Help Restore the Abir Warrior Arts to the Jewish Nation
ABIR AND I
A PERSONAL JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY
INTO THE HISTORICITY OF THE ABIR/QESHETH HEBREW WARRIOR ARTS®
With the same steadfast dedication by which Yemenite Jewry maintained the original pronunciation of Hebrew and scribal traditions, the Habani Yemenites preserved the original martial art of the ancient Hebrew warriors, the Banei Abir.
Referred to as “Qesheth”, it is specifically mentioned in Samuel II 1:18, and in the Book of Yashar. Although shrugged off, not understood, and simply ignored by most rabbis of our generation–who just never ‘connected the dots’–Israel’s unique warrior prowess is referred to throughout the width and breadth of our literature, from the Bible down the ages to the MaLBiM (19th century).
With no denial of G-dgiven ruaH ha-qodesh–the holy spirit granted to special men of valor-there is an actual warrior art that lies behind the story of two teenagers, the sons of Jacob, who single-handedly waged war against an entire Canaanite city, slaying all their men. At the end of their sojourn in Egypt, their descentants, the Israelites emerge from the darkest, most difficult hour of their slavery as an armed force of 600,000 foot soldiers. Clearly martial arts were something they had maintained in Egypt…
Ancient Egyptian bas relief from the period of the Hebrew enslavement (at the Necropolis bani Ghassan near Karnak). We identify these as Hebrew slaves practicing the origins of Abir. They can be identified by (1) their Semitic skin coloring (2) their beards (Egyptians could not grow natural beards), (3) their poor dress (4) their wearing the ‘ephod-bad’ a traditional dress maintained by Hebrew warriors down to the 20th century in Hadramaut. (5) The center warriors appear to be performing the ‘dum-tak’, an ancient war dance we practice in Abir to this day. (source of photo unknown. If you know the source, please let us know at torathmoshe@gmail.com so we can cite it properly.)
Centuries later, Shamgar ben `Anath, with nothing but a simple cattle goad, would slay 600 enemies. Samson, with only the jaw-bone of a donkey in hand, slew 1000 Philistine men. And the young teenage David, the neglected son in his family, would slay 200 Philistines for the hand of King Saul’s daughter. References to the incredible bravery and military prowess of Jewish war heroes do not end with these biblical accounts. They continue down to the Roman era in the Jerusalem Talmud recalling the feats of the men chosen for Bar Kokhba’s army, and the account by Josephus of Jews fending off the Romans with their bare hands. From there they continue in the writings of Shmuel haNaggid, at once the greatest Torah authority of his generation and commander of the armies of Granada.
ABIR/QESHETH IN SOUTH YEMEN (HASARMOWETH)
What evidence is there of the nature of the warriorship of the Habbani Jews? It took two and half years of research to finally (thanks to the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer) get my hands on a serious anthropological work on the community by one of her native sons from the town of Bareqeth, Ma`atuf Sa`adia bin YiS’Haq of blessed memory: Yahaduth Habban (HaSarmoweth) ba-Doroth ha-Aharonim (translation: Habbani Jewry [of Hatzarmavet] in the Last Generations).* For his master’s thesis in Jewish history at the Bar Ilan University, Sa`adiah personally published his historical and anthropological research on Habbani Jewry in 1987, providing testimony to a war the world never noticed, much less remembered: the Arab pogroms against the community as they prepared for their emigration to Israel at the beginning of the state:
Ma`atuf writes (pp.126-127) how, due to the rising fears and suspicions of the Arabs that the Jews were leaving in order to help the Zionists “Saiyoonim” to fight against the Arabs in “Falestin” (“Palestine”), the Jews needed to leave Habban in secret. The Jews tried to allay their fears in their characteristic humility: “Who are we that we could even help? We would only endanger [their cause] rather than help, and we have no connection with the Zionists”, etc. While many were convinced, others were full of doubt and suspicion; their hate for the Jews overpowered their sense. This is why some Habbani families left in stages, with individuals (such as mori Brihim bin Hassan, paternal grandfather of the Aluf Abir) leaving in such secrecy that even their families were left in the dark—so that they would not be endangered. Until this day, the elders in Bareqeth—who were only children at the time—believe him to have died in Yemen. (In truth, he not only escaped Yemen in secret, but lived to train his grandchildren, passing away at the age of 110).
