Abir Hebrew:אַבִּיר) is a the name of the fighting technique taught by Yehoshua Sofer in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Sofer claims to have a family tradition of the Abir Warrior Arts, which he says were used by ancient Israelite warriors.
Origin of the name: Abir אַבִּיר is a Hebrew word meaning powerful, a warlord, palace guard, protector of royalty, warrior, bodyguard, or a defender. It is derived from the three letter Hebrew root א-ב-ר, which means to soar above protectively.
Religious concepts: Yehoshua Sofer's Abir martial art form is based on fighting techniques that he learned from his grandfather and father. The history of these techniques is that at one time ancient Israel had fighting techniques, which was both hand to hand and also weaponized in nature.
It is believed that while most Jewish
communities did not continue to train in
Abir, some exotic Jewish communities in
Arabia and in parts of Asia were able to
maintain elements of the techniques.
According to the Abir web-site:“ The Twelve Tribes Principles and The Ten Emanations (These are very esoteric and intricate educational tools to understand the nature of combined movement and force in an application of the other principles directed into specific points of energy, mass or “targets” as well as the use of telepathy and hypnosis to direct or disable one's adversary)
This science as described in great depth in sources found throughout The Holy Torah are taught to “performers” of Abir, who regardless of their background in Jewish study and Torah Life, commitment/observance (or the lack of these) can begin training in this dance form that houses a deadly form…or formless system of self defense that is as effective today as it was in defeating the ancient military forces of Median, Ai, Eglon, Lah’ish, Canaanim, Khittim, Amorim, Prizim, Yebusim and Girgashim.
Techniques and principles: Abir's movements are based on elements of Judaic principles and symbolic elements. The Abir approach is made up of a combination of the following elements.
Judaic symbols
The Ancient Hebrew and Modern Hebrew
alphabets.
Techniques passed down by Jewish
communities such as the Habbani Jews.
Jewish dances from various exotic or
ancient communities, which are believed
to have been a part of an ancient Abir
combat system.
Many of these techniques derive from the
Biblical 12 Tribes of Israel:
The Tribe of Shimon - The
symbol for these movements is a sword.
Motions relating to Shimon are
characterized by slashing motions along
a wide or narrow circular axis with the
"blades" of the hands or feet.
The Tribe of Asher - The symbol
for these movements is a tree. Movement
of one part of the body must include a
cooperative or supportive movement by
the remainder of the whole body.
The Tribe of Reuven - The
symbol for these movements is a flower.
The waving and twisting motion of the
torso like a flower is essential in
massaging the internal organs. Reuven
training is a relaxing low-impact form
of exercise and training activates the
limbs subliminally by virtue of the
motion of the hips and torso (the shaft
or stem of the flower).
The Tribe of Gad - The symbol
for these movements is the tent.
Movements are based on balancing one leg
while the other leg is free to rotate
along a circumference allowing the
practicer to position themselves at any
point along 360 degrees.
The Tribe of Zevulon - The
symbol for this movement is a ship in
the water. Movements are based on
retaining balance and footing. Made up
of swift forward motions without
hesitation.
The Tribe of Yoseph - The
symbol for these movements is the bull.
Uses power to drive through an opponent
by utilizing bodyweight to knock them
over with a quick burst of external
power. Also entails the use two hands
like a bulls horns to deter attacks and
to strike an opponent's defenses out of
the way for subsequent attacks.
The Tribe of Naftali - The
symbol for these movements is the deer.
Techniques based on speed, spring like
moves, and not making unnecessary
movements.
The Tribe of Dan - The symbol
for these movements is a snake. Made up
of controlled flurries of arm strikes as
well as open hand strikes.
The Tribe of Yissachar - The
symbol for these movements is the
donkey. Utilizes back kicks, throws, and
absorption of blows.
The Tribe of Benyamin - The
symbol for these movements is the wolf.
This particular set of techniques
involve a philosophy of attack that
disables an opponent's weak areas such
as eyes using fast or soft motions.
The Tribe of Yehudah - The
symbol for these movements is the lion.
Movements in this form are swift
powerful lunging stabs, slaps, palm heel
strikes, elbows, knees, shoving, and
shoulder strikes.
The Tribe of Levi - The symbol
for these techniques is the Hoshen (The
Priestly Breastplate). This represents
taking the total amount of Abir
techniques and putting them together in
needed sequences and using the
techniques to adapt to a differences in
the opponent's techniques.
Seven categories of alphabetical attacks:
The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 consonants and five word ending letters bringing them to a total of 27 letters. In Abir the Hebrew letters, both ancient and modern, are used to assign movements into 7 special categories of choking, locking, throwing, take downs, primary initiated attacks, secondary responsive attacks, and combinations of the first six categories.
This is believed to help the student, who is familiar with Judaic symbols, with a unique and familiar way to quickly assimilate complex combat techniques using familiar visual memory tools. These techniques are then studied in conjunction with an additional techniques that are designed to solve the most commonly encountered types of attacks with effective counters.
