Some Regina residents spent their Sunday learning self-defence and got a bit healthier while doing it at a Krav Maga boot camp.

Rick Fink was one of the participants at the event. He enrolled in a Krav Maga class after a man tried to break into his home a couple of years ago.

"I don’t know what he was on or what, but it was a pretty scary situation. If I had a bit more training I would’ve been able to do a bit more to protect my family,” Rick Fink said.

Fink has taken part in the Krav Maga boot camp a couple times. He says it won’t be the last time he does it, as he plans to teach his two little girls the importance of self-defence.

"Well the world seems to be getting a little bit more hectic and it never hurts to know how to handle yourself," Fink said.

About a dozen people attended Sunday’s boot camp to learn about various different forms of self-defence

"You’re going to be looking at situational awareness you know, you are making assessments, risk assessments, how to stay safe, certain pre-contact cues to look at in a spontaneous assault situation, how to prevent muggings, how to prevent yourself from being a victim of crime you know we get into various different topics,” instructor Troy Ostapiw said.

Krav Maga is based on the Israeli Elite Military hand to hand combative program, which was initially only taught to the military and the police. Now, ordinary citizens can also learn the techniques.

"It gives you a certain sense of self confidence and understanding. It kind of peers into those areas that people are unsure of, into those grey areas. Really what it does is it minimizes the risk through yourself, so you’re not going to be harmed. You can prevent that risk to you if you’re traveling, if you are overseas, if you are out late at night, by making the right choices and the right decisions,” Ostapiw.said.

Fink plans to keep attending the boot camps and pass down some of the lessons and knowledge he’s learned to his two young daughters.

“What I want to do is to start getting them into father daughter classes and even just the horse play around the house. It’s about, I don’t want to fight, and then if you have to, then pulling arms and doing what you have to, to get away,” Fink said.

With files from Madina Azizi.