Describing the route followed by most Habbanis who participated in the legendary Israeli airlift, Operation Magic Carpet, Ma`atuf writes:
The way [to the airfield] was generally in the direction of IHwar. In IHwar they would stay for some time, collecting food, money, and afterwards continue from there to Sheikh `Uthman and `Aden, to the camp Hashid—and from there they would wait their turn for the airplane to the Land [of Israel]. The problem was getting to camp Hashid, for they [the locals] wouldn’t always allow entry, and not to everyone. Therefore the first emigrants remained a relatively long time in Sheikh `Uthman. And when the pogrom in `Aden happened, they were in danger.
Eyewitnesses Gamar bath Hassan `Adeni, Sa`id bin Yusuf and Sa`id bin Musa Mif`i, who were present and participated at the time of the uprising, and presently live in Salame [Kfar Shalem] – Tel Aviv, recount the might of those Habbani Jewish individuals who fought with bravery and strength, and that they killed a great number of Arabs. And with what weapons did they fight? [Weapons] such as axes, pickaxes, knives, and iron bars and wooden bats, and the like.” (pp.126-127)
In truth, the Jews were practically unarmed. Recorded here are actually the very weapons wrenched from the same Arabs who had attacked them… Ma`atuf continues that the only Jew to fall in that battle, was a single Habbani Jew, Hillel Sa`id bin Mansoor bin Sa`id Bireyah, who was hit by rifle fire from afar by one of the Arab conscripts to the British army. (Arming the local savage tribes with firearms was one strategy of British appeasement at the time.)
I spoke to two Yemenite Torah scholars, both Baladi (not Habbani): one, a senior Torah scholar and rabbi, HaRav Mori Yoseph Maghori-Kohen, and another, a younger scholar, Rav Yinon Lagami, repeating to me a story told by his grandfather. Neither one had any prior knowledge or awareness of Abir/Qesheth or Yehoshua Sofer. They come from totally different families, and do not know one another. And these two men told me the same story. Rav Lagami revealed to me what he thought I couldn’t possibly have known: that the Habbani Jews had maintained the ancient warrior arts of our ancestors from the days of the Bible until recently. Yet he insisted that it does not exist any more; it has surely been forgotten… The story is as follows: A wild, vicious Arab tribe was plundering the Hadramaut region, destroying town after town, massacring the inhabitants. They came upon a town full of Jews, about 13,000. Even the Arabs among them threw up their hands, in total despair. Suddenly 10 Jewish Habbani warriors came on the scene, and waged war on their behalf, against the force of 1,000 bloodthirsty marauders. When they were finished, every last Arab marauder was dead, and not one of their own. The elder rabbi even went on to describe the deadly harpoon-like weapon the Habbanis used. All this was passed down to him in his boyhood from his own elders who were Baladi (a totally separate and distinct Jewish community), not Habbani.
Sadly, the level of cynicism and disbelief regarding these things is far more potent among Jews than non-Jews. If a new article reported the discovery of a hidden fighting tradition among a remote African tribe that was likely to stretch back in time 10,000 years, some of these same people wouldn’t blink an eye. Given our Western “ethos of the ‘noble savage’”, half-naked primitives get our benefit of the doubt as to the hoary age of their traditions. Yet, when news of a 3,000+ year fighting tradition is revealed among Jews of a remote Yemenite clan (well-known for their prowess in war) the same people shake their head in disbelief. For many, Jews are only supposed to bear traditions of old books, old languages, and special foods.
