Krav Maga
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is a Hebrew term meaning ?close combat?. Its general meaning however can be translated as ?kickboxing? or ?full contact karate?. Sometimes it is referred simply as Krav. Krav maga was derived from Krav Panim el Panim (called by its acronym Kapap) meaning ?face to face combat?.
Krav Maga is a combat system developed for military hand to hand fighting and for self defense. After its adoption by the Israeli Security Forces it has gained in popularity as a martial art. Other military and police forces have also adapted it, including the FBI.
History What became Krav maga was first developed and taught by Imi Lichtenfeld (afterward known as Sde-Or) in Hungary and Czechoslovakia in 1930s to Jews then under the threat from fascists. The techniques were derived from a variety of other martial arts. Later he taught the Krav Maga to Jewish irregulars in Palatine before the establishment of Isreal. After the establishment of Israel he became the chief instructor of close combat for Israel Defense Forces, as the Israeli army is called. On retirement he was also instrumental teaching the Krav Maga techniques to civilians.
After the death of Lichtenfeld several schools of Krav Maga has developed around the world as the art had spread from its once exclusively Jewish origins and experts
Techniques There are no Krav Maga sport competitions and the techniques are developed to achieve the greatest advantage in actual real life combat situations. The weapons techniques include dealing with actual modern day weapons like guns and knives. Techniques are also constantly evolved and updated in light of actual combat experience and stress testing.
Unlike in some other martial arts Krav Maga techniques aim to deliver as much pain to the opponent as possible. As such attacking and defensive methods include fairly vicious strikes to eyes and groin among others.
Krav Maga techniques are developed from several basic principles; avoid injury, transfer to attacking from defending as soon as possible, make use of body's natural reflexes, strike at any weak point, use any tool available as a weapon.
Typically a Karv Maga practitioner will first deal with any immediate attack and while preventing the opponent from resuming the attack, will transfer to counter attack as quickly as feasible.
While military training may include the full range of Krav Maga techniques, civilians training tends to simplify and even omit some of the lethal techniques. In fact some techniques may be illegal in some countries. Civilian training also focus on self defense.
Training in Krav Maga is based on aerobic routines and fighting against pads held by others so that full techniques can be applied. Students are also trained not to get distracted from combat by unrelated peripheral events and to diffuse situations before they become violent. Krav Maga techniques are generally considered easy to learn and remember.
There are several variants and derivatives of Krav Maga. One is called "Haganah" or ?defense?. It aims to defeat an opponent with some advantage over oneself either in weapons or strength. The techniques involve focusing on grabbing a reference point in opponent?s back or neck. In addition to techniques for hand to hand combat and combat against weapons, Haganah includes techniques for fighting on the ground.
Commando Krav Maga is a Krav Maga system developed by Moni Aizik at the request of IDF and focused on Special Forces. It aims at avoidance, keeping period of combat to a minimum, disengagement, and generally controlling the situation, instead of delivering as much pain as possible to attacker as in normal Krav Maga. Due to these reasons civilian schools have also started teaching Commando Krav Maga.