Brandon resident introduces Krav Maga martial arts techniques via Rapid Fitness classes

Brandon resident Matt Grimme spoke last week at the Chamber of Commerce’s On the Menu event about his business, Krav Maga Force South Dakota.

Getting out in front of potential customers is likely a good plan given the uniqueness of his offering.

Formed in 2010, Krav Maga is a form of martial arts, and also fairly new to South Dakota. Similar to karate, jiu-jitsu, and taekwondo, Krav Maga is designed to teach how to avoid, prevent, address and defend against any violent confrontation.

Although somewhat of an unknown in South Dakota, Grimme does have a client list that trains three times a week at Rapid Fitness in Brandon. Krav Maga translates to ‘contact combat’ in Hebrew, and Grimme said it’s been his choice of martial arts.

The Pierre native moved to Colorado and moved back to South Dakota just before the COVID-19 pandemic put its grips on every community. Opening a martial arts training business was obviously a difficult one given all of the close-contact restrictions. But Grimme took the leap and opened his business out of his garage in 2020.

“I was able to stay above water even during COVID,” he said. “That was certainly a challenge to start a new program during that time period. But I was able to survive.”

Since that humble beginning, Grimme moved Krav Maga Force South Dakota to Circuit Fitness for two years before finding his new home at Rapid Fitness in January.

He’s been active in Krav Maga for 10 years, teaching it for seven. Over the past several years, he’s also been active in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, karate, taekwondo and boxing.

“But Krav Maga has been my primary focus,” the 34-year old said. “I was first introduced to it in Colorado, and I enjoyed the people I trained with and the techniques and mindset that we were working on.”

That mindset is what won Grimme over. The principle behind Krav Maga is “what you learn today, you can use tonight.” The Krav Maga Force System is used by U.S. and Canadian law enforcement, military, and security agencies and has over 400 black belt Instructors teaching around the world in the civilian sector.

“What makes Krav Maga special from other martial arts is our mindset for survival and talking about situations,” Grimme said. “You can have the best technique in the world, but if you have a bad mindset about getting yourself into tough positions or trying to do something that just isn’t right for that situation, it’s going to cause you more problems than if you just have a better head on your shoulders.”

Grimme said the business has grown in Brandon through word-of-mouth and Facebook advertising. The visit to the On the Menu event at the Chamber last week was also a chance to spread the word.

“I’m willing to take any opportunity to talk about it and get it out there,” Grimme said.