Krav Maga
Self Defense
Real Self Defense for Real life Situations
"So that one may walk in peace" - Imi Lichtenfeld
ABOUT
KRAV MAGA
Krav Maga translates to “contact combat” in Hebrew. It is a military self-defense and fighting system developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli security forces.
Krav Maga is derived from a combination of techniques used in aikido, boxing, judo, karate, and wrestling. It is known for its focus on real-world situations and its extreme efficiency.
It was derived from the street-fighting experience of Hungarian-Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler while defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava during the mid-to-late 1930s.
From the outset, the original concept of Krav Maga was to take the most effective and practical techniques of other fighting styles (originally European boxing, wrestling, and street fighting) and to make them rapidly teachable to military conscripts.
Krav Maga has a philosophy emphasizing aggression, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers.
Krav Maga has been used by the Israel Defense Forces‘ special forces units, security forces and by regular infantry units. Closely related variations have been developed and adopted by Israeli law enforcement and intelligence organizations.
From Israel through Imi’s students Krav Maga has spread all over the world and is the preferred fighting system used in many government and military units internationally; due to it’s effectiveness over existing systems and martial arts.
In addition, there are four types of categories of krav maga which differ on the primary purpose; such as military, law enforcement, VIP protection and civilian use.
Unlike traditional martial arts, Krav Maga is an evolving system and undergoes updates over time to meet the ongoing threats and attacks of the ever evolving world of violence and terrorism.
IMI LICHTENFELD
The Founder Of Krav Maga
Imi Lichtenfeld also known as Imi Sde-Or was born on 26 May 1910 to a Hungarian-Jewish family in Budapest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family moved to Bratislava, where his father, Samuel Lichtenfeld, was a chief inspector on the Bratislava police force and a former circus acrobat. Lichtenfeld trained at the Hercules Gymnasium, which was owned by his father, who taught self-defense.
He was a successful swimmer, boxer, wrestler, and gymnast since his youth; he competed at national and international levels in wrestling, boxing and gymnastics.
In the late 1930s, anti-Semitic riots threatened the Jewish population of Bratislava in Europe. Together with other Jewish boxers and wrestlers, Lichtenfeld helped to defend his Jewish neighborhood against fascist gangs. He quickly decided that sport has little in common with real combat and began developing a system of techniques for practical self-defense in life-threatening situations.
Lichtenfeld organized a group of young Jews to protect his community which was facing increasing anti-Semitic violence. On the streets, he acquired hard-won experience and a crucial understanding of the differences between sport fighting and street fighting. He developed his fundamental self-defense principle: ‘use natural movements and reactions’ for defense, combined with an immediate and decisive counterattack. From this evolved the refined theory of ‘simultaneous defense and attack’.
In 1944 he began training fighters in his areas of expertise: physical fitness, swimming, wrestling, use of the knife, and defenses against knife attacks. During this period, Lichtenfeld trained several elite units of the Haganah and Palmach, including the Pal-yam, as well as groups of police officers.
In 1948, when the State of Israel was founded and the IDF was formed, he became Chief Instructor for Physical Fitness and Krav Maga at the IDF School of Combat Fitness. He served in the IDF for about 20 years, during which time he developed and refined his unique method for self-defense and hand-to-hand combat. After he finished his active duty, Lichtenfeld began adapting and modifying Krav Maga to civilian needs.
Imi Lichtenfeld
KRAV MAGA: FROM THEN TO NOW
From Imi Lichtenfeld to Eyal Yanilov
Imi Lichtenfeld and Eyal Yanilov
In 1964, Lichtenfeld retired from the Israeli military. He then modified Krav Maga to fit the needs of police forces and ordinary civilians.
The method was formulated to suit everyone – man and woman, boy or girl, who might need it to save his or her life or survive an attack while sustaining minimal harm, whatever the background of the attack – criminal, nationalistic, or other. To disseminate his method, Lichtenfeld established two training centers in Israel, one in Tel Aviv and the other in Netanya.
Eyal Yanilov; a graduate of the School for Trainers and Instructors at the Wingate Institute for Sport and Physical Education and an electrical engineer; studied with the founder of Krav Maga, Imi Lichtenfeld since the beginning of 1974.
From 1984 until Imi Lichtenfeld’s death in January 1998, Eyal Yanilov and Imi Lichtenfeld worked together to compile a comprehensive manual on the principles of Krav Maga and its various techniques. The Krav Maga techniques practiced in world today in all the 4 types of krav maga (Military, Law Enforcement, VIP & Civilian) are based on this comprehensive manual.
Eyal holds the highest level granted by Imi Lichtenfeld; Master level 3 and the Founder’s Diploma of Excellence.
To spread the knowledge of Krav Maga further; Master Eyal Yanliov created the organisation Krav Maga Global (KMG). KMG’s Krav Maga curriculum is periodically updated by Master Eyal Yanliov till today.