This is by no means an exhaustive document on the World of Krav Maga, but we think it is a good place to start...walk in peace.
Sign up for a Free Lesson in Krav Maga in Edinburgh
- What is Krav Maga
- Krav Maga Principles and Benefits
- Krav Maga Techniques
- How can Krav Maga help me?
- I would like to know more about Krav Maga
- Where can I find Krav Maga Clothing and Krav Maga Accessories
- Krav Maga Development and History
- Krav Maga History in Czechoslovakia
- Imi Lichenfeld
- Krav Maga in the USA
- Krav Maga in Scotland
- Krav Maga in the United Kingdom
- Krav Maga Resources
- Get a Free Lesson in Krav Maga in Edinburgh
What is Krav Maga?
Krav Maga is a fast, highly effective, reality based self defence system.
Krav Maga translates as ('Contact Combat')
Krav Maga is extremely easy to learn as its actions are based on the body's natural defence instincts.
Therefore a practitioner can expect to become proficient very quickly in Krav Maga techniques
The system has been adopted by the Israeli Defence and Security Forces and has been used in some of the most severe combat settings of this century amidst Nazi terrorism, the combat of World War II, and the extremely violent military confrontations of the Middle East.
topKrav Maga Principles and Benefits
Krav Maga:- Defending on the ground
The main principle of Krav Maga is simple - SELF DEFENCE.
Krav Maga can be seen as an essential 'life skill which is easy to learn, with practitioners becoming very proficient in a short space of time.
Krav Maga is not a Martial Art, and has none of the flowing movements that can take years to perfect and master.
Instead the techniques and principles have been developed with the body's natural reactions and responses to threats and violence at the forefront.
Krav Maga Techniques
- If diplomacy fails, If FORCED to fight, no rules, no limits, no hesitation, no holding back.
- Avoid getting hit. Techniques will always have an element that minimizes the danger of you being hit, especially in vulnerable areas.
- Don't be fancy. Techniques are simple and instinctive.
- Defend yourself in the quickest, safest and most effective way. Most techniques include both defensive and offensive elements designed to protect you while inflicting maximum possible damage to your opponent to end the conflict quickly.
- Don't rely on strength. Techniques are designed to exploit the many and other not so obvious weak points on the human body.
- Use available objects as defensive weapons. The system is designed to teach you to effectively use improvised and ordinary weapons.
How can Krav Maga help me?
Krav Maga teaches individuals to deal with unpleasant situations that they may find themselves in and provides them with a means to come out from such a situation intact.
Krav Maga gives individuals a greater knowledge of how to neutralise a possible attack before anything happens, and how to avoid dangerous situations.
Fitness and strength are by-products of your training, we do not train to become champions in any one area - rather a very complete and well rounded individual who can walk comfortably and confidently through their day [and night…]
topI would like to know more about Krav Maga?
There are many ways to find out more about Krav Maga, but probably the best is to sign up for a Free Krav Maga Lesson. On the My Krav Maga website we list Krav Maga classes all over the country, we don't recommend one class over another - you are free to choose. Visit our Directory of Krav Maga Classes to find out more.
topKrav Maga Clothing and Accessories
There are websites where you can find a wide range of Krav Maga Clothing, Krav Maga Training and Leisure wear, Accessories, Krav Maga Instructor Wear and much more..!
You can also find Krav Maga Clothing for individual clubs. (e.g. IKMS, Bournemouth Instinctve, Pro Defence)
topKrav Maga Developent and History
Krav Maga (pronounced /ˌkrɑːv məˈɡɑː/; Hebrew: קרב מגע, IPA: [ˈkʁav maˈɡa], lit. "contact combat", "close combat" or "full contact") is an eclectic hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel which involves wrestling, grappling and striking techniques, mostly known for its extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks, as it is also taught to elite special forces around the world.
Krav Maga was derived from street-fighting skills developed by Imi Lichtenfeld, who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler, as a means of defending the Jewish quarter during a period of anti-Semitic activity in Bratislava in the mid- to late 1930s.
In the late 1940s, following his immigration to Israel, he began to provide hand-to-hand combat training to what was to become the IDF, developing the techniques that became known as Krav Maga. It has since been refined for both civilian and military applications.
Some refinements include, but are not limited to, the incorporation of elements from traditional Asian martial arts.
Krav Maga has a philosophy emphasizing threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers, and aggression.
Krav Maga is used by the IDF Special Forces units and several closely related variations have been developed and adopted by law enforcement and intelligence organizations, Mossad, Shin Bet, FBI, SWAT units of the NYPD and United States Special Operations Forces.
There are several organizations teaching variations of Krav Maga internationally.
The name in Hebrew means "hand-to-hand combat". Krav (קרב) meaning "battle" and Maga (מגע) meaning "contact" or "touch".
