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Unlike many other so-called martial arts and self-defense practices, Krav Maga does not really have any sort of formal circuits or competitive events. It is all business … the business of winning a fight.
The origins of Krav Maga are known, but it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly at what point this form of "contact combat", a rather loose interpretation of its name, actually came into existence.
The basics of Krav Maga were found when street-fighting skills were used the Hungarian-Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld. Lichtenfeld, the founder of Krav Maga, made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler while helping to defend the Jewish quarter of Bratislava against faciast attacks in the 1930's. After immigrating to Israel to Israel, following World War II, he began to provide lessons on combat training to members of what ever became the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
From these early beginnings, Imi Lichtenfeld, known in Israel as Imi Sde-Or, went on to develop the system that became known as Krav Maga.
Since those early years, it has been refined for use in real-world civil, police and military applications.
"Refined" might be a wee bit misleading, as Krav Maga as practiced is anything but refined.
In truth, there are many in the know who believe that it is quite possibly the ultimate hand-to-hand combat practice. This is not surprising since, unlike the modern versions of many other personal combat methods, it is intended to be used practically in life-and-death situations in the real world, not on the mats of a dojo.
If it is "refined" in any aspect of the term, it is in that the most effective aspects of physical mayhem have been distilled from many sources and kept, while other, less useful, or less effective, ways of disabling an opponent, sometimes permanently, have been burned off over the years. In its practice, the complete intention is simply survival and consent through total mastery of your foe.
Still in use by the Israeli Defense Forces, and Israeli Special Ops groups, variations have been developed and adopted by various law enforcement and intelligence organizations, including the Mossad, the Israeli national intelligence service, and Shin Bet, the Israeli Security Agency. These are considered by allies and foes alike to be some of the toughest customers around.
Unlike many more commonly known Asian martial arts systems, Krav Maga is characterized by four specific goals, probably the most valued of which is quite simply "aggression".
The expert in this self-defense method does not wait to use the opponent's weight or movement or intentions against him. There is very little bowing or flipping over the hip. A Krav Maga practitioner comes on the attack from the start and does not quit. In other words, one of the key principles of Krav Maga is to effectively take out the attacker as quickly and as effectively as possible … usually with disastrous results for the recipient of this attention.
Here, aggression is a tool, a technique to be used in coordination with the other characteristics of Krav Maga: threat neutralization, and a simultaneous application of defensive and offensive maneuvers. While defense is a major part of training, the practitioner's ultimate focus is on how to beat the enemy, and beat him drastically and dramatically, in as short a period of time as possible.
To this end, Krav Maga practitioners use various combinations of attacks to the most vulnerable areas of the body. These attacks are delivered in a distinctly varied manner, and without respect, in orfer to keep the enemy confused, afraid and in a constant state of defense … until it's over.
One aspect of this real-world martial art, if we can feel comfortable reffering to it as "art", is an aspect which makes it quite different from more mainstream self-defense and martial arts methodologies. Since Krav Maga is expected, and intended, to be used in dangerous, even life-threatening situations, one of the most important things to be learned by the student is how to be aware of one's surroundings and to be prepared not only for a counter -attack from the opponent, but for an attack from another direction as well.
Students learn many types of strikes, delivered with every part of the body, take downs, grappling, and other attack activities. They also learn how to most effectively defend them against those same attacks. Practice sessions often involve eliminating attacks attacks from multiple attackers.
Krav Maga is one of the most strenuous of the martial arts, and a practitioner must also engage in regular and strenuous physical training to be able to keep up with the demands of Krav Maga itself, but to be able to sustain an attack … constantly and consistently and at the highest speed possible.
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