What Is Israeli Krav Maga?

By: Jacob Quinn

Break Studios Contributing Writer

If you’re wondering what is Israeli Krav Maga, we can fill you in on the basics of this fascinating street oriented martial art. Many people use Israeli Krava Maga for self defense, and it’s also taught to the Israeli Army. The art is known for its practicality and simplicity.

It was developed in the 1930s as an effective way to teach Jewish people hand to hand combat for street survival. In terms of techniques, several arts were used in the development of Israeli Krav Maga. There are moves from Karate, kickboxing, and Judo, among others. The art teaches all these things with a focus on reflexive action, and each practitioner is taught to react instinctively to unexpected attacks. Krav Maga practitioners also tend to spend a lot of time training in the use of so-called “dirty” fighting techniques such as eye gouges and vital point attacks.  

Israeli Krav Maga is especially famous for being extremely easy to learn. This is necessary with a military oriented combat system because there isn’t that much time to focus on hand-to-hand combat during soldier training. According to experts, it’s actually possible to learn an effective understanding of Israeli Krav Maga in a few weeks. People can train more extensively if they want to and learn more advanced techniques, but the basics are very easy.

Another famous aspect of Israeli Krav Maga is the focus on unusual techniques that respond to modern threats. For example, they have a lot of gun disarms. There are also moves designed as reactions to someone threatening with a grenade.

Posted on: Jan. 26, 2011