Basic principles
Generally, there are no rules in Krav Maga, as it is a defense fighting technique which is not regulated, but utilized to keep the user safe and incapacitate the opponent by any means necessary. Men and women generally undergo the same drills
It has no sporting federation, and there are no official uniforms or attire, although some organizations do recognize progress through training with rank badges, different levels, and belts.
General principles include:- Counter attacking as soon as possible (or attacking preemptively)
- argeting attacks to the body's most vulnerable points such as the eyes, jaw, throat, groin, knee etc.
- Neutralizing the opponent as quickly as possible by responding with an unbroken stream of counter attacks and if necessary a take down/joint break.
- Maintaining awareness of surroundings while dealing with the threat in order to look for escape routes, further attackers, objects that could be used to defend or help attack and so on.
Basic training is a mixed aerobic and anaerobic workout. Protective pads and other personal protection equipment may be used during initial training. Scenarios are used to train personnel for situations typically encountered in street patrol or combat situations.
Training scenarios teach students to ignore distractions.[16] Other training methods to increase realism might include blindfolding or exercising trainees to near exhaustion before dealing with a simulated attack, as well as training outdoors on a variety of surfaces and restrictive situations.
Training also covers situational awareness to develop an understanding of one's surroundings and potentially threatening circumstances before an attack occurs. It may also cover ways to deal with potentially violent situations, and physical and verbal methods to avoid violence whenever possible
topHistory
Krav Maga was developed in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld , also known as Imi Sde-Or (Sde-Or–"Light Field"–a calque of his surname into Hebrew).
He first taught his fighting system in Bratislava in order to help protect the local Jewish community from the Nazi militia. Upon arriving in the British Mandate of Palestine, Imi began teaching Kapap to the Haganah, the Jewish underground army.
With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Imi became the Chief Instructor of Physical Fitness and Krav Maga at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) School of Combat Fitness. He served in the IDF for 15 years, during which time he continued to develop and refine his hand-to-hand combat method.
In 1964 he left the military though continued to supervise the instruction of Krav Maga in both military and law-enforcement contexts, and in addition, worked indefatigably to refine, improve and adapt Krav Maga to meet civilians needs.
.The first students receiving a black belt 1st Dan were Eli Avikzar, Rafi Elgarisi, Haim Zut, Shmuel Kurzviel, Haim Hakani, Shlomo Avisira, Vicktor Bracha, Yaron Lichtenstein, Avner Hazan and Miki Asulin.
In 1978, Imi founded the non-profit Israeli Krav Maga Association with several senior instructors.
He died in January 1998 in Netanya, Israel.
topExpansion to the USA
Prior to 1980, all experts in Krav Maga lived in Israel and trained under the Israeli Krav Maga Association. That year marks the beginning of contact between Israeli Krav Maga experts and interested students in the United States. In 1981, a group of six Krav Maga instructors traveled to the US to demonstrate their system, primarily to local Jewish Community Centers.
The New York Field Office of the FBI and the FBI's Main Training Center at Quantico, Virginia saw it and expressed interest. The result was a visit by 22 people from the US to Israel in the summer of 1981 to attend a basic Krav Maga instructor course. The graduates from this course returned to the US and began to establish training facilities in their local areas.
Additional students traveled to Israel in 1984 and again in 1986 to become instructors. At the same time, instructors from Israel continued to visit the US. Law Enforcement training in the US began in 1985.
Krav Maga is currently being taught as a primary hand-to-hand combat technique at some police departments in the United States.
All Israel Defense Forces soldiers, including all Israeli Special Forces units, learn Krav Maga as part of their basic training, although most non-Special Forces trainees only spend a small amount of time training in Krav Maga, up to a week of training for a few hours per day.
Further, Krav Maga is the defensive tactics system used to train the Israeli Police, Israeli Intelligence and all Security Divisions. Krav Maga is also taught to civilians, military, law enforcement and security agencies around the world.
The Swedish Army uses Krav Maga lightly in close combat training for urban warfare. Schools can be found everywhere from Australia and the UK to South Africa.
]The International Krav Maga Federation in Netanya outside of Israel trains some of the world's top bodyguards, who use Krav Maga as a trade fighting art since it includes several exercises in evacuating a VIP through a hostile crowd. Also, the tactics for dispatching several opponents quickly is vital for personal protection agents
topKrav Maga in Scotland
Krav Maga has been primarily developed in Scotland by the Institute of Krav Mag in Scotland.
You can now practice Krav Maga in Glasgow and Krav Maga in Edinburgh
Krav Maga in the United Kingdom
Krav Maga has spread all over the UK from Bournemouth and Darlington to Aberdeen and Ireland.
Imi Lichtenfeld
Lichtenfeld was born on May 26, 1910,to a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He grew up in Pozsony (now Bratislava). 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. As a young man, Lichtenfeld was a successful boxer and wrestler.
He competed at national and international levels and was a champion and member of the Slovakian National Wrestling Team.
