Brief History and Background of Krav Maga

The basis of Krav Maga (hebrew for contact combat or hand-to-hand combat), was created by Imi Lichtenfeld in the late 1930’s. Imi was born in Budapest, Hungary and grew up in Slovakia and was a keen champion wrestler. Imi developed his fighting skills while fighting anti-Semitism and fascists in Slovakia, but later moved to Israel in the late 40’s, where he began to teach his system to paramilitary organisations and then later to the Israel Defence Force. The fighting system is made up of many different styles and includes some moves from Boxing, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Karate, wrestling and many more styles. It has developed over the years like most martial arts and in different directions depending on the school teaching it.

Krav Maga is popular amongst those wishing to learn how to fight in a real world combative/street fighting system and therefore practised by many police and military forces throughout the world.

There are a number of organisations, such as the, International Krav Maga Federation (IKMF), Krav Maga Global (KMG), International Krav Maga (IKM),
Israeli Krav Maga Association (IKMA), Federation of European Krav Maga (FEKM), Krav Maga Academy Slovenia (KMAS), Krav Maga Worldwide (KMW), Krav Maga Alliance (KMA), South American Federation of Krav Maga (SAFKM).

Krav Maga Training

As this system was developed purely for combative defence/offence, it is quite direct, with brutal attacks and counter attacks.

Krav Maga has a philosophy that places emphasis on neutralizing threat with simultaneous defensive and offensive manoeuvres with added aggression. The moves are designed to finish a fight quickly and therefore are quite often designed to cause severe injury to the attacker.

Training should and is often carried out under full control, with the students learning to carry out attacking and counter attacking moves effectively and efficiently.

Being designed for such real life situations, strikes can include attacks to the neck/throat, eyes, face, solar plexus, ribs, knees, groin, feet and fingers and anywhere else considered to be a vulnerable and effective means to stop your attacker. There’s also plenty of chokes, joint locks, holds, counter and escaping moves. Students will also learn how to be aware of their surroundings, recognise potential threats, see escape routes, deal with multiple attackers, how to pre-empty situations and even avoidance methods.

Krav Maga Equipment/Gear Used

Clothing varies and usually consists of casual tracksuit bottoms/trousers and a T-shirt.
Coloured belts (if a grading system is used)
Headguard with detachable face grille
Gum shield
Boxing gloves
Sparring mitts
Bag mitts
Body armour
Nerve pads
Throat guards
Groin guard
Forearm protectors
Shin pads
Kneepads
Punch/strike pads/shield

Weapons used in Krav Maga (defence against)

Foam training sticks/batons
Rubber handgun/long guns
Rubber knifes

Celebrity Krav Maga Practitioners (or have dabbled in it)

Cam Gigandet
John Mayer
Ashton Kutcher
James Gandolfini
Shannon Elizabeth
Britney Spears
Matt Damon
Jennifer Lopez
Brendon Fraser
Hillary Swank
Lucy Liu
Michelle Ryan
Jennifer Garner
Kristanna Loken
Leonardo Dicaprio
Geena Davis
Christian Slater

Movies featuring some Krav Maga

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