Krav Maga Academy, New York

The Israeli self-defense discipline, Krav Maga, imbues students with confidence-building muscles and assailant-debilitating counterattacks. The 5,000-square-foot Academy provides action-packed classes split into multiple levels, with sparring, kid-friendly, and women's-oriented sessions showing how to transform once-innocent elbows and knees into cantaloupe-puncturing agents of justice. Lessons put a focus on real-world applications, teaching both men and women to disable attackers, disarm weapons, and discover the onion-like layers of self-confidence buried within. The league of expert instructors have drawn praise from renowned publications such as National Geographic, NBC, CBS, FOX, Shape, and Woman's Day, Combat-needing organizations like the U.S. Rangers, Navy SEALs, and New York Police Department have sought the Krav Maga Academy's pragmatic-but-effective fighting expertise.