Consider the oral tradition of the Jewish People with no practical value, such as the unique conditions at the Mishkan (tabernacle) at Shiloh (see Mishnah ZevaHim, Ch.14 from “ba’u le-Shiloh”). These were committed to writing only 1,200 years after Shiloh was destroyed and abandoned, and the same laws hadn’t applied since the First Temple was erected! Although the site was unknown and covered over for centuries by the time the Mishnah was written down, it has been uncovered by archaeologists recently for all to visit. Any visitor to the uncovered ruins of the tabernacle at Shiloh today can see the countless shards of smashed pottery along the perimeter of the surrounding valley, where the ancients would smash their clay vessels after eating of the holy offerings. Although this hadn’t been practiced in the 1,200 years since Shiloh was destroyed, the memory was maintained orally all that time, until it was committed to writing. If such oral traditions with no practical value were accurately preserved, why not a combat art that Jews held on to for their very survival in one of the most hostile places on earth?
In Yemen, specifically, it is generally well-known that in this isolated region, Jews preserved Torah learning traditions that were long lost elsewhere, such as authentic Hebrew pronunciation and the original scribal traditions for preparing animal hides for ritual items prescribed by Torah law. Yet those traditions were not integral to their physical survival. Other communities who lost some of these traditions have remained alive to this day, thank G-d. Many elder Yemenite Jews are aware of how the Habbanis alone, among the various Jewish communities in Yemen (which flourished in the region long before the rise of Islam), lived a life of freedom, never allowing themselves to be subjugated to “dhimmi” status–the demeaning second-class rank of non-Muslims. Unlike the men of the Baladi and Shammi communities who were under the ban, the Habbanis proudly wore full turbans, rode on horseback as expert horsemen, and wore their weapons openly. It was the Arabs who were afraid of them. We do not take the blessing of freedom for granted; we know it is only by the grace of HaShem. However, the freedom enjoyed by the Habbanim, against such great odds, could only have been maintained by a legacy of unmatched warriorship. It was a tradition preserved from time immemorial which their freedom and very survival depended upon.
THE SURVIVAL OF ABIR IN THE 20TH CENTURY AND ITS REBIRTH
Three uncles (father’s brothers) of the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer (left to right): Sa`adiah, SallaH, and Sa`id Sofer/Ma`atuf DoH. They served as personal bodyguards to the Khaliph `Abdullah Ibn Hussein (front, seated). This is one of a number of private family photographs of the Sofer family with which the Aluf Abir has entrusted me, but requested that I not post at this time. They are awaiting for an exhaustive book to be written that will include them. (courtesy of the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer)
The great majority of the Habbani Jewish community emigrated to Israel 59 years ago, a year after the birth of the state. Grinding poverty turned some to the path of assimilation into mainstream Israeli society; others who held fast to Torah observance were assimilated into the Ashkenazi-dominated Torah world. During the fifty years of cultural assimilation inside Israel, the warrior discipline was preserved in its purity outside of Israel by one family, the Sofer-Ma`atuf DoH family. They had maintained a presence both in Yemen and Hevron from time immemorial.
The patriarch, Brihim bin Hassan (in Hebrew: Avraham ben Hoshen, est. 5621-5731 [1861-1971]), was representative of the Jewish communities of Yemen to the king. Moreover, according to Ma`atuf Sa`adiah bin YiS’Haq of blessed memory, in his aforementioned work, Brihim “turned into the highest religious-halakhic authority in his time” (page 80). His own father, YiS’Haq bin Salem of blessed memory remembered the great mori-chief in vivid detail, although being just a child at the time.
According to the family’s rich oral tradition, he was the scion of a long dynasty of warrior clan heads stretching back to the times of King David: He was the 49th “Aluf Abir”, a title passed down from grandfather to a chosen grandson: the inheritor of the full Abir warrior heritage. (The other children were also trained, but not in the full range of this vast martial tradition.) Before circumstances forced him to escape the region to join his kin in Israel, he was protector of the British military brass in Hadramaut before Yemen’s independence. A number of his esteemed sons and brothers became personal guards to Arab kings of the region. This included Abdullah ibn Hussein of Jordan (see above photo), the royal house of Ibn Sa’ud, and the sheikh of the Al Khuwaiti tribe (Oman)-the most feared and powerful sheikhdom in Southern Arabia at the close of the British colonial period.
