Krav Maga is the Israeli self defense system that was developed for Israel Defense Force, or IDF, and was created by Imi Lichtenfeld in the mid thirties. Krav Maga consists of a wide combination of techniques sourced from aikido, judo, wrestling and boxing along with realistic fight training. This makes the main focus of Krav Maga a hybrid, combining both striking and grappling all together. Krav Maga is also known for its focus on real world situations and it is extremely efficient and brutal counter attacks. Imi Lichtenfeld developed Krav Maga as a derived version of street fighting, where he developed his training as a boxer and wrestler into one singular style. He originally developed this style as a means to defending the Jewish quarter against fascists groups in the mid to late thirties.
Krav Maga's philosophy emphasizes threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers, and aggression. The name Krav Maga in Hebrew translates to contact combat.
Krav Maga encourages avoiding conflict if at all possible, but if a conflict does occur, it also encourages finishing the fight as quickly as possible. Attacking with Krav Maga focuses on aiming for the most vulnerable parts of the body to defeat an opponent. Training is not limited to techniques that avoid severe injuries, some even permanently injuring or killing an opponent, making Krav Maga a deadly style.
Training for this style encourages students to defend against all variety of attacks and learn to counter in the quickest and most efficient way. Counterattacking as soon as possible or attacking preemptively is taught in this form. Targeting the bodies most vulnerable points include eyes, neck or throat, solar plexus, ribs, knee, face, groin, foot, fingers, liver and many more. Maintaining awareness of surroundings while dealing with the threat in order to look for escape routes, objects that could be used to defend or help attack, further attackers and so on are also taught to students of Krav Maga.
