What is Krav Maga?
The System
The Principles of Krav Maga:
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Techniques should be movements based on natural instincts.
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Techniques must address the immediate danger.
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Techniques must defend and counterattack simultaneously or as quickly as possible.
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One defense must work against a variety of attacks.
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The system must be integrated so that movements compliment rather than contradict movements in another area of the system.
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Techniques must be accessible to the average person, not just athletes.
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Techniques must work from a position of disadvantage.
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Training must include the stress experienced in real attacks.
Krav Maga is one of the most effective, real-world self-defense system taught today.
Krav Maga (pronounced Krahv muh-Gah), which means "contact-combat" in Hewbrew) is a simple, aggressive, easy-to-learn and easy to remember system of self defense. Krav maga focuses on principles rather than techniques because no two attacks are ever the same, no two people are the same, and the same person will react differently one day compared to another.
Originally created for the Israeli Defense Forces, it is now the preferred system for law enforcement agencies and U.S. military units, and has been adapted for practical civilian application.
Defined by brutal offensive techniques and quick counter-attacks, Krav Maga is the ideal self-defense fighting style for unexpected and dangerous situations. A focus on results without rules of fair fighting means Krav Maga is not a martial art, but a revolutionary street self-defense system – no katas, no rituals.
Based on simple principles and instinctive movements, Krav Maga is intended to work for everyone, and teach effective personal protection in the shortest possible time. Learn how to defend against violent chokes, grabs and strikes, as well as serious threats armed with weapons. Learn how to function during the shock and stress of a violent sudden encounter and witness changes in your mind and body as you prepare yourself for real-world dangerous situations where the bad guys aren’t playing for points.
The History
Krav Maga Worldwide, the official training school of Krav Maga in the US, explains it best:
"The roots of Krav Maga can be traced back to one man, Imi Lichtenfeld. Born in Budapest in 1910, Lichtenfeld grew up in Bratislava, Slovakia where his father was a police officer and self-defense instructor. Training at his father’s gym, Imi developed into a talented boxer, wrestler, and gymnast. As a young man, Imi fought and competed on the national and international levels.In the late 1930’s Imi used his experience in boxing, wrestling, and gymnastics to help defend Jewish neighborhoods from anti-semitic riots, which were flaring up in Bratislava. These riots were often led by members of the socialist party and anti-semitic thugs, and Lichtenfeld had to adapt his competition based knowledge of fighting into a real world self defense system. In 1940 Imi fled the Nazi occupation of his homeland and made his way to Palestine. There Imi joined the Haganah, a paramilitary group within the Jewish community dedicated to fighting for the independent state of Israel. Lichtenfeld began to play a very strong role within the Israeli military system, and was asked to develop their self-defense system.
Thus Krav Maga was born. Lichtenfeld built up a strong group of followers, including special unit leaders, professionals in the armed forces, and police officers. Using his knowledge of street fighting and legitimate competition tactics, Lichtenfeld was able to develop the revolutionary self defense system of Krav Maga."
Why should I learn Krav Maga?
Everybody should know some self defense. Whether it's to be able to protect yourself or your loved one, to prepare against the worst situations, or simple to get the confidence you have always wanted so you can truly be yourself without fear.
Know What is Out There
There are many systems out there but it is important to know the differences. Most systems are sports, like Jiu Jitsu, Taekwondo, boxing, MMA etc. These can have some very good technique for self defense but are often not trained in a way that optimizes self defense application. There is only one attacker, there are rules, there are no weapons, and often there is no real world drill training with real world fight scenarios. In addition they are often not fully rounded to provide all the skills you need for all kinds of attack situations.
Then there are martial arts like karate and kung fu. These can help you learn great power, focus, flexbility, and discipline, but often don't have real-world application drills, and can be stuck in traditional approaches without flexibility or testing for success in all situations. Not to mention some of the more complex techniques can take a long time to learn.
Krav Maga is Not a Martial Art
Krav Maga is a science based self defense system, made to work for everyone, in all situations, and provides realistic drills to test the techniques and make sure they really work for you. In addition there is a huge element of stress training that teaches you how to develop the mindset for fight and survival, the most important piece to truly get you through anything. From this training your confidence starts to grow and you carry yourself in a way that changes how people treat you, and builds an internal strength that allows you to let go of the fear of judgement, intimidation, or manipulation. You gain full control over yourself and your body.
What is Your Plan?
Most people have never trained any self defense, but they have been in moments of fear or intimidation and asked themselves: “what would I have done?” They develop an idea in their heads of a strategy, and maybe go out and buy some kind of weapon that they decide they will use as they plan for self defense. This is very problematic as they often have never used the weapon, and never trained accessing it, under stress, while being attacked, so they can deploy it successfully. As a result, if stress is thrust upon them suddenly, studies have shown that people simply flounder, reaching desperately for their one plan or weapon, making no useful defense as they are being attacked, and cannot carry out their plan like they had it in their head. Your body works differently under stress. Your brain does not function logically. You instincts take over and you will do what your body knows how to do in that situation. So you need to train some simple and effective techniques that your body will remember, and train them under similar stress so that you program your muscles to respond in that environment. This is the only path to a successful self defense strategy.