Photograph from Heidan, the mountainous region northeast of San’a, 5720 (1960): Mori Gamliel Sabari from Najran (standing center-right), openly Jewish, served as personal guard to the last chief Imam of Yemen, Mohammad Billah Mansoor Al-Badr (back, second from the left, with large turban). Mori Gamliel, maternal cousin of the Aluf Abir’s mother, was an example of Jewish warriorship among other Yemenite communities, such as Najran, Khuban, Heidan, Shar`ab and others. Like the Jews of Habban, the Najranis grew their hair long. (courtesy of the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer)
The exiled Jewish Habbani chief naturally found safe haven in another former British colony, Jamaica, where a grandson was born to him: Yehoshua Avner. Later, when young Yehoshua was 9 years old, they emigrated to the United States. Far removed from the life-threatening, shifting political sands of the Arabian peninsula and the hard assimilating pressures Yemenites faced in Israel, Abir could thrive in a time and place where martial arts training was becoming widely popular through the likes of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. This was the environment in which the next chosen grandchild, the 50th Aluf Abir, could grow and be trained…
With the patience, calculation, and secrecy that is the hallmark of men from Hadramaut at that time, Yehoshua’s elders initiated a long-term plan to groom the next patriarch who would need to bring Abir into the 51st (20th and 21st) century: From the age of three he would be trained in secrecy at home and outside by his father and grandfather. This included everything from brutal physical conditioning to imparting millennia-old tribal dances, including the jambiya-dagger dances known to the other branches of the family. Then he would need to train in foreign martial arts: They utterly forbade him to reveal Abir until he would become at least Dan 7 in one other fighting form, become recognized as expert in several other diverse forms, and reach the age of forty. Why did they insist that he master foreign combat arts, which they considered to be rooted in idolatry and denial of HaShem, and forbidden to Jews (and even non-Jews, depending on the case)?
As immigrants to the United States, theirs was the first generation ever to see centuries-old national fighting traditions of different peoples available to the masses to choose from and learn. They understood that the Abir warrior arts would need to contend with these competitors in order to survive. They wanted to ensure that the next torch bearer would be able to adapt the art to the modern world accordingly. Just as our ancient language of Hebrew needed to be adapted to fit the needs of the 20th century so that its speakers could express anything they might need to.
Under his grandfather and father’s wing, Yehoshua Sofer mastered the art of his forebears by the age of 25. Against his will, but out of loyalty to his life mission, he achieved the rank of 7th-degree black belt (7th Dan) both in Hapkido and Kuksool Won, 6th Dan in Tukgong Musool, and 3rd Dan in Taekwondo. Finally, only six years ago, his father deemed him ready to reveal the art to a skeptical world dominated by and impacted with foreign martial arts. After 41 years of experience in diverse competitive fighting systems, he had become perhaps the greatest authority in the world on the strengths and weaknesses of the leading, marketed combat arts.
Since then, in only six years, Abir has been incorporated into some IDF officer training, has received the formal recognition of the Wingate College of Sport Sciences (the most prestigious certifying body and official representative of the Israel Sport Authority) and it has earned the respect of the martial arts world internationally. Today, Abir/Qesheth® is not only an officially recognized martial art, but an initial class of 15 Abir instructors-in-training was trained at the Wingate campus this summer, towards their certification specifically as Abir/Qesheth® instructors.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IT IS TRUE?
When a friend of mine sent me the link to the Abir Warrior Arts website, back 5765 (2005), I was as amused and skeptical as anyone. It sounded too amazing to be true. But unlike others who consider themselves so ‘all-knowing’ as to possess awareness of the full range of what is possible, I decided to find out more. I called the Aluf Abir from the telephone number on the website. Our first two conversations were well over an hour long. I was amazed both at how human and friendly he was, his confidence, and his wide range of knowledge. He struck me as a fair man who, having every reason to be arrogant and pompous, was really not. Above all, although very strong in his opinions, he gave me the distinct impression of a man of truth, who could listen, and admit an error. And it became clear just how incredibly important, how utterly precious an ancient, preserved Hebrew fighting tradition would be, if it were true.
