krav maga etymology & history

KRAV MAGA ETYMOLOGY AND HISTORY

Etymology

The name in Hebrew means "hand-to-hand combat". Krav (קרב) meaning "combat" and Maga (מגע) meaning "contact".
Basic principles

A key principle of Krav Maga is finishing a fight as quickly as possible and therefore all attacks are aimed towards the most vulnerable parts of the body (e.g., face, neck, groin, knee, eyes, joints). Because there are no sporting rules, individuals trained in Krav Maga are not limited to techniques that avoid severely injuring their opponents, but training and sparring drills provide maximum safety to the students by the use of protective equipment and the use of reasonable force. For example, kicks to the groin during sparring is commonplace, but groin protection must be worn and students should demonstrate due diligence with regards for their partners' safety.

Students learn to defend against all variety of attacks before engaging in full-contact sparring. Students are taught to respond to attacks in the quickest and most efficient way; a common lesson taught is 'always use the nearest tool for the job'. This basically means use whichever limb is closest to your attacker at the time and whichever feels most natural. Men and women generally undergo the same drills. It has no sporting federation, and there are no official uniforms (such as a gi). Usual training attire consists of a t-shirt and loose fitting trousers. Krav Maga is also one of the few martial arts in which footwear is habitually worn, due to its being 'reality-based training'. Most organizations recognize progress through training with rank badges, different levels, and belts.

General principles include:

    Counter attacking as soon as possible (or attacking preemptively).
    Targeting attacks to the body's most vulnerable points such as the eyes, jaw, throat, solar plexus, ribs, groin, knee, armpits etc.
    Neutralizing the opponent as quickly as possible by responding with an unbroken, shattered stream of counter attacks (i.e. attacking high/low) 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 entails a warm-up, learning essential pressure points, and learning how to approach and control an opponent using force. Students learn how to execute strikes including various punches, hammer fists, elbows, knees and kicks. Students learn defenses against take-downs, chokes, bear-hugs, arm bars, and other possible attacks. Training also includes learning to defend against various weapons such as knives, bats, guns etc. Pressure drills in which students engage with multiple attackers are also common. Other training exercises and pressure drills include students closing their eyes and reacting to a variety of potential threats. Fitness and endurance training is also incorporated into regular classes.

Training can also cover situational awareness to develop an understanding of one's surroundings. Learning to understand the psychology of a street confrontation 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.

History

Imi Sde-Or (formerly, Imrich Lichtenfeld), founder of Krav Maga, was born in 1910 in Hungary and grew up in Bratislava, Slovakia. Imi became active in a wide range of sports including gymnastics, wrestling, and boxing. In 1928 Imi won the Slovakian Youth Wrestling Championship, and in 1929 the adult championship (in the light and middle weight division). That year he also won the national boxing championship and an international gymnastics championship. During the ensuing decade, Imi's athletic activities focused mainly on wrestling, both as a contestant and a trainer.

In the mid thirties conditions began to change in Bratislava and Imi felt he had to take his fighting skills to the streets to protect Jewish neighborhoods from the growing numbers of fascist and anti-Semitic thugs who swarmed in Bratislava at the time. Imi quickly found however that although boxing and wrestling were good sports they weren't always practical for the aggressive and brutal nature of street fighting and he learnt the hard way that real life fighting was very different to competition fighting. It was then that he started to re-evaluate his ideas about fighting and started developing the skills and techniques that would eventually become Krav Maga. Having become a thorn in the side of the equally anti-Semitic local authorities, Imi left his home, family and friends in 1940 on the last refugee ship to escape Europe and the tightening Nazi noose.

After making his way to Palestine Imi joined Israel’s pre-state Haganah military organization. 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 Haganah and Palmach (striking force of the Haganah and forerunner of the special units of the IDF), including the Pal-Yam, as well as groups of police officers.

In 1948, when the State of Israel was founded and the IDF was formed, Imi became Chief Instructor for Physical Fitness and Krav Maga at the IDF School of Combat Fitness. He served in the IDF for about 20 years, during which time he developed and refined his unique method for self-defense and hand-to-hand combat. After retiring from the army, Imi felt that Krav Maga could and should be adapted to meet the self-defense needs of civilians.

Upon his retirement Imi opened a school to teach a civilian form of Krav Maga, including a version suitable for youth. The first students to receive a black belt 1st Dan were Eli Avikzar, Rafi Elgarisi, Haim Zut, Haim Gidon, Shmuel Kurzviel, Haim Hakani, Shlomo Avisira, Vicktor Bracha, Yaron Lichtenstein, Avner Hazan and Miki Asulin.

In 1978, Lichtenfeld founded the non-profit Israeli Krav Maga Association (IKMA) with several senior instructors.Eli Avikzar was elected to the head of rank committee and Colonel David Ben Asher was elected to the Executive Director while Imi Lichtenfeld was elected a president 10th dan.[citation needed] Since Imi at his old age was giving black belts to foreign students without Eli Avikzar's approval, Eli resigned from the association and created Krav Magen Israeli. Thereafter various civilian krav maga association were created. Lichtenfeld died in January 1998 in Netanya, Israel.

When Krav Maga started to spread beyond the borders of Israel, there arose a need to found an international organization. This happened mostly because the initial Krav Maga association existing at the time was divided and not functioning efficiently, due to dissension amongst the higher graded instructors. Imi Lictenfeld's students and second generation of students of Imi's students resulted in forming a new international Krav Maga federation with the support of his most loyal students and respected instructors, including Eyal Yanilov, Gabi Noah, Avi Moyal, and Eli Ben-Ami.

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