Krav-Maga (Hebrew for Contact Combat) is a real life, realistic system which teaches how to avoid, prevent, deter, and/or deal with all kinds of violent threats and attacks, including those which involve weapons and firearms. Krav-Maga educates people in the subjects of self defence, self protection, fighting and combat skills, as well as the skills to defend others. Krav-Maga is taught in a unique and comprehensive manner and was developed in Israel under realistic conditions.

The Founder of Krav-Maga

Imi Lichtenfeld was born into a Hungarian Jewish family and grew up in Bratislava. His father was a Chief Inspector in the Police force and owned a gymnasium where he taught self-defence. As a young man, Imi was a successful boxer and wrestler. When in the 1930s, riots threatened the Jewish population of Bratislava.
Imi helped to defend his Jewish community against gangs and realised that sport had little in common with real combat, and began developing a system of practical self-defence for life-threatening situations. In 1940 Imi left his homeland to serve in the Czech-Legion and then settled in Israel. Israel’s leaders immediately recognised Imi’s fighting skills; he then began to train Israel’s first fighting units in military close quarters combat. This training included fighting fitness, sentry removal and any other military-oriented problems that required a creative solution. He became the Chief Instructor of Physical Training in the Israel Defence Forces; it was during this time that his system came to be called Krav-Maga.