Recoil principle: This Abir concept maintains that every action of a limb returns toward the torso with greater speed and the least amount of stress. This is done in direct opposition to the same limbs energy employed to launch an attack directed away from the torso. Recoil attacks are the preferred choice of attack in Abir, and are used as stealth strikes to the indefensible anterior zone at the opponent’s hind or blindside while the defender is positioned directly in front.
Haetz-Lula’ah (Arrow-loop): The Haetz-Lula'ah techniques use full-circle striking with the arms or legs. Use of the arms or legs as the striking surface is not limited to a specific area of the hands or feet but employs any surface from the fingers/toes to the elbow/knee at any angle along its circumference. A strike can be initiated at with the fingers pressing into the opponents liver while striking. The Abir practicer can then press consistently deeper and then move into a driving lateral elbow strike across the gallbladder and pericardium to the spleen points in one circular scooping motion.
This attack, which is executed with the right arm, can be initiated at a chosen striking point with an elbow at the opponent’s kidney or liver. When this technique is launched as a frontal attack vertical or horizontal and can be applied in a broad or narrow circle motion as opposed to the classical front kick. Further, the ball of the foot, instep, inner or outer blades of the feet, ankle, shins or knee are all satisfactory striking surfaces as are the back, sides, and bottom of the heel.
18 Khai Rikudim: Abir also employs 18 choreographed fighting dances that tie together movements associated with the 12 Tribes of Israel. There are 12 weaponless and 6 weapon forms based on these group of techniques.
Yehoshua Sofer: Yehoshua Sofer is an Israeli martial artist and instructor, teaching a system called Abir that it is claimed has an unbroken tradition from its roots as a fighting system of the warriors of ancient Israel.
Yehoshua Sofer, the current Aluf Abir (Hebrew for Grandmaster of Abir), has taught martial arts within the military, law
enforcement, and intelligence communities in Israel and elsewhere in the world with much respect. He holds 7th Degree black belts in Korean Kuk Sool Won, Hapkido and a 6th Degree black belt in TukGong Musool (designed for elite military and intelligence agents in South Korea) and has a very wide range of diverse expertise in various aspects of "cold" combat. He has several world leaders' personal protection/security personnel under his instruction and guidance from the President of Moldova to the Prime-Minister of Israel.
His training in his family's Abir techniques began when he was a child and he has had more than 45 years of training in physical and combat arts training. The Sofer family believes that these techniques were used by the ancient Israelite.
According to a spokesman for Abir Warrior Arts:
The young Sofer only trained in foreign combat by command of his father, against his desire. At home, he was groomed and trained in the art of his ancestors from the age of three, and he longed to practice Abir only and make it known. His grandfather, the previous Aluf Abir Nachman Sofer (personal bodyguard to Lawrence of Arabia and the British brass in Hadramawt), played with the young scion of the Sofer dynasty from the age of three, indoctrinating him through games based on the Sofer family tradition of Chevron and Hejaz Abir. This training included the use of Shootnah, Karkour, Paziza, Heavkuth, Kunfoon, Keshet, Herev Rahav (Middle Eastern Broad Sword), slingshot, javelin, Nabuta, Maagal and the Maaraf. Yet his father and grandfather forbade him to reveal the art 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. They did so, despite the fact they considered foreign martial arts to be forbidden to Jews (and in many cases to non-Jews as well). 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. For the Abir tradition to survive, it would need to contend with these competitors. They therefore ensured that the next torch bearer would be able to adapt the art to the modern world, much like the Hebrew language was adapted to fit the needs of the modern era.
Bani Abir: Sofer family: According to Yehoshua Sofer:
My family lived in Israel for 100 generations, since the time of Saraya Sofer—a royal scribe and warrior who served the kingdom of Israel. Both ancient Israelite writing and martial arts traditions, were handed down in my family from generation to generation.
The Sofer family has a tradition that, following the wars of Bar Kokhba, their ancestors lived in Piq'in near Tiberias for one thousand years, and at the time of the Crusades, moved to Hevron, where they lived for another one thousand years, some of them moving back and forth between Israel and Yemen all the while. This is substantiated by two photographs the Abir has: one is that of his uncles in the 1920s, who lived in Hebron, in service of the Khalif of Jordan.The other, from only a few years earlier, is of his grandfather's brother, was in Oman, in service of the son of the Sultan.
Members of the Sofer family moved between Jerusalem and Habban in eastern Aden to cities such as Baidha. "Baidha" means "white" in Yemeni Arabic. While in Israel, Nachman Sofer and his youngest son, Ya`aqov Mosha, Yehoshua Sofer's father, left the region for Jamaica following the Chevron massacres of 1929, in which two of his uncles were murdered[citation needed]. From there they would move to the United States and later back to Israel.
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