Krav Maga History
The history of Krav Maga is at once both bitter and triumphant. Born in the streets of Nazi controlled Bratislava in the mid 1930′s, it has since grown to be one of the worlds most effective and devastating fighting systems. As fascist and anti-semitic movements were on the rise across Europe, a professional young Jewish athlete by the name of Imrich (Imi) Sde-Or (Lichtenfeld) led a group of young Jews in protecting the Jewish quarter from anti-Semitic gangs. It was here that the reality of sports versus real-life violence became abundantly clear to Imi. After years of violent clashes, and with the Nazi domination of Europe increasing, Imi fled to then Palestine (later Israel) in a journey that was to last almost two years.
After recovering from a life threatening ear infection he picked up during his journey, Imi joined the Czech legion, under the command of the British army during World War II. Upon release in 1942, he began training the new Israeli military fighting units – the Palmach (elite), the Palyam (marine), and the Hagana, which would later merge into the modern-day Zahal (Israeli Defense Force, IDF) as well as police. By 1948 Imi had become chielf instructor for physical fitness and Krav Maga (“contact combat”) for the IDF.
Imi was tasked with training up the military of the newly formed state of Israel. Since he was training soldiers as only a very small part of their overall curriculum, he needed a system that could be learned as fast as possible, regardless of the students background, and that could be applied under the most stressful conditions. Since Imi’s childhood had been spent learning a variety of fighting styles including boxing, wrestling, judo, jiujitsu, aikido and fencing, he was able to combine the most effective parts of each and disregard the “padding”. Krav Maga was born! Although the curriculum at this time was very narrow, it was suitable for the military applications for which it was devised. As the system began to be adapted for civilians in Israel, a more comprehensive syllabus was devised.
Krav Maga Global (KMG)
By the early 1980′s, Eyal Yanilov became Imi’s right hand man, and was substituting for him in teaching the high level instructors when Imi was unble to teach. In 1984, Eyal was chosen to write the official Krav Maga handbook, and by 1987 Imi chose Eyal to be head of the KM professional committe. As the new chief instructor of Krav Maga, Eyal’s job was to modify techniques and curriculum, and further develop the system. Under Imi’s supervision, Eyal was in charge of teaching the new curriculum. In the early 1990′s, Krav Maga was starting to spread beyond the borders of Israel into Europe and the USA through Eyal. The need for a vehicle to spread it internationally arose, and due to dissent among leading figures in the Israeli Krav Maga Association (IKMA), Imi asked Eyal, as his closest assistant, to help him in forming a new international KM federation. When the initial association finally broke apart in 1995, Eyal formed with Imi’s blessing the International Krav Maga Federation (IKMF). From it’s foundations in 1996 it grew from only 7 members to be the largest and most professional KM organisation in the world! It still was however a sports association, and as it grew it could not support the increasing growth of Krav Maga, and a more professional organization was needed. Eyal and others decided to create the Krav Maga Global, KMG. The KMG is currently still ran by Eyal Yanilov.
Above, a young Eyal Yanilov with Imi Lichtenfeld
