MASTER EYAL OPHIR
TAIFUSHIN FOUNDER
Ko-Cho No Kamae  

How It All Started

It all began on a bright summer afternoon, walking along the golden sands of Palmachim, in the south of Israel. At my side was my grandfather, Aba Yavne — my greatest inspiration and dearest human being. He had come to Israel around 1930 as a young immigrant from Lithuania with his brother Fola, a mathematical genius who escaped Lithuania before the Nazis came. Their entire family — seven children of a rabbi — was murdered in the Holocaust. My grandfather carried within him the weight of tragedy, yet he also carried an unshakable love for life.

As the waves whispered against the shore and the sunset painted the sea with gold and rose, he turned to me and said:
"Eyal, my beloved grandson, this moment in nature you will remember for the rest of your life. I dreamed of driving across the world, but in my lifetime I will never see it — wars, hatred, and suffering still poison humanity. But perhaps you, or your children, or theirs, will live to see a world of peace. A world where killing is forbidden, and the value of life is held above all else."

That memory has guided me ever since. It became the seed from which Taifushin grew: not merely a martial art, but a way of life. My journey through many martial traditions Such as  Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Thai, Israeli, Indonesian  taught me both the strengths of each system and their limitations. No single art contained all that was needed. Taifushin was born to bridge these gaps, uniting effective combat methods with health practices and a philosophy rooted in peace.

Taifushin is therefore not only about fighting. It is about protecting life, nurturing the body and soul, and honoring the values my grandfather entrusted to me that day on the beach: respect, freedom, and peace. At its heart is the conviction that human life is sacred, that violence is not the answer, and that education for peace must begin from childhood. Still, the world is not ideal, and we must be ready to defend ourselves when necessary. Taifushin answers both calls — cultivating strength, awareness, and resilience, while always reminding us of our higher purpose: to live in harmony with ourselves, with others, and with the world.

Taifushin — Early Stages

I began training in martial arts at age seven (1974) and have been active in sports for as long as I can remember. Over the years I trained in modern and ancient Japanese, Chinese, Israeli, and Filipino martial arts, exploring both traditional and contemporary approaches.

In early 1997, after an evening training session, I had a defining experience while walking in a fierce storm. The wind swirled unpredictably around me — flowing through and around my body in sudden surges that rose and fell without pattern. I could not locate its origin; I could neither hide from it nor predict its direction. The phenomenon mesmerized me, and I envisioned a way of fighting that mirrored those qualities: explosive, unpredictable, and flowing through unconventional angles.

At the time I trained in five different schools each week — ninjutsu, judo, karate, kung fu, kali, and MMA — and studied multiple weapon systems. The next day I began experimenting with the ideas from that storm. I shortened and connected techniques from different arts into single, fluid motions and learned to use the space and the air to direct Qi/ki with extreme speed and explosiveness. By moving around opponents and attacking from nontraditional lines, I made timing and anticipation unreliable for the defender.

My competition experience — as a three-time Israeli national MMA champion in full-contact fighting — taught me practical lessons about resilience and risk. I learned how to absorb strikes when necessary, protecting vital areas while creating openings to counterattack. Combining lightning-fast hand strikes, elbows, knees, and a wide range of kicks (high, medium, low), the system became highly effective, surprising, and difficult to defend against.

Over time I found that many traditional techniques are effective within their original context but may be less practical in street or life-threatening encounters. No single style is perfect; each emphasizes particular priorities shaped by its culture and history. Taifushin was created to bridge those gaps: a pragmatic, straightforward system that draws on proven principles across modern and ancient Japanese, Chinese, Israeli, and Filipino martial arts. There are no rigid forms to learn or artificial body shapes to adopt; movements follow natural human biomechanics. As practitioners develop strength and skill, their performance becomes more powerful, smooth, and explosive.

Consistent drilling is essential. I practiced intensively despite injuries and wear from full-contact training. From ages 18 to 34 (1985–2001) I often trained a minimum of eight hours daily, both solo and in dojos across Israel, the United States, Japan, and China. Those sixteen years of hard, focused practice provided the solid foundation of Taifushin.

Warm-up, conditioning, stretching, balance, precision drills, and recovery work have always been integral to my approach — necessary to maintain resilience through sustained, high-intensity training. I systematically organized techniques into exercise groups, tested hundreds of combinations in sparring, discarded what didn’t work, and retained what proved reliable under pressure.

Read more in the Martial Arts section for details on style structure, the Streaming Wind concept, weapons, qigong, ranking, and instructor certification.

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Taifushin Since 1997 (c)