Krav Maga Background
In 1964, Grandmaster Imi Lichtenfeld finished his military service and adapted Krav Maga to civilian frameworks. In Israel, the style has become an important part of the educational system and is taught to elementary and high school students on the national curriculum along with being taught at the Wingate Institute, one of the world’s leading physical fitness centers. It is taught to men, women, and children under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Sport and Education. 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. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) including their Special Forces Units, Israeli Police, and Internal Security Branches currently uses this style on a day-to-day basis. Haim Gidon and Eyal Yanilov are the most well-known advocates of the discipline in Israel, and are involved with spreading Krav Maga across the world. Haim Gidon hosts several international seminars every year in Netanya Israel. Eyal spends most of his time writing Krav Maga instruction books and teaching seminars across the globe.
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is taught to all ages and abilities, at community centers, schools, and clubs throughout the world. Krav Maga is taught to Sky Marshals, commercial airline crews, and has expanded outside the borders of Israel and is very successful in the United States, Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Poland, Japan, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Many United States local law enforcement, federal agencies, state police, SWAT and other special operations teams have been taught Krav Maga.
KM Worldwide
Krav Maga Worldwide Enterprises and the Krav Maga Association of America are the primary advocates of Krav Maga in the USA and have pioneered its use by law enforcement personnel. Chief Instructor, Mr. Darren R. Levine, is a Senior Deputy District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles’s Crimes Against Peace Officers Section (CAPOS), a special unit dedicated to prosecuting violent crimes. David Kahn heads the Israeli Krav Maga Association branch in the United States in New York and has authored the book Krav Maga published in 2004. Other organizations and their members that have been trained in Krav Maga include, but are not limited to the following:
- Federal Bureau of Investigations
- United States Marine Corps
- United States Marshals Service
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
- Drug Enforcement Administration Arrest and Control Unit
- U.S. Treasury Department
- U.S. Immigration Service
- U.S. State Department
- U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
- U.S. Coast Guard - Port Security Unit
- U.S. Coast Guard - Tactical Law Enforcement
- U.S. Coast Guard - Drug Interdiction
- New York City Police Department
- Illinois State Police
- Chicago Metro Police Department
- Alabama State Police
- Baltimore County Police
- Connecticut State Police
- Pennsylvania State Police
- Texas Department of Public Safety
- Ohio State Highway Patrol
- Florida State Highway Patrol
- California Highway Patrol
- California Department of Justice
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
- Los Angeles Police Department Academy
- Santa Monica Police Department
- El Segundo Police Department
- Beverly Hills Police Department
- Burbank Police Department
- Pasadena Police Department
- New Jersey State Police
- New Athens Police Department
- National Police of Iran
Nowadays, this system is trained world wide. The European federation is headed by Richard Douieb, who teaches Krav Maga in Paris. The World Krav Maga Federation gathers seven European countries and is headed by Thierry Viatour.
In addition to the Israel Defense Forces, several other special forces (for example GIGN, FBI, and SWAT) have already adopted this system for their contact combat.