So, over email and phone, I probed and checked him, throwing him both hard, direct and soft, subtle questions over a period of weeks and months, seeing if his answers would conflict, or if his stories would contradict somewhere. I was amazed by the internal consistency of what he taught. It was especially important for me to know if he prayed directly to Rabbi NaHman of Breslov, or through him as an intermediary to G-d, through Sefiroth, or believed in any sort of ’shi`tuf’, HaShem-forbid, phenomena that exist in the Hassidic world. My fears were allayed, and I invited him to speak at Beith Midrash Ohel Moshe.
For three hours, he shared with a spellbound audience a medley of life stories, the oral traditions in his family that demonstrated (physically) together with their Torah sources, and the explanations of what makes Abir unique and distinct from other martial arts. And it made perfect sense. Between my own Torah studies and years of training in Shotokan in my youth (and my contact with other forms through friends and films), it seemed rather straightforward. It was enlightening, mind-opening and amazing, but nothing so extraordinary as to warrant disbelief. However, it was the accounts of the Habbanis from HaRav Maghori-Kohen, and how he spoke of the Aluf Abir after meeting him so briefly, for the first time, that really left me with no doubt.
One major milestone for me was meeting and interviewing one of the Abir’s senior students at the time, Nir David, a former IDF officer-turned-ba`al teshuvah (returnee to Orthodox Torah observance) from Jerusalem, of Kurdish descent. Soon after he had first joined Abir a few years before, he met his grandparents, born in Kurdistan (in present-day Iran), at a family gathering. When they asked him what he had been doing, he explained to them that he was training in a Jewish martial arts called Abir, according to the Hebrew letters. He was thrown off when his grandfather retorted in disbelief: “That’s impossible. No one knows that anymore; it’s been forgotten.” But they asked him to show what he was learning. So he began showing them the letters, and the basic dance steps. Suddenly, they became emotional and broke into tears. After he gathered himself together his grandfather explained that they had a childhood memory from their native village: They remembered his own grandfather who, together with other elders, would gather late at night in a central place, far from the eye of the native muslims, to practice this exact fighting tradition according to the Hebrew letters.
What is precious about Nir’s testimony is that it demonstrates the Habbani warrior traditions did not exist in a bubble: ‘Abir’ was not the monopoly of one Jewish community; it was maintained in other communities as well until recent times. I still hope to interview Nir’s grandparents in person as part of my continuing research.
None of this, of course, is proof that Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer is actually Habbani. That would take joining Abir in Av 5766 (July 2006). There I would meet his cousins, who would occasionally come to visit. They interacted with him as family, and bore a clear physical resemblance to him; they are clearly built in a distinctly similar way. An older second cousin to the Aluf Abir, Golan Habbani, visited our training session at Hadar Yoseph stadium recently: He even knew the dance we were learning that day, and the Abir asked him how to teach a particular step. Over time, the Aluf Abir has helped me to build an archive for Abir of photographs of his uncles in the service of Arab kings all over the region, even training near Hevron. These photographs are utterly unique. From whom could he have acquired them? And who taught him the war dances that Habbani family members come to our practice sessions to see? They come with such respect, to drink in with their eyes, dances that they at most knew only a few steps of, now in their full glory.
YaHia Habbani of blessed memory, close family to the Aluf Abir’s father, Ya`aqov Mosha (Awad bin Brihim). In 5768 (2008) I personally met his 22-year-old grandson Eliyasaph Habbani, when he visited an Abir training session, with this picture as the screensaver on his cellphone. According to the Aluf Abir, with the exception of his grandfather’s darker skin and blue eyes, YaHia Habbani was the spitting image of his grandfather, the mighty Brihim bin Hassan of blessed memory.
In Sh’vat 5768 (February 2008) I had the distinct privilege of speaking over the phone to Awad bin S’leiman of Bareqeth, the Abir Yehoshua’s 89-year-old uncle (the paternal cousin of his father). In that conversation he confirmed to me both the Aluf Abir’s accounts of the warrior prowess of his grandfather, and that the fighting art of the Habbani Jews was entirely distinct from the warrior techniques of the surrounding Arabs.
