by Devon McNeely
Here are 12 interesting facts about the art of Krav Maga:
1. Krav Maga is a military martial art created for Israel’s military and police.
2. Krav Maga means ‘Contact Combat’ in Hebrew.
3. The focus of Krav Maga is self-defense in even the most dangerous circumstances. It is a hard style with no sport element to it.
4. With self-defense the goal is survival. Therefore Krav Maga teaches that no target, including the eyes, throat, and groin, is off-limits. Often the best defense includes strikes to areas intended to injure or immobilize the attacker.
5. Students are taught to attack and defend at the same time, to use any objects they have at hand as a weapon, and to continue striking until the attacker is completely incapacitated.
6. Despite the quick and at times brutal techniques practiced, another important aspect of the style is conflict avoidance, Deescalation, and situational awareness.
7. Krav Maga was developed by Emrich Lichtenfeld, know as ‘Imi’. Imi was of Jewish descent born in Austria-Hungary in what is today Slovakia.
8. Lichtenfeld learned self-defense from his father but trained and refined his skill fighting against fascists and racists as antisemitism rose in Europe prior to World War II.
9. Krav Maga takes techniques from boxing, wrestling, Judo, Aikido, Karate, and street fighting and made them as simple and practical as possible to be taught to soldiers.
10. The style was exclusively taught to the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli security forces until the 1970’s when Lichtenfeld opened the first Krav Maga school and began teaching it publicly.
11. Due to its military origins, it contains both attacks and defenses against Knives, guns, both handguns, and military weapons.
12. Krav Maga has become popular in Hollywood both among actors and in movies. Daniel Craig, Tom Cruz, and Brad Pitt, among other action start trained in the system as well as famous women including Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez.