Grand-master Imi
Krav-Maga is not just another reformatted martial art, in fact it has been around for some fifty years, longer than most eastern martial arts have been around in the west. Krav-Maga was created and developed by Imi Sde-Or (Lichtenfeld) the old Israeli Grand-master (1910-1998) who started it in the late 40's and early 1950's when serving as Chief Instructor for hand to hand combat and combat fitness training for the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Imi, as a young man, was a champion boxer and a top level wrestler, with a vast experience in street fighting. Imi was the uncrowned leader of the Jewish militia in his home town of Bratislava defending the Jewish quarter against local fascists and Nazis before and during the first phase of World War II. Imi's father (a very influential figure in Imi's life) was a police officer in-charge of the detectives in Bratislava Slovakia, taught his detectives (and Imi) police defensive- tactics that were suitable for that time and place. So Imi grew up in an environment where combative sports, law-enforcement and ferocious street fights played equal rolls.
Starting in 1940 and after 2 years of event-full odyssey Imi emigrated to Palestine (1942) which became Israel in 1948. Due to the political situation Israel was immediately at war with its neighbors and didn't have the luxury of six-month boot camp for its young soldiers. They were literally conscripted and sent to fight. Because of this situation the Israeli military needed an effective hand to hand combat system that could be learned very quickly, was easily retained and very effective. This was the birth of Krav Maga in Israel. Since then it has been studied, tested, improved and developed extensively so that now Krav Maga techniques are applied in areas such as law enforcement, elite military units, VIP protection and civilian self defense programs for men, women and children, Krav Maga is the official system of hand to hand combat and self-defense employed by the Israeli Defense and Security Forces, the Israeli National and Military Police and its Special Operations and Anti-Terrorist Units.
Krav Maga was extended beyond the military (since 1964 when Imi finished his military service) and has been offered - after adaptation - to civilian frameworks. The discipline is now taught at schools on the national curriculum as well as private institutions. It is taught to men, women and children under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Sport and Education. Not many other self-defense systems can offer that track record or credibility. Krav-Maga has expanded outside the borders of Israel to North and Latin America, it is now successful in Scandinavia, U.K. France, Italy and is spreading in many more countries across the world including Australia and New-Zealand This unique training method has received international recognition as an innovative and highly practical self-defense system, and more recently has been taught to U.S. federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as to different military and police units in South and Central America and Europe. According to martial-arts experts, law-enforcement and military instructors around the world, who have experienced Krav-Maga training, the most important and most striking characteristics of the system are:
- The techniques are extremely practical and effective for the 'street'
- The techniques are easy to learn and natural to perform;
- Individuals can attain and maintain a high level of proficiency within a relatively short period of instruction
These are crucial factors to be considered in the implementation of a self-defense and fighting skills program, because most people, agencies or companies cannot afford the luxury of prolonged training periods for their personnel.
Every officer in the Beverly Hills (California) Police Department received hours of Krav Maga instruction including training in defense against attacks with sharp objects or impact weapons and threat of firearms. Other agencies too have received training in Krav Maga include FBI, DEA, Coast Guard and Drug Interdiction. Master Sgt, Kristine Hamilton of the Illinois State Police, a black belt in Taekwondo and a gold medallist at the Pan American games with the USA Taekwondo team, was the force's Chief Defensive Tactics Instructor (She is now a leader in the Violent Crime squad, Chicago). Hamilton espouses Krav Maga techniques for self-defense and empty hand take-aways claiming 'it's used on the street all the time, and it works'. Sgt. Walt Jordan, who has black belts in Ju-Jutsu and Kempo Karate was one of those responsible for bringing Krav Maga to the Beverly Hills PD (LA). 'I knew they had something no one else had,' says Jordan. 'Krav Maga is probably the most easily learned and the most applicable (martial art) to the real world.
