Literally translated as close combat or contact combat, Krav Maga is one of the most lethally effective hand-to-hand combat techniques in the world. It was developed by Imi Lichtenfeld, a Czech-born former heavyweight boxing champion trained in self-defense tactics by his father, a police officer. In 1940, facing Nazi persecution, Lichtenfeld was forced to emigrate to what was then Palestine (now Israel). After the formation of an Israeli state in 1948, he was asked to develop self-defense and hand-to-hand combat techniques for the elite units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Over the next two decades, Lichtenfeld trained IDF fighters in what would become the Krav Maga system, a combat style featuring elements of boxing, judo, and jujitsu as well as stick- and knife-fighting techniques. After leaving the army, Lichtenfeld began teaching the system to civilians, and in 1978 he and some of his students founded the International Krav Maga Federation, a nonprofit organization aimed at promoting teaching of the fighting system in Israel and around the world. By the time Lichtenfeld died in 1998, Krav Magas popularity had spread among law enforcement and security officers, as well as civilians of all ages, both male and female, across Europe and the United States. Due to Israels near-constant state of conflict with its neighbors, Krav Maga has continually been tested and refined over the years through actual combat situations. In Krav Maga training, the same lethal …
25 comments
No ping yet
MrAnandrocker says:
May 10, 2011 at 8:07 am (UTC 0)
What Gil said is the truth fancy kicks like roundhouse kicks, thai kicks, guidan, chodan. None of them work. Believe me i was mugged by a guy with a knife, it didnt work.
555hansy says:
May 10, 2011 at 8:13 am (UTC 0)
is krav maga an olympic sport ?
555hansy says:
May 10, 2011 at 8:34 am (UTC 0)
@bojan90LOL i agree !
orenr100 says:
May 10, 2011 at 9:29 am (UTC 0)
@iParkour100 ive been doing krav maga for 4 years since i was 9 i live in the south of israel lots of arabs there.my best friend was attacked he also does krav maga he managed to fend them off krav maga is WORTH the money
Dominus96 says:
May 10, 2011 at 10:26 am (UTC 0)
OSAMA IS DEAD!
bisdak2010 says:
May 10, 2011 at 11:00 am (UTC 0)
I think this is the most practical and effective self defense. If you like martial arts then you watch UFC, think of someone you think is the best in that tournament then let them fight against a man of same size that doesn’t know martial arts but is carrying a 12-inch double blade knife, imagine what will happen. “You are a good ring fighter but you have no skill whatsoever in self defense”…. Itay Gil
iParkour100 says:
May 10, 2011 at 11:25 am (UTC 0)
I need help im thinking about signing up in a krav maga class but i need help some people say that krav maga is a joke and is just something that is used to to waste money but others say its effective.So what im saying is it a waste of time or worth the cost i need answers that are from krav maga students or ones that can help me
Simm2Dimm says:
May 10, 2011 at 12:10 pm (UTC 0)
@xckelly thank u very much…taekwondo 2…..so i dn’t know what these guys are talking about
irisharmyrangers says:
May 10, 2011 at 12:57 pm (UTC 0)
i was watching a show ans it said the Irish were the first to use weapons in martial arts before the chineese and all
Chrissiieeee says:
May 10, 2011 at 1:55 pm (UTC 0)
& this is why you don’t mess with the Jews
JagFanStevie says:
May 10, 2011 at 2:42 pm (UTC 0)
“if you have a pen stab him in the face”…nice…nice
TheGhostOperative says:
May 10, 2011 at 3:13 pm (UTC 0)
@RebornAc3 how many jews does it take to train this guy jew jit su?
samgik says:
May 10, 2011 at 3:35 pm (UTC 0)
This? is how Israelis hit unarmed Palestinians children
houyuanjia83 says:
May 10, 2011 at 3:52 pm (UTC 0)
very practical.. that is to the point, stay alive martial arts
Gaara4TL says:
May 10, 2011 at 4:39 pm (UTC 0)
@LCStreetPhotographer you have no idea…. buy the book from keith kernspecht and read it… maybe than you can stuck of your lazzy mind homez
RebornAc3 says:
May 10, 2011 at 5:37 pm (UTC 0)
How much time did it take for this guy to learn Krav Maga?
LCStreetPhotographer says:
May 10, 2011 at 5:48 pm (UTC 0)
@Gaara4TL I have tried wing chun/jun fan gung fu….i didnt like either.
Gaara4TL says:
May 10, 2011 at 5:50 pm (UTC 0)
@LCStreetPhotographer sure, it depends on the practiotiona bein good or not. but all what they show is stolen from other stylez, and 80% is wing chun…. and about your “tip tap crap”, you dont have any idea what wing chun really is. participate once and tell me if its the best martial art or not
Kroush7 says:
May 10, 2011 at 6:30 pm (UTC 0)
@LCStreetPhotographer Oh I agree with you sir. SBS are hardcore. I don’t try to match Special operations from different countries though. I will not make that attempt as I have no military experience myself.
LCStreetPhotographer says:
May 10, 2011 at 7:22 pm (UTC 0)
@Gaara4TL Wing Chung is “tip tap crap”. I hate all this , this is better than that, bullshit. Krav is about as effective as can be. Besides the artist is more important than the art he practices. I’ve seen shit practitioners and good practitioners from all arts. I’ve seen Muay Thai Boxers who could kick you so hard you’d bounce off a wall 15 feet away , acheiving unpowered human flight. I’ve seen muay Thai Boxers so ludicrously rubbish they were laughable. Same for all arts.
LCStreetPhotographer says:
May 10, 2011 at 8:09 pm (UTC 0)
@Kroush7 Your special forces are allowed to disclose the fact that they are Special Forces..? poor show. But it does explain why the British SBS Commando’s are so good..no one not even their wives know what they are.
zaco21 says:
May 10, 2011 at 8:52 pm (UTC 0)
@Kroush7 One last thing! Have you seen Fight Quest, the Krav Maga episode? The guy who was trained by the woman couldn’t stand on his feet for too long. The Army Combatives program focuses on taking the fight to the ground and the guy was in the Army and studied the Combatives system. The systems are fundamentally different and so’s LINE (the 1st universal system adopted by the Army and Marines) and MCMAP, these systems have been developed from scratch! The KM ancestry’s more myth than fact.
MDNSBS says:
May 10, 2011 at 9:38 pm (UTC 0)
wow these guys know very little about martial arts, i can name a dozen styles that block and strike at the same time, most of them are kung fu styles tho
lefkosippotis says:
May 10, 2011 at 10:10 pm (UTC 0)
@xckelly Wing chun has a dual approach yes but it is not actually blocking end striking at the same time….it is more like neutralizing attack and defence at the same time
Kroush7 says:
May 10, 2011 at 10:22 pm (UTC 0)
@zaco21 See previous comment.