History of Krav Maga
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Chief Instructor
The Origins of the Krav Maga Fighting Style
Translated literally as “close combat,” Krav Maga originated in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s, primarily by Imi Lichtenfeld to protect his people from brutalization in Pre-World War II Europe. He was an expert in boxing and wrestling, trained by his father, who taught defensive tactics to the local police. Lichtenfeld grew up in an increasingly tough neighborhood and dealt regularly with thugs, violent gangs, and anti-Semites. On these tough streets, Krav Maga was born as Lichtenfeld began to combine different techniques to form an effective, simple approach to self-defense for the Jewish community. This would form the basis of Israeli Krav Maga training.
After the land of Israel was formed, Lichtenfeld immigrated and was commissioned by the Israeli military to refine the system for Israeli defense personnel. The earliest form of Krav Maga, the Israeli Martial Arts of the 1930s, was known as Kapap, Hebrew for face-to-face combat or battle. Kapap combines boxing, judo, knife fighting, stick fighting, and
The Fundamentals of Krav Maga
There are no rules for Krav Maga fighting. Men and women generally undergo the same drills, it has no sporting federation, and there are no official uniforms or attire. However, some organizations recognize progress through training with rank badges, different levels, and belts.
One basic principle of Krav Maga is to redirect the opponent’s own strength to put him at a disadvantage. Every joint in the body is designed to bend a specific way, and by forcing it in the other direction, it snaps. Size has little impact on how effective a fighter is due to continuing an opponent’s momentum to add to the velocity of a strike, force a throw, or create separation. Generally, there are no rules in Krav Maga as a defensive fighting technique that is not regulated but utilized to keep the user safe and incapacitate the opponent by any means necessary.
Basic training is a mixed aerobic and anaerobic workout. Protective pads and other personal protection equipment may be used during initial training. Scenarios train personnel for situations typically encountered in street patrol or combat situations. Training scenarios teach students to ignore distractions. Other training methods to increase realism might include blindfolding or exercising trainees to near exhaustion before dealing with a simulated attack, as well as training outdoors on various surfaces and restrictive situations.
Training also covers situational awareness to understand one’s surroundings and potentially threatening circumstances before an attack occurs. It may also cover ways to deal with potentially violent situations and physical and verbal methods to avoid violence whenever possible.
Krav Maga shares techniques with many martial arts and is generally a combination of Muay Thai kickboxing, Aikido, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and boxing. This combination is one of the reasons Elite Training Center makes traditional Muay Thai classes, Kali/Silat classes, Mixed Martial Arts Classes, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes, and LOTAR CQC classes available to its Krav Maga students.
Today, Krav Maga is refined and expanded as a complete self-defense methodology, including hand-to-hand combat and self-defense in situations where attackers have weapons such as guns, knives, or sticks. Elite Training Center’s Krav Maga system also includes peaceful training in diffusing dangerous situations, but with knowledge and confidence to control a situation before it escalates.
Our Krav Maga Today
Here at Elite Training Center (South Bay Krav Maga), we teach the hand-to-hand system of Krav Maga, which originated in Israel under the watchful eye of Imi Lichtenfeld, as well as the offshoot versions of Israeli hand-to-hand combat such as KAPAP and Hisardut, these systems lead by, Lt. Colonel Chaim Peer, Major Avi Nardia and Dennis Hanover are also aggressive, combative systems created in the same explosive environment as Krav Maga.
When brought to the United States by Avi Nardia and Brian Rauchbach of LOTAR International, LLC, the goal was to bring the self-defense and operational close-quarter combat techniques of the most elite counter-terror unit in Israel, the YAMAM, to the civilian, military, and law enforcement populations of the United States it was the merger of these systems that created our operational and enhanced Krav Maga system.
Once the system was introduced to the civilian and law enforcement segments of the United States, the LOTAR/KAPAP and Krav Maga systems were enhanced and modified by adding to it other Close Quarter Combat techniques from other operational units from around the world, such as the SAS, GIGN, and the U.S. Navy Seals.
At Elite Training Center, our teachings are derived from the original Krav Maga/Kapap/Hisardut systems but are not restricted to those arts. This is because we believe that for art to be the most effective, it must continue to evolve.
Our Krav Maga Today
Here at Elite Training Center (South Bay Krav Maga), we teach the hand-to-hand system of Krav Maga, which originated in Israel under the watchful eye of Imi Lichtenfeld, as well as the offshoot versions of Israeli hand-to-hand combat such as KAPAP and Hisardut, these systems lead by, Lt. Colonel Chaim Peer, Major Avi Nardia and Dennis Hanover are also aggressive, combative systems created in the same explosive environment as Krav Maga.
When brought to the United States by Avi Nardia and Brian Rauchbach of LOTAR International, LLC, the goal was to bring the self-defense and operational close-quarter combat techniques of the most elite counter-terror unit in Israel, the YAMAM, to the civilian, military, and law enforcement populations of the United States it was the merger of these systems that created our operational and enhanced Krav Maga system.
Once the system was introduced to the civilian and law enforcement segments of the United States, the LOTAR/KAPAP and Krav Maga systems were enhanced and modified by adding to it other Close Quarter Combat techniques from other operational units from around the world, such as the SAS, GIGN, and the U.S. Navy Seals.
At Elite Training Center, our teachings are derived from the original Krav Maga/Kapap/Hisardut systems but are not restricted to those arts. This is because we believe that for art to be the most effective, it must continue to evolve.
