal with violent passengers and motorists who turn nasty, without leaving their cab. The course includes, if all negotiations fail, disarming assailants with knives, broken bottles and even guns.
More than 120 cab drivers have graduated from the 10-week courses at the John Orwell Leisure Centre in Wapping. Krav maga, “close combat” in Hebrew, was created in the Thirties to protect Jews in Czechoslovakia from **** attacks and is now used by armed forces worldwide. The Wapping class, run by Ricky Manetta, a taxi driver and martial arts expert, has proved so popular that he recently launched a krav maga iPhone app.
Most of his cabbie pupils have lost weight, are eating better and have even become “more spiritual”, said Mr Manetta. “The idea is to get them so confident that they can avoid situations,” he said. “The main thing is avoidance and then you learn the techniques to get out of a situation, even if it's a knife or a gun.”
One of his pupils, Dom Alvarez, used krav maga after he was cut up as he dropped off a City worker after a night out. He said: “The van went right up behind me and the passenger got out and was giving me verbal abuse.
“I stayed in the cab, just as Ricky showed us. Usually you take a bit of verbal, but he was very menacing. The window was open and I put my hand up high to protect myself and blocked his first punch, dragging him forward and smashing his face on the door frame.”
Mr Alvarez, a 45-year-old father of two, said: “I let him go but he came at me again, this time punching inside and trying to grab my keys. I grabbed his hand and I think his fingers went. The screams were immense.” His fellow krav maga students have now nicknamed him “Fingers”.
Steve McNamara of the LTDA said: “We have noticed a small increase in attacks on our members, particularly violent robberies. We thought this would be a good opportunity for our members to learn self-defence and a really good free membership benefit.”
The next classes start in February and the association is encouraging more of London's 600 women black-cab drivers to sign up.
Source; http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/ ... attacks.do