Having grown up together with the Aluf Abir’s father, Ya`aqov Moshe (Awad bin Brihim) in the same five-storey house, ‘Beith il DoH’ (lit. ‘House of DoH’, i.e. the DoH clan), Awad bin S’leiman has been an indispensible informant for us. Thanks to this private man, an elderly Torah scholar, we have video testimony as to the legendary greatness of Brihim bin Hassan, the Aluf Abir’s paternal grandfather. It was this mightiest of Abir warrior chiefs who caused the Al Wahidi and Aleewa sheikhdoms - the two largest warring tribes of Southern Arabia - to put down their weapons against one another, coming under his authority as their protector and advisor. This thwarted a plan to massacre all the Jews of Habban and greater Yemen.
Abir Yehoshua’s father is first cousin to the late Mori Salem YiS’Haq Ma`atuf DoH, the late Rabbah (head mori/chief rabbi) of the community, who composed the Habbani Tiklal, also known as ‘Tiklal haQadmonim’. This was recently reprinted in a more modern form in the `Atereth Zeqeinim series in 5767 (2007) by the Ma`atuf DoH family, namely mori Avner Ma`atuf (all rights reserved to the family). In Yemen this was known by tradition to be the most ancient nussaH in the region from the original Hebrew arrivals to Yemen during the reigns of either King David or Solomon.
HaRav haGaon Mori Salem YiS’Haq Ma`atuf DoH of blessed memory.
Aluf Abir mori Yehoshua Avner Sofer/Ma`atuf DoH. (courtesy of the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer)
In summary: With his light complexion, his being raised in the U.S., and Breslover identity-it makes not difference whatsoever; ignorant skeptics can eat their heart out: After two and a half years of ongoing research, I know Abir Yehoshua to be of a Habbani Yemenite family that had been separated from the rest of the clan for decades.
Ultimately, no matter how much evidence is gathered, unless and until King David and the Aluf Abir’s illustrious grandfather are revived from the dead to show us how they fought, there will be some people who will never be convinced. Until then, everyone will have to draw their own conclusions. I, for one, am eternally grateful to the Creator for having given me the honor to befriend and train under the Aluf Abir Yehoshua Sofer… how much more so to have witnessed the evidence and testimony to the historical accuracy of his traditions, and to have personally experienced its transformative impact on many facets of my life.
WHAT IS ABIR AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
On the surface, it is an ancient discipline of deadly combat techniques based on the both Paleo-Hebrew and Ashurith-Hebrew [the common square font] alphabets, and organized into tribal sets according to their various methods and approaches. Abir techniques carry a spiritual power that must be seen (and felt) to be believed. Beyond its fighting application, Abir is also meditative discipline that can bring the warrior to perfect joy and nullification of the ego: humility that enables the warrior to become a conduit of G-d’s Will (in Hebrew, “Sinor”-צינור [conduit] and “RaSon”-רצון [Divine Will] are of the same letters). The tradition also includes the tribal dances of the Hebrews, such as King David danced before the Ark. Habbanis say, “many die sanctifying G-d’s Name, but the Abir lives sanctifying His Name.”
Some claim that the Aluf Abir must have grafted his own art onto a Korean base because he mastered Korean arts. These claims are fraudulent. Kuk Sool Won is an established martial art, and no strangers to litigation against imitators. The Aluf Abir maintains a close friendship with Seo ["Suh"] In Sun, grandmaster of Kuk Sool Won, and his family to this day. If he had aped their art and dressed it up in Hebrew garb, they would have expelled him from their society and filed suit long ago. It is as if to say that because Yemenite Arabic was his mother tongue; when the Abir speaks English or Hebrew, he must be grafting those languages onto a base of Arabic grammar. How ridiculous: he is fluent in a few languages, just as he is fluent in a number of distinct martial arts. That being said, Abir/Qesheth Hebrew Warrior Arts® was Grandmaster Sofer’s first fighting language and the only one that ever mattered to him.
