Krav Maga is hebrew for “close combat” and derives from the street fighting skills of Imi Lichtenfeld during the 1930’s. It is a system further developed in Israel by the IDF to teach soldiers hand to hand combat. Its philosophy is all about quickly and effectively neutralising a threat with defensive and offensive techniques. This background is what makes Krav Maga well respected for having a no nonsense approach and being quick and easy to learn. It has since been developed and now caters to military, law enforcement and civilian purposes.
Krav Maga, having a military background, was restricted to Israel for many years after it was first developed. It was only in the 1980’s that it started spreading, first to the USA, then internationally. Its growing popularity is due in no small part to its effectiveness and the ease in which it can be learnt. The system has also been adopted by tv shows such as 24 and NCIS and films such as Taken, Enough and The Bourne Trilogy of films. With Hollywood actors training in Krav Maga it is no wonder it has spread so rapidly.
The style we teach in Milton Keynes is Urban Krav Maga. Urban Krav Maga aims to equip people as soon as possible to be able to defend themselves against the most common attacks faced on the streets. It does
not claim to teach military kravmaga as this is not best suited to ordinary people who want to learn self defence. It retains many of the core concepts and principles of Krav Maga and places awareness, avoidance and pre-emption as high priorities for self defence. Techniques taught are designed to be effective against a bigger, stronger and heavier opponent.