History Of Krav Maga


Krav Maga first appeared approx. 40 years ago, making it one of the most modern self defense methods. It was created for use by the Isreali Defense forces. The IDF needed to teach self defense to a variety of people with varying abilities in a very short amount of time. Krav Maga was integrated into army training by Imi Lichenfield, a career IDF officer and chief instructor at the armys physical training facility at Wingate Institute. Imi is still active involved in the Krav Maga Association and maintains the role of president.

Through the years, the system came to be used not only by the IDF but also by Isreali's security forces, the Mosad and the police. This system is computer tested, reexamined and adjusted on an ongoing basis. Krav Maga focuses on building readiness, physical fitness and confidence. Krav Maga is taught in many public schools in Isreal.

The style includes techniques utilised in Aikido, Karate, boxing, Judo and Jujitsu as well as a variety of techniques from a number of less well known defense methods. It is accepted that the Krav Maga way of performing a technique is much more effective and brutal than the above mentioned styles. The average Krav Maga student is defeating Black Belts in those systems after only a few months of regular training.

The style looks to build on a persons natural reflexes so that initially, the student can build up a repetoire of simple but effective techniques for various threating situations including necklocks/chokes/bear hugs/shirt holds and arm grabs. Krav Maga has no katas or specific sequences that must be followed. Students use the basic/core sequence of moves in conjunction with any one of a number of other dynamic moves to fend off an attack, the key idea being adaptability to new situations through improvisation. Also in the initial stages, students are taught to kick and punch effectively. The punching being drawn from boxing as opposed to the traditional martial art styles and low kicks to knee and groin being emphasised. Also the beginner is taught to be able to fall and roll correctly.

In later stages, restraining techniques along with neck and wrist manipulation are learned along with ground-based drills. At this stage, techniques for dealing with an armed opponent are introduced. Weapons include stick, knife, gun, and bayonet rifle. Also it is not assumed that you are always unarmed and so proficiency with a knife and stick are also taught. As training continues, learning to deal with more than one armed opponent are introduced. These situations do not have specific sequences as predicting the actions of two people is near impossible and so the student must use and adapt what he has learned so far to cope with a 'chaotic' situation.

At the highest levels, hostage situations are introduced i.e. drills to deal with a 3rd person being threatened with a gun also Military techniques of covert debilation and assasination are shown.

Emphasis is put on speed, endurance, strength, accuracy and co-ordination especially for intensive Krav Maga training.

Attire/Equipment

Initially all a beginner needs to wear are - casual track suit bottoms, soft/light shoes and a t-shirt, the preferred color of the T-shirt being white.

However if training is progressed, other equipment gradually accumulated is shin-pads, groin cup, mouth guard, gi and a set of boxing gloves.

Purpose

A major difference between Krav Maga and other martial art forms lies in the fact that this style has no rules. The student is taught where vulnerable points on the human body are and is encouraged to use that knowledge in fending off an attack. This is a style that was developed for street use only. Due to this there are no competitive tournaments. Krav Maga has a belt ranking system. White belts for beginners, followed by yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black.All certificates come direct from the Krav Maga Association in Isreal.

Home
1