Krav Maga
KMG's Krav Maga is a comprehensive system of self-defense, combat and fighting, and third-party protection, forged in the field, in real-life conditions, both on the battlefield and on the street. It is the leading system of its kind in the world, known for its techniques, practical and realistic tactics to avoid, prevent, deter or manage all types of violent confrontations.
History of Krav Maga and Imi Lichtenfeld
Emrich Lichtenfeld (Imi Sde-Or), the founder of Krav Maga, was born in Budapest (Hungary) in 1910 and grew up in Bratislava (Slovakia), where his father, Samuel, was head of the city department's detective unit and he was in charge of training his subordinates in defensive tactics. Under the influence of his father, Imi began training at a very young age in wrestling, gymnastics, boxing, and won several national and international competitions, before focusing on wrestling with the Slovakia national team.
In the 1936s, Nazism and fascism began to spread across Europe, bringing with it a wave of violence against minorities. Entire Jewish communities are defenseless and under constant attack instigated by the authorities. As an Ashkenazi Jew, Imi decided to create a small group of resistance fighters to protect the neighborhood. It is at this time that Imi developed his knowledge and skills in street fighting, against different types of weapons, against a large number of people at once, in his war for survival.
In 1940, just before the Nazis took Bratislava, Imi left for Palestine on a clandestine ship: the Pencho. The trip did not go as planned and the Pencho ran aground and, after a long journey in which he joined the Cezc legion of the British army, Imi finally reached Palestine in 1942, in a very tense context. The British were tracking illegal immigrants to deport them to an alternate place of refuge in the Colonial Empire for fear that Axis spies might be among them. The Arabs were also in conflict with the Jews since the Balfour Declaration in 1917 which favored the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. The Jews needed to defend themselves against both and small militias like the Haganah were created to defend the Jews against the Arab and the English, and Imi, after joining, took it upon himself to train the young men who joined the militia, with a system that needed to be learned quickly.
On May 14, 1948, the day the British Mandate over Palestine expired, the State of Israel was proclaimed, recognized that same night by the US, three days later by the USSR, followed by more and more countries and the UN, the following years. An army is created, the Tzahal (The Israel Defense Forces). Due to his extensive experience and skills, Imi was nominated as the Army's head of physical fitness and close combat instructor, and was asked to continue training soldiers. It is during this time that the system he has developed is called Krav (Combat) Maga (Contact).
In 1964, at the age of 54, Imi was honorably discharged from the army and decided to organize his vast knowledge and practical experience into a system suitable for civilian applications and opened a self defense school in Natanya. He continued to spread his knowledge, helped by some of his students, such as Eyal Yanilov, until he passed away in 1998 at the age of 88.
Global Krav Maga
and Eyal Yanilov
Krav Maga Global (KMG) was established as an independent professional organization in 2010 by Eyal Yanilov, the only person to have achieved the highest rating ever awarded by Krav Maga founder Imi Sde-Or (Master Level 3/Expert Level 8) and holds the "Founder's Diploma of Excellence.”
Currently based in Israel, KMG Chief Instructor Eyal Yanilov (b. 1959) studied Krav Maga since 1964, at the age of 15, under Imi's personal tutelage. Due to his talent and abilities, Imi promptly asks him to train other instructors, and later takes Imi's place by teaching high-level classes. Together with Imi, he writes a series of books establishing the principles of Krav Maga. In the 1980s, Imi enlists Eyal to create a new and modern curriculum for Krav Maga, transforming it into a formal organized system, both technical and tactical, based on unique principles of action and instructional methods.
In the mid-1990s, Eyal established the International Krav Maga Federation (IKMF), a sports association, and began teaching the system in many countries around the world, training instructors and establishing branches. In the United States, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia, Eyal taught Krav Maga to military and special police sectors, VIP protection units, and civilians.
In 2010, Eyal established Krav Maga Global (KMG), a professional organization designed to spread Krav Maga around the world in a structured format, while maintaining the highest level of training. Although KMG as an organization has only been formally established in recent years, our team is made up of experts and master level instructors who were not only key figures in the history of Krav Maga, but were also responsible for the development and systematization of Krav Maga. modern in the last 30 years.
