Q. WHAT IS KRAV MAGA?
A. The simplest answer is; a complete, no nonsense, self defence system.

Krav Maga translated from the hebrew means 'Contact fight.'
Many of it's self defence techniques are unique as they have been developed out of necessity and relevance to the modern world. Not many of us get attacked by a spear wielding horse rider in this day and age and so a jumping side kick isn't that necessary.  Many of the traditional martial arts such as Karate and Kung Fu, although still fighting systems, have in their syllabus techniques that do not suit today's threats. Krav Maga concentrates on what is needed now and that cuts down on what is taught, leaving more time to train appropriate techniques. Apart from teaching attacks from unarmed assailants we do defences from stick, knife, and gun attacks and also teach the best way to deal with attacks when you're on the ground.
Our fighting style is more akin to Muay Thai but we include strikes to the groin and eyes, even biting and shouting. Remember Krav Maga isn't a martial art; it's aim is to deal with the threat and get you home safely. It is purely a method of self defence.

HISTORY

Imi Sdi-Or

Imi Sde-Or (Lichtenfeld), the founder of Krav Maga, was born in 1910 and grew up in Bratislava. With his Fathers help he became highly skilled in gymnastics, swimming, wrestling and boxing. The last two winning Imi championships from the 1920's until 1939; when the skies over Central Europe darkened with the rise of Fascism. 
Imi and a handful of friends with similar physical backgrounds found themselves, on several occasions, having to protect their community in violent clashes, while being highly outnumbered. It was during this period Imi found which techniques were most effective and later helped him develop the Krav Maga  (contact fight) system.
From 1940 to 1942 Imi had a 'Boys Own Story' adventure which resulted in him being in Palestine and teaching various elite forces hand to hand combat techniques, use of knife and knife defence. In 1948 Imi began 20 years as Chief Instructor of Krav Maga for the Israeli Defence Force. The main teaching criteria being; the techniques had to be easy to learn and apply. Also it had to be taught in the shortest possible time.
After semi - retiring Imi began adapting Krav Maga to suit the civilian, male or female, young or old. It was aimed to save the defender, while sustaining minimal harm, no matter what form the attack took. The first civilian course in Krav Maga was in 1972. In 1981 the system was taken to the U.S.A. and was received with enthusiasm. In the early 1990's Imi wanted to establish the International Krav Maga Federation ( IKMF), which was to spread the system worldwide.
Imi Sde-Or passed away in 1998, having spent until the end ensuring Krav Maga progressed and improved it's techniques.To aid him he had at his right hand Eyal Yanilov who, amongst other achievements, would establish the IKMF.

Eyal Yanilov

Soon after starting training in Krav Maga, Eyal Yanilov began studying under Imi Sdi-Or. Eyal progressed quickly to assisting and teaching at the Krav Maga Headquarters in Netanya. Eventually Imi charged him with developing and taking the system forward.