Master Mike Lee Kanarek

 HaganaH Founder / Israeli Commando

Master Mike Lee Kanarek

Mike Lee Kanarek was born of a Vietnamese mother and American soldier father in 1967 in the midst of the Vietnam War. He was adopted by a Jewish family and brought to Belgium. His adoptive father was a soldier in the Haganah – the partisan army that fought for statehood for Israel. He lived in Europe for part of his youth and in Israel for most of it. As a tribute to his Asian heritage, his adoptive parents enrolled him in Judo training at the age of six.

At 18, Mike Lee volunteered for service in the IDF and stepped back into the crucible of combat as an Israeli Special Operations Group Commando of the battle-hardened Golani Brigade. He has 3 years active duty combat experience. His hard-core small team Special Ops unit operated behind enemy lines in Lebanon, and he is a veteran of the first Intifada that took place in the West Bank where extreme violence was daily routine. He has become a world class Hand-to-Hand Combat instructor. Mike Lee Kanarek brings to the table this real world knowledge and over 20 years of full contact martial arts experience to teach you to devastate an attacker fast.

Mike Lee speaks six languages, including English, Hebrew and French, and has trained individuals from over a dozen countries in HaganaH tactics. He periodically is featured on TV and also on the big screen. You might remember him in the epic second session finale of The Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV where the U.S. Navy Seals battle it out against the Israeli Commandos, making that episode the most watched ever in the history of The Deadliest Warrior. 

Mike Lee Kanarek has used his unique vision and experience to found HaganaH, a progressive mixed Israeli self-defense and fighting system that addresses the needs of everyone – from housewives to homeland security professionals. He has achieved the only endorsement of a street fighting system given in the past 20 years by a legendary martial artist – the father of American kickboxing and a peer of Bruce Lee – Joe Lewis – himself a marine veteran of none other than the same war that produced Mike Lee. “I’ve seen Mike train people in his system,” says Joe, World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion. “His program is outstanding. Everyone is impressed by his material and method of teaching.”

Mike Lee Kanareks system, HaganaH (which translates from Hebrew to ‘Defense’), is now taught in over 100 locations throughout the U.S. He has certainly overcome the odds. And he has developed a system designed to help law abiding citizens do the same.

In addition to his civilian clientele, Mike trains several Elite military units and Federal law enforcement agencies. Training includes Hand-to-Hand Combat, Tactical Knife Fighting, Trench Fighting and Counter-Terrorist Tactics. Mike has taught HaganaH’s advanced Tactical Knife Fighting  to Marine Raiders/Recon at the prestigious amphibious U.S Navy Base Coronado Island, in San Diego California and has taught U.S Army Special Forces Rangers in Georgia. 

Mike lee’s passion is bringing together the best elements of various practical combat fighting arts as taught by world-class instructors, adding military tested elements, and teaching them in the fastest, most effective way possible to enable people to come home safe each day regardless if they are an Elite Soldier or simply a good law abiding citizen. Mike Lee is an elite operator who is interested in teaching what he knows to students at all levels. He derives satisfaction from helping the average person develop new skills and self-confidence and seeing them walk out feeling powerful.

* Israeli Special Forces Golani Brigade Combat Veteran
* 6th Degree Black Belt- Joe Lewis American Full Contact Karate
* Fourth Degree Black Belt- Survival Hisardut
* First Degree Black Belt- Krav Maga
* Brown Belt- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
* Certified Muay Thai Kickboxing Instructor
* Self-Defense Instructor of the Year-FL Martial Arts Brotherhood Hall of Fame
* Combat Shooting Expert
* Tactical Knife Fighting Expert
* Black Belt Magazine’s Instructor of the Year 2007
* Black Belt Hall of Fame