Krav Maga

Categories: Martial arts | Israeli Security Forces | Hebrew words

Krav Maga (Hebrew קרב מגע: "close combat") is a self-defense and military combat system. First used by the Israeli military, it is now world-famous and used by several countries' special forces.

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History

Krav Maga was first developed in Hungary-Czechoslovakia in the 1930s. Its developer was Imi Lichtenfeld, a champion expert in wrestling and boxing. Imi was born 1910 in Budapest (Hungary). He grew up in Pozsony (later Bratislava). He was influenced by his father who was Chief Detective and Self Defense Instructor in the police force. This system was codified and first taught in Bratislava in order to protect the Jewish community from fascist militias.

When Imi Lichtenfeld came to Palestine prior to the establishment of the state of Israel, he began teaching hand to hand combat to the Haganah, the Jewish underground army. After the establishment of Israel, Krav Maga was adopted by the Israeli armed forces and police as the martial art of choice.

When Imi moved to Israel he changed his name to Sde-Or, a direct translation of his surname into Hebrew. Due to the fact that it is strictly a self defense and military combat system Krav Maga is constantly changing. Imi kept adding new moves from various martial arts. After Mr. Lichtenfeld retired from a long career as chief instructor of close combat in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), he started teaching Krav Maga to the civilian population. In this way, a civilian version based on the principles of self defense was developed.

Prior to 1985, all experts in Krav Maga lived in Israel. Few foreigners came to Israel to study Krav Maga and no highly skilled Israelis left Israel to run Krav Maga schools. The first non-Israeli known to have operated a school strictly for teaching Krav Maga is Darren Levine, who teaches in Los Angeles. The first non-Israeli, non-Jew who was certified as an expert and instructor was James Keenan, also from the United States.

Since the death of Imi Lichtenfeld, a number of different schools and associations of Krav Maga have developed around the world. There is currently a controversy among various organizations and individuals who claim the mantle as Imi's successor. The most well-known names associated with Krav Maga today are Darren Levine in the USA and Eyal Yanilov in Israel.

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Principles

The guiding principles for Krav Maga techniques are:

  • avoid injury
  • use the body's natural reflexes
  • defend and counter attack in the shortest and most direct way possible
  • respond correctly, in accordance with and as required by the circumstances
  • strike at any vulnerable point
  • use any tool or object nearby

In Krav Maga, there are no rules. It is not a sport and it has no competitive aspect. All the techniques focus on maximum efficiency in real-life conditions.

The basic idea is to first deal with the immediate threat (e.g. hands around one's neck), prevent the attacker from re-attacking, then neutralize the opponent, proceeding through all the steps in a very straightforward manner. An emphasis is put on taking the initiative from the attacker as soon as possible. Krav Maga generally assumes a no-quarter situation; the attacks and defenses are intended to inflict or divert the most pain possible on the opponent. Groin, eye, and other "unfair" attacks are emphasized, as are a variety of other fairly brutal attacks. It is considered acceptable to run away (tactical withdrawal), if the situation dictates that.

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Practice

It is to be noted that, although many techniques of Krav Maga are shared with either Savate/Kickboxing (for the fist- and kick-fighting techniques) or Ju-Jutsu (for the grappling and disarming techniques), the training is quite different. It stresses practice of fighting under worst-case circumstances (against several opponents, back to the wall, when protecting someone else, with one arm unusable, when dizzy, against armed opponents...).

Krav Maga can be used against opponents who are armed, and against multiple opponents. It is also effective in closed areas, such as airplanes. In addition, the fact that there are no rules leads to different reflex mechanisms (protecting one's groin and one's eyes, for instance).

The training emphasizes real-world practicality. There is heavy emphasis placed on stamina and concentration. Training is often undertaken while a speaker system blasts loud music, meant to train the student to ignore extraneous input and focus on causing as much damage as possible. Training might also contain ways to deal with situations which could end in fights. Physical and verbal methods to avoid violence whenever possible are taught.

Nowadays, this martial art is trained world wide. The European federation is headed by Richard Douieb, who teaches Krav Maga in Paris. The World Krav Maga Federation gathers seven European countries and is headed by Thierry Viatour.

In addition to the Israel Defence Forces, several other special forces (for example GIGN, FBI, and SWAT) have already adopted this system for their contact combat.

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Who Uses Krav Maga Today

In 1964, Grandmaster Imi Lichtenfeld finished his military service and adapted Krav Maga to civilian frameworks. In Israel, the style has become an important part of the educational system and is taught to elementary and high school students on the national curriculum along with being taught at the Wingate Institute, one of the world's leading physical fitness centers. It is taught to men, women, and children under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Sport and Education. Krav Maga is the official system of hand-to-hand combat and self-defense employed by the Israeli Defense and Security Forces, the Israeli National and Military Police and its Special Operations and Anti-Terrorist Units. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) including their Special Forces Units, Israeli Police, and Internal Security Branches currently uses this style on a day-to-day basis. Eyal Yanilov is the most well-known advicate in Israel and is involved with spreading Krav Maga across the world. He spends most of his time writing Krav Maga instruction books and teaching seminars across the globe.

Krav Maga is taught all ages and abilities, at community centers, schools, and clubs throughout the world. Krav Maga is taught to Sky Marshals, commercial airline crews, and has expanded outside the borders of Israel and is very successful in the United States, Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Poland, Japan, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Many United States local law enforcement, federal agencies, state police, SWAT and other special operations teams have been taught Krav Maga.

Krav Maga Worldwide Enterprises is the primary advocate of Krav Maga in the USA and has pioneered its use by law enforcement personnel. Chief Instructor, Mr. Darren R. Levine, is a Senior Deputy District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles’s Crimes Against Peace Officers Section (CAPOS), a special unit dedicated to prosecuting violent crimes. Other organizations and their members that have been trained in Krav Maga include, but not limited to the following:

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Etymology

The name in Hebrew is usually translated as "close combat." The word maga (מגע) means "touch" or "close." The word krav (קרב) means "fight" or "battle." A translation like "contact combat," though, can be misconstrued as something like "kickboxing" or "full contact karate."

As an historical note, the original name of Krav Maga was Kapap (sounds like "ka-PAPP") which was an acronym for Krav Panim el Panim, face-to-face combat.

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External links

cs:Krav Maga da:Krav Maga de:Krav Maga es:Krav Magá eo:Kravmago fr:Krav maga he:קרב מגע nl:Krav maga no:Krav Maga pl:Krav maga pt:Krav Maga fi:Krav Maga sv:Krav maga