Imi and the Development of Krav Maga
In the late 1930s, anti-Semitic riots threatened the Jewish population of Bratislava. Together with other Jewish boxers and wrestlers, Lichtenfeld helped to defend his Jewish neighborhood against fascist gangs.
He quickly realized that sport has little in common with real combat and began developing a system of techniques for practical self-defense in life threatening situations.
In 1935, Lichtenfeld visited Palestine with a team of Jewish wrestlers to participate in the Maccabi games but could not participate because of a broken rib that resulted from his training while on route.
This led to the fundamental krav maga precept, 'do not get hurt' while training. Lichtenfeld returned to Czechoslovakia to face increasing anti-Semitic violence. Lichtenfeld organized a group of young Jews to protect his community.
On the streets, he acquired hard won experience and the 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' while 'never occupying two hands in the same defensive movement.'
In 1940, Lichtenfeld fled the Nazi occupation of his homeland, heading for Palestine on the Aliyah Bet vessel, Pencho, which shipwrecked on the Greek Dodecanese Islands. He arrived in Israel in 1942 after serving with great notoriety in the Czech Legion. Israel's early leaders immediately recognized Lichtenfeld's fighting prowess and innovativeness.
He began to train Israel's first fighting units the Palmach, Palyam, and Haganah in military close quarters combat. This training included fighting fitness, bayonet tactics, sentry removal, knife fighting, stave/stick fighting, and any other military-oriented problems that required a creative solution. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, he became the Chief Instructor of Physical Training in the Israel Defense Forces.
It was during this time that his system came to be called Krav Maga.
In 1944 Imi began training fighters in his areas of expertise: physical fitness, swimming, wrestling, use of the knife, and defenses against knife attacks. During this period, Imi trained several elite units of the Hagana and Palmach (striking force of the Hagana and forerunner of the special units of the IDF), including the Pal-Yam, as well as groups of police officers.
Later life
In 1964, Lichtenfeld retired from the Israeli military.
Imi then modified krav maga to fit the needs of police forces and ordinary civilians. He trained teams of krav maga instructors, who were accredited by him and the Israeli Ministry of Education.
He also created the Israeli Krav Maga Association in 1978.On January 9, 1998, Lichtenfeld died in, at the age of 88.
A Limited Edition Imi Lichenfeld Print is available from the My Krav Maga Website
Krav Maga Resources
There are many websites dedicated to Krav Maga and there is also a Directory of Krav Maga Classes on the My Krav Maga Website.
Free Lesson in Krav Maga
Many Krav Maga Instructors offer Free Lessons in Krav Maga
Krav Maga in Popular Culture
Movies
- In preparation for her role of the T-X in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines actress Kristanna Loken is reported in the Special Edition DVD commentary to have trained in Krav Maga.
- Jennifer Lopez's character Slim in the movie Enough learned Krav Maga.
- Viggo Mortensen's character Tom Stall/Joey Cusack in the movie A History of Violence is an ex-Irish mobster known for his deadly deathblows and fights with moves that has elements of Krav Maga in them.
Television
- In Autumn 2010, The Active Channel UK is screening a six-part series entitled Komie Invasion: Krav Maga which combines tutorials, demonstrations and movie-style re-enactments.
- Paris Geller and Doyle McMaster of the TV series Gilmore Girls take Krav Maga classes.
- The character Sydney Bristow of the TV series Alias, played by Jennifer Garner, is a practitioner of Krav Maga.
- Tony Almeida in the television show 24 was a certified Krav Maga instructor.
- Ziva David of the TV series NCIS practices what is assumed to be (given that she is a Mossad officer) Krav Maga.
- In the Law & Order episode "Public Service Homicide," a TV producer hires a Krav Maga instructor to train a rape victim so that she can defend herself while confronting her rapist on air.
- Tania Raymonde's character Cynthia performs Krav Maga on Reese in Malcolm in the Middle on the playground of their school. She later performs Krav Maga on Malcolm in his house at the end of the same episode.
- Megan Reeves of the TV series Numb3rs is a Krav Maga instructor at the Y.
- Jimmy Smith and Doug Anderson learn Krav Maga in Fight Quest.[3]
- Krav Maga is also featured on the TV show Human Weapon.
- The character Ted Mosby in the TV series How I Met Your Mother is beaten up by his girlfriend when he breaks up with her, after she had taken several Krav Maga classes; Ted was aware that she had been taking such classes, but was completely unaware of what Krav Maga actually was until he was beaten up.
- On the TV show Archer, ISIS agents are trained in Krav Maga.
- On The Simpsons episode "The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed," Bart Simpson is trounced by a young Israeli girl, who uses Krav Maga.
Video games
- Sam Fisher of Tom Clancy's video game franchise Splinter Cell is a practitioner of Krav Maga. This is stated in all 3 of the Splinter Cell books.[5]
Comic books
- Kitty Pride (Shadowcat) from the X-Men practices Krav Maga.
