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Military Krav Maga

The army version of Krav Maga in the Israel Defense Forces. Unlike the civilian form, it assumes attack, a weapon and a mission to complete.

Quick Facts

Country of OriginIsrael
Founded1948
RegionMiddle East
Primary FocusHybrid
Contact LevelFull contact
Belt System14 levels

Character & Origin

StatusLiving, organized
LineageMilitary
Era of Origin20th century

Organisation & Competition

Olympic StatusNot Olympic

What the style is built from

Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.

Hand strikesCore
KicksCore
Throws & takedownsSignificant
Ground fightingMarginal
Locks & holdsSignificant
WeaponsSignificant

Catalogs & Databases for Military Krav Maga

📖 Glossary of Terms7 items
👥 People & Masters1 items

About Military Krav Maga

Military Krav Maga is the army version of Israeli close combat. It has no founder in the personal sense — it is a training syllabus of the armed forces — but its shape was set by Imi Lichtenfeld, who had been teaching the method in the Haganah and the Palmach since the mid-1940s and who became chief close-combat instructor after the Israel Defense Forces were established in 1948; he held the post until 1964. The year 1948 here therefore marks the founding of the army that adopted the method, not the origin of the method itself. The starting point was practical necessity. Recruits arrived from different countries with different ages and fitness levels, and training lasted weeks rather than years. The syllabus therefore dropped everything that requires long acquisition and built itself on a small number of movements derived from natural reactions, each usable against several different attacks. What separates it from the civilian version is the assumption, not the technique. A soldier is not to leave but to complete a mission, and he is expected to be armed and not to be acting alone. The syllabus therefore covers offensive use of rifle, pistol and knife, the transition from shooting to close combat and back, detaining and escorting a person, work in pairs, and fighting in confined space, in a vehicle and in built-up terrain. The actual content of IDF training is not public, and what civilian schools offer under the name "military Krav Maga" is a derivative, not the army syllabus. The amount taught also differs by unit: the basic course is short, while special units receive considerably more.

Similar styles

Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.

Commando Krav MagaBokatorCuong Nhu (Vietnamese-American Martial Art)Persaudaraan Setia Hati Terate (PSHT)Jeet Kune DoSystema