Out of numerous unique characteristics of Abir that stand alone among the warrior arts, I will share five:
- The curved, bow-like motion of all arm and leg movements (hence the name “Qesheth”, meaning “bow”). This is especially noticeable in the leg strikes, which are circular in motion. It is unlike any fighting system that exists.
- The exactly parallel treatment of arms and legs, as opposed to the dichotomous way the upper and lower limbs are viewed in foreign systems.
- The continual, fluid, dance motion in Abir, rooted in a spirit of pure, simple joy and humble surrender of one’s will before G-d. As opposed to the arrogant focusing of one’s own energy, common in other forms, the Abir warrior strives to become a perfect vessel of Divine Will, and a conduit of the energy of Creation.
- A fighting system devised of the distinct shapes of an ancient alphabet. A tradition from time immemorial, the Hebrew warriors fight according to the distinct, sacred shapes of the modern and paleo-Hebrew letters. No other system is comprised of anything like it.
- A received tradition from the Abir’s ancestors through the ages is a repeated cry of praise to G-d that punctuates our workout: “Adonenu, Bor’enu, YoSrenu, Roph’enu!” (translation: “our Master, our Creator, our Maker, our Healer!”) These and other Hebrew call-and-response cries between the Abir trainer and warriors-in-training are entirely unique in the world.
Although I have not studied Korean art forms, I know that Kuk Sool Won is a modern, more diverse form of Hapkido. A general adaptation of the fighting arts of Northeast Asia (Japan Korea, China), with a Korean approach. Abir is far softer and more internal. Joint locks and throws are done by wrapping of the limbs without use of the hands to grab the opponent. This leaves the Abir’s hands free to flow into another expression. More importantly, as an element of the practice of Torah Judaism, it is more than a fighting system; it is a way of life.
As such, it has inspired a number of completely secular Abir students to become Torah observant. It injects students with a keen awareness of Divine Providence; how much we depend on HaShem for our bodily condition and the circumstances we find ourselves in; how ridiculous it is to put faith in our own power and imagined invincibility.
THE NEED OF THE HOUR: FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The large amount of attention Abir has received from the press and sports world in the last few years belies the truth: While Abir is experiencing an incredible rebirth, it is a slow and difficult one, under a meager budget. It is far from what is required to transmit much of the heritage, which involves desert training with horses and more! All the while, over the last six years, with all the personal funds he has needed to invest, the Aluf Abir has not yet succeeded in creating a stable enterprise he can stably live on, which is a great setback. Only with proper sponsorship, he will finally be able to open a proper academy.
Supporting Abir is an investment in the physical and spiritual health of the Jewish People. Abir is proving to be a catalyst in bringing Jews from every background who are far away from Torah, back to observance. There are countless young alienated Israelis who will never be attracted to authentic Judaism through synagogue or yeshiva-style outreach… These same Jews, however, when given the opportunity to train in one of the most effective martial arts on earth, discover that they don’t need to embrace a sedentary, ghetto-minded “Judaism” that rejects the needs of the body, in order to reclaim their heritage and keep G-d’s Commandments.
Abir is naturally catching on even faster among religious youth, both from the Haredi and nationalist camps. To see yeshiva boys whose grandparents’ communities were decimated in the gas chambers of Europe, reclaiming the remnant of the warrior heritage of their ancient forebears, is inspiring beyond words. How might Jewish history of the early 20th century have been different if the adult generation had been trained in warfare from their youth? In our own generation, how many terrorist attacks might have been thwarted and lives saved? Considering the assimilation into gentile culture within Israel, how many souls might have been saved?
With HaShem’s Help and Blessing, this message will reach those who have the financial means, who will recognize this opportunity for what it is: an opportunity to take part in rebuilding the true character of the House of Israel.
Michael Shelomo Bar-Ron, Beith Midrash Ohel Moshe,
authorized spokesperson for Abir/Qesheth Hebrew Warrior Arts®, reg. NPO
For more info, visit www.abir.org.il. To contact Abir/Qesheth Hebrew Warrior Arts® directly, email sofer@abir.org.il.
* Published by the Ma`atuf family under the auspices of the local municipality of Bareqeth and greater municipality of Ben Shemen.