Krav Maga

Krav Maga (/ krɑːv məˈɡɑː /; Hebrew: קְרַב מַגָּע [ˈkʁav maˈɡa], lit. "Combat-contact") is a military defense and fighting system developed for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli security forces derived from a combination of techniques which comes from boxing, wrestling, Aikido, judo and karate, along with realistic fighting training.

Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and extreme efficiency. It came from a street-fighting experience of Israeli-Hungarian martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld, who used his training as a boxer and wrestler while defending the Jewish quarter against the fascists in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, during the mid to late 1930s. In the late 1940s, after migrating to Israel, he began giving lessons on combat training to become an IDF.

From the start, the original Krav Maga concept was to take the simplest and most practical techniques of other fighting styles (initially European boxing, wrestling and street fighting) and to make it quickly be taught to conscription.

Krav Maga has a philosophy that emphasizes aggression, and simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers. Krav Maga has been used by Israeli Defense Forces special forces units, security forces, and by ordinary infantry units. Variations that are closely related have been developed and adopted by Israeli law enforcement and intelligence organizations. There are several organizations that teach Krav Maga variations internationally.

Names in Hebrew can be translated as "contact contacts". The basic word krav (קרב) means "battle" and maga (מגע) means "contact".

Like most martial arts, Krav Maga encourages students to avoid physical confrontation. If this is impossible or unsafe, it promotes resolving fights as quickly and aggressively as possible. Attacks are aimed at the most vulnerable parts of the body, and training is not limited to techniques that avoid severe injury; some even permanently injure or cause the death of an opponent.

Students learn to defend themselves from various attacks and are taught to fight in the fastest and most efficient way.