Juha Saarikoski

Juha

"I started the sport in 2017 without any previous experience in martial arts. At the time, I was 50 years old. I hadn't been exercising enough, and I wanted to find a hobby that was different from the ones I'd done before, like racket sports, gym workouts, cycling, or running. I also thought that self-defense skills certainly wouldn't hurt, although that wasn't the main reason I decided to start. The sport immediately resonated with me during the basic course, and I quickly realized that this was something I wanted to continue with for a long time and keep learning more.

There are plenty of good reasons to take up the sport. It provides excellent all-around exercise, improving endurance, agility, mobility, balance, and coordination. In addition to physical fitness, it's also great mental training. The practice includes many different coordination exercises where you have to align your own movements with your training partner's actions. Progress happens quickly, and you'll notice that often the real challenge in learning something new lies in training your brain. Naturally, your self-defense skills also improve rapidly, and most importantly, you learn to be more aware of your surroundings and avoid threatening situations altogether.

You can practice the sport simply as a form of exercise, but both the Finnish and international communities around it are close-knit and offer many opportunities to expand your involvement—for example, through training camps and even outside of them. In our school, instructors have personal experience from places like France, England, and Spain, where they've combined vacations with local Krav Maga club training. Travelers have always been warmly welcomed.

Anita Truong-Holm

Photo by Jari Mäenpää/JDXMPhotography

Anita

I started Krav Maga in the spring of 2017, although I had wanted to begin as soon as I turned 18. My mother thought that girls shouldn't practice "that kind" of sport, but luckily, 16 years later, I finally decided to give it a go.

What still fascinates me most about Krav Maga is the focus on self-defense, which I find to be a truly useful life skill. In real life, if a threatening situation arises, there's no referee, timer, or scorekeeper – the goal in self-defense is to act quickly and effectively to escape.

When I started, I knew nothing about the belt system, but the versatility of the discipline and the opportunity for personal growth drew me in – all the way to becoming an instructor. And I'm glad it did, because through this community I've made new friends and had interesting encounters, including on international training camps. Lessons from Krav Maga – like recognizing stress responses – have also helped me in other areas of life, such as dealing with stage fright.

Over the past year, I've had the chance to teach women's and girls' self-defense courses, and through that, my desire to encourage especially women to join the sport has only grown stronger. I'm all about boosting the "girl power" vibe. 

I want to encourage everyone to try Krav Maga – to me, it's a bit like insurance: it's good to practice and know self-defense skills, even if you'll hopefully never need to use them.

Mika Jordman

Photo by Jari Mäenpää/JDXMPhotography

Mika

Mika has been training in Krav Maga for 8 years and earned his black belt in 2025.

He was hooked from the very beginning – the training is versatile, the group is amazing, and there's always something new to learn. As a bonus, you gain genuinely useful skills for potential real-life threat situations.

Mika's sessions combine a relaxed atmosphere, honest effort, and a touch of humor – you're warmly welcome to come and try it out!

Main instructor: Juha, unless otherwise stated.

• 19.8.2025 - Anita ja Juha 

• xx.xx.2025 -