3WO (NS) Edwin Peng wants to make little-known Krav Maga a popular local martial arts programme.
Mention martial arts and most people would probably think of tae kwon do or karate. But 3WO (NS) Edwin Peng wants to change that and make Krav Maga the number one self-defence programme for Singaporeans.
Last August, the commando left the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) to start a Krav Maga school at Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre. It offers classes in the unarmed combat system that is being used by militaries and law enforcement agencies worldwide.
The 33-year-old is currently the highest-ranking Singaporean instructor in Krav Maga Global (KMG), an international Krav Maga organisation with more than 1,000 instructors from over 60 countries. He is also the only local instructor certified to train children.
Right moves for the right situation
When it comes to self-defence, 3WO (NS) Peng believes that Krav Maga is the best combat system. "Other martial arts are usually geared toward competition; you're trained to score points in a ring or cage. But Krav Maga is different, it's about defending yourself in real-life situations."
This martial art aims to neutralise opponents as quickly as possible by targeting the most vulnerable parts of the body. But there are also concerns about its brutal and deadly moves.
3WO (NS) Peng pointed out that civilians practise a milder variant of Krav Maga. "In the military, when you meet with adversaries you want him dead or half-paralysed. But in the civilian world, you just want to do enough to get away from danger."
He explained: "What we teach here is to de-escalate the situation first. If I can talk my way out of a problem, I will do it. I will only fight when under attack.
"If needed, I will kick the vital parts of my attacker so that I can start running away.
But I will not use more force than necessary."
In his classes for children aged five to 10 years old, for instance, students are taught to react swiftly if an adult tries to attack them. But if they are facing a bully of their age group, they are taught to talk things out.
"The kids need to learn to turn on and off their aggression," he said. "This is something which we teach in our classes; and they learn this effectively through games and play."
Start of a new journey
Last year, 3WO (NS) Peng sustained a serious knee injury which hampered his military work. Then as fate would have it, the founder of KMG approached him to set up a school in Singapore under the banner of KMG.
"I was happy in the SAF but everything kind of fell in place nicely, it was almost like all the stars were aligned.
"I like doing Krav Maga, I love the way it can help people in their lives… I found no reason not to take up the role and set up this place," he recalled.
Growing stronger
His foray into business was a baptism of fire. In the beginning, his classes often had only one student. But setbacks only spurred him on to persevere and be resourceful.
He started to learn social media marketing strategies to spread awareness about his school. Slowly but surely, enrolment started to grow. One year into its operation, KMG Singapore now has over 100 students.
He said: "A lot of support comes from the students themselves. Once they did it, they became addicted to it and always wanted to come back. And that was when our numbers started to grow."
3WO (NS) Peng currently leads a team of five, and plans to open up more branches and train more instructors.
He credited his success to the lessons he learnt in the SAF.
"A military organisation like the SAF teaches you to be a good leader. So that allowed me to lead my team here, to run things in the SAF way, in a very systematic, transparent manner.
"Even when I write business proposals, I use the same writing style that I learnt in the SAF," he said with a smile.
