This week we’re shifting our attention from the cafés and marketing agencies to the combat arena.
Krav Maga Wellington is an IKMF school (International Krav Maga Federation) and their aim is to teach self-defence skills so that people can develop confidence, build personal resilience, and be able to use these skills for self-protection. They strongly believe that anyone can learn self-defence so that they can protect themselves and their loved ones.
Gabriel Molina, the National Director of IKMF New Zealand said he was inspired to start Krav Maga Wellington because he realised that by becoming a certified instructor and by setting up a self-defence school, that he could reach more people and engage better with his community.
The school is also a way to show people that learning self-defence skills is not only for the fit, the strong, or the young.
Gabriel had always thought that “self-defence should be practical and be accessible to everybody” and so and his wife knew that if they wanted to pursue the idea, that they would have to setup the school and start initiating the positive changes ourselves.
So what Gabriel’s favourite part about his job?
“Sharing knowledge and training with a diverse range of people gives me a huge buzz. Seeing people go from quiet and shy to becoming more confident is a development that is amazing to witness.”
As for his secret to keeping his clients coming back for more, Gabriel says it’s about creating long-lasting relationships.
“We always stay in touch with people and our communities and we listen to them. We are always there if they need us to run a charity event pro bono and I always ask them what our school can offer so that people can be more informed about self-protection.”
Also key to the success of the school is innovation.
“We also constantly keep the experience of training fresh and relevant. It has to mean something to the participant and we try not to get stuck into a routine – we surprise them.”
Krav Maga Wellington also plays a big role in the greater community. They collaborate with schools, organisations, other small businesses, and NGOs. Gabriel understands the power of community and says that “we have to be able to work and partner with others so that we can have a network that can support each other.”
If that wasn’t enough, Krav Maga Wellington also go to great lengths to help out their local paramedics. Gabriel described to us the initiative he setup in the school to aid the first responders.
“Ambulance crews experience frequent hostility from disorderly and uncooperative patients every year. Since we started the school, we made the decision to offer our training to paramedics for free so that they can learn ways on how to prevent assaults (towards them), and also how of how to deal with potentially dangerous situations.”
As for any nuggets of advice he might offer to those who are looking to start their own business, Gabriel had this to share:
- Start something that is positive – Something that will benefit others.
- Do something that you love and enjoy doing
- Put people first before the profits.
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