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Krav Maga - History

Krav Maga - History: Encyclopedia II - Krav Maga - History

The beginning of the system that would become Krav Maga in Israel was developed in Hungary-Czechoslovakia in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld. This system was codified and first taught in Bratislava in order to protect the Jewish community from fascist militias. When Imi Lichtenfeld came to British Mandate of Palestine prior to the reestablishment of the state of Israel, he began teaching hand to hand combat to the Haganah, the Jewish underground army. After the establishment of Israel, krav maga was the generic term used to reference the hand to hand combat taught to ...

Krav Maga: Encyclopedia II - Krav Maga - History

Krav Maga - History

When Imi Lichtenfeld came to British Mandate of Palestine prior to the reestablishment of the state of Israel, he began teaching hand to hand combat to the Haganah, the Jewish underground army. After the establishment of Israel, krav maga was the generic term used to reference the hand to hand combat taught to the Israeli armed forces and police.

When Lichtenfeld moved to Israel he changed his name to Or-Sade, a direct translation of his surname into Hebrew. Due to the fact that it is strictly a self-defense and military combat system, Krav Maga is constantly changing. After Mr. Lichtenfeld retired from a long career as chief instructor of close combat in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), he started teaching Krav Maga to the civilian population. In this way, a civilian version based on the principles of self-defense was developed.

Prior to 1985, all experts in Krav Maga lived in Israel. Those who traveled outside of Israel to other countries to teach Krav Maga are Gabi Ishai, Moni Aizik, Rhon Mizrachi, Rafi Liben, Suki Ron, Dror Saporta, Boaz Aviram, Eitan Savir and others. A few non-Israelis known to operate a school strictly for teaching Krav Maga are Darren Levine, who teaches in Los Angeles, Alan Feldman, who teaches in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Rick Blitstein, who teaches in Miami, Florida and David Kahn New York, New York each certified by the Israeli Krav Maga Association. One non-Israeli, non-Jew who was certified as an expert and instructor was James Keenan, also from the United States.

Since the death of Imi Lichtenfeld, a number of different schools and associations of Krav Maga have developed around the world. There is currently a controversy among various organizations and individuals who claim the mantle as Imi's successor. The most well-known names associated with Krav Maga today are Rhon Mizrachi, Moni Aizik, Darren Levine, Alan Feldman, Rick Blitstein, Dror Saporta, Boaz Aviram and David Kahn in the USA and Haim Gidon, Eyal Yanilov, Eli Avikzar and Haim Zut in Israel.