WATCH: Black-belt rabbi teaches NY Jews to fend off 'knockout attacks'

Rabbi Gary Moskowitz, a former police detective, is training locals self-defense in midst of wave of random assaults.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Rabbi Gary Moskowitz teaches self-defense in New York 370 (photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
Rabbi Gary Moskowitz teaches self-defense in New York 370
(photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
The series of shocking assaults on Jewish and other passersby in the New York area has motivated a rabbi trained in martial arts to empower locals to protect themselves.
Rabbi Gary Moskkowitz, a former police officer and a seventh-degree black belt, is training Jews in Brooklyn to protect themselves against so-called “knockout” attackers who have sowed fear among those walking the streets.
The object of the “knockout” game is to level an unsuspecting pedestrian with one punch, leaving the person unconscious. Thus far, eight of the knockout victims have been Jews in Brooklyn.
"If Jewish kids started fighting back, they wouldn’t get picked on so much,” the 56-year-old Moskowitz told The New York Post.
The rabbi, who runs a karate dojo in nearby Queens, said that a few simple self-defense tactics could help potential victims ward off attackers.
"If you swing at me, you're going to get hit back," Moskowitz said.