Krav Maga

Krav Maga (Hebrew: "contact combat") ismartial art, at first developedCzechoslovakia in1930s. The developer was Imi Lichtenfeld. When Mr. Lichtenfeld camePalestine prior toestablishment ofstateIsrael, he began teaching handhand combat toHaganah,Jewish underground army. AfterestablishmentIsrael, Krav Maga was adopted byIsraeli armed forcespolice asmartial artchoice. The art reached its current formIsrael shortly after its formation. After Mr. Lichtenfeld retired fromlong career as chief instructorclose combat inIsrael Defense Forces (IDF), he started teaching Krav Maga tocivilian population. In this way,civilian version based onprinciplesself defense was developed.

Innutshell,basic fighting principlesthat every self defense response must meet all offollowing criteria:
Ingiven situation,defense or attack must be

• the fastest
• the strongest
• the shortest
• the most natural
• and topoint (for instance, if you meanescape, escape; if you meanhit, hit).

The basic idea isfirst deal withimmediate threat (e.g. hands around one's neck), preventattacker from re-attacking, then neutralizeopponent. An emphasisput on takinginitiative fromattacker immediately. Itokrun away (tactical withdrawal), ifsituation dictates that. Krav Maga can be used against opponents whoarmed,against multiple opponents. Italso goodclosed areas, such as airplanes.

Krav Maga includes many disarming techniques,fighting under unusual circumstancesstressedpractice.

Prior1985,expertsKrav Maga wereIsrael. Few foreigners cameIsraelstudy Krav Magano highly skilled Israelis left Israelrun Krav Maga schools. The first non-israeli knownhave operatedschool strictlyteaching Krav MagaDarren Levine, who teaches Krav MagaLos Angeles. The first non-Israeli, non-Jew who was certified as an expertinstructor was James Keenan, also fromUnited States.

SincedeathMr. Lichtenfeld,numberdifferent schoolsassociationsKrav Maga have developed.

The nameHebrewusually translated as "close combat". The word, krav, means "fight" or "battle". The word, maga, means "touching" or "in contact". A translation like "contact combat", though, can be miscontrued as something like "kickboxing" or "Full Contact Karate". Krav Maganotsporthas no competitive aspect.

Ashistorical note,original nameKrav Maga was Kapap (sounds like "ka-PAP") which was an acronymKrav Panim el Panim, face-to-face combat.

Also see

• Krav Maga Maor