Civilian Krav Maga
The civilian form of Israeli self-defence, adapted by Imi Lichtenfeld for ordinary people after he left the army. It has had its own association since 1978.
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Organisation & Competition
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About Civilian Krav Maga
Civilian Krav Maga is the form of Israeli self-defence intended for people outside the armed forces. It grew out of the military system Imi Lichtenfeld had been building since the nineteen-forties, after leaving the army in 1964 he reworked the method for police and for ordinary civilians and opened schools in Tel Aviv and Netanya. The organisational frame came only on 22 October 1978, with the founding of the Israeli Krav Maga Association (IKMA) — only from that day did civilian krav maga have its own organisation, which is why we take it as the year of origin. The international federation IKMF followed in the mid-1990s, and Lichtenfeld died on 9 January 1998.
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The difference from the military version lies in the goal, not the technique. A soldier attacks and completes a mission, a civilian is meant to get away. The syllabus therefore drops offensive weapon use, team work and killing techniques, and concentrates on reacting from a losing position — from behind, seated, in a confined space, with the hands trapped. Its core is the 360 principle, a circular forearm block against an attack from any angle, combined with an immediate counter and an exit. Training deliberately works with fatigue, noise and stress, because it assumes the defender will be neither prepared nor rested. Testing happens in scenarios rather than sport bouts, Krav Maga has no competition and grading systems differ between organisations. After Lichtenfeld's death the scene split into several federations — IKMA, IKMF, KMG and others — which differ in syllabus and in how much weight they put on physical conditioning.
History
After leaving the army in 1964, Imi Lichtenfeld adapted the system for civilians and opened a centre in Netanya. According to the site of the Levinsky-Wingate Academic Center, Eli Avikzar received the first black belt in 1971. According to English Wikipedia, the first Krav Maga course at the Wingate Institute in Netanya took place the same year under Lichtenfeld's lead. The Israeli Krav Maga Association (IKMA) was founded in 1978, while English Wikipedia gives 1977 or 1978 for Haim Gidon. In the 1980s K.A.M.I. of Eli Avikzar and BUKAN of Jaron Lichtenstein split from it. The international federation IKMF was founded by Eyal Yanilov, in 1996 according to the bachelor's thesis at the University of West Bohemia, and he led it until 2010, when he left and Krav Maga Global was formed. According to the same thesis, Darren Levine's Krav Maga Worldwide was founded in Los Angeles in 1999.
How it differs
According to the University of West Bohemia bachelor's thesis, early civilian training much resembled military training. Judo belts and kimono, adopted in the 1960s, widened the gap, though some schools reject them as needless. Per the same thesis, Lichtenfeld did not invent Krav Maga alone, he founded its civilian version.
Technique
Krav Maga does not use kata. Defence is joined to an immediate counterattack to the eyes, groin or throat. A flowing sequence of defence and counterattack without pause is called retzev, Hebrew for continuous motion. Popular overviews state both, and we have not found a technical syllabus in higher-level sources.
Training
In a 2018 interview for Novinky.cz, Eyal Yanilov estimated that 50 to 100 hours of training gives a solid basis for dealing with street conflicts and that instructor preparation takes about 150 hours. He himself completed the school for trainers and instructors at the Wingate Institute, where the Levinsky-Wingate Academic Center still runs graded instructor courses.
Ranks and progression
According to the bachelor's thesis at the University of West Bohemia, the IKMA belt system comes from judo. It uses white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and black, and dan grades 1 to 10. Lichtenfeld himself received 1st dan in 1969. Instead of belts, the IKMF and Krav Maga Global use a system of levels P, G and E, which according to English Wikipedia Yanilov created in the late 1980s. It has three categories of five levels each, and P1 to P5 are student levels.
Today
Civilian Krav Maga is split among many organisations. According to the University of West Bohemia bachelor's thesis, Krav Maga Global has over 700 schools in 60 countries, Czechia included. Yanilov said in 2018 his organisation has about 1500 instructors in 60 countries and more civilians than soldiers. Figures of the organisation itself. Česká Krav Maga Asociace operates in Czechia, among others.
Did you know
Lichtenfeld was born in Budapest in 1910 and grew up in Bratislava, so according to a master's thesis at Charles University Krav Maga is described in Czechia as a system with Czechoslovak roots. According to the bachelor's thesis at the University of West Bohemia, the Hagana textbook was Moshe Feldenkrais's 1931 jiu-jitsu book, the basis of kapap and later Krav Maga.
Frequently asked questions
Does Krav Maga have belts?
It depends on the organisation. The Israeli Krav Maga Association uses judo-style belts and dan grades 1 to 10, the IKMF and Krav Maga Global levels P, G and E with five levels each.
Who founded civilian Krav Maga?
Imi Lichtenfeld, who after leaving the army in 1964 adapted the system for civilians and opened a centre in Netanya. The Israeli Krav Maga Association was founded in 1978.
How long does it take to learn Krav Maga?
In 2018 Eyal Yanilov estimated that 50 to 100 hours of training gives a solid basis for street conflicts. According to him, instructor preparation takes about 150 hours.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.