About Krav Maga

About Krav Maga (Stoneham, MA)

Although many people believe Krav Maga – meaning “Contact Combat” in Hebrew) to be a recently modern “martial art” or fighting system it started to be developed in the 1930’s and 1940’s, by a KAPAP (Krav Panim A Panim – meaning “Fighting Face to Face”) instructor named Imi Lichtenfeld. At the time KAPAP, a mix of Judo, Boxing, Wrestling and traditional Japanese Ju-Jitsu was the system that was taught to members of the Haganah, the Jewish resistance organization. Imi had seen during his youth trained martial artist, boxers and wrestlers fail to use what they had learnt when attacked by fascist street gangs in his hometown of Bratislava (in Europe). When the IDF was formed in 1948 – primarily out of the Haganah – Imi was given a position within it that made him responsible for the hand-to-hand training program that would be used in the army. Imi (with others) reworked the KAPAP program to be simple and more straightforward, with techniques utilizing natural movements that could be performed when exhausted and when under stress and duress.

One of the things that separates Krav Maga from other martial arts is that its techniques must be able to be performed when somebody is physically fatigued and exhausted. In most martial arts and combat sports it is assumed that those fighting in a competition will be in good physical shape, and able to manage their fear and adrenaline. In real-life violence, which usually happens without any or with little warning, there isn’t an opportunity to do this i.e., there isn’t a walk to the ring/cage, there isn’t a stepping into a ring, and a referee who starts the fight etc. In real-life confrontations – which are non-consensual in nature – one party usually attempts to quickly overwhelm the other using surprise e.g., creating a type of ambush etc. This means the other party doesn’t have time to manage their fear and adrenaline they are straight into a fight. Krav Maga techniques and solutions are able to handle this and deal with the initial shock and surprise of being attacked.

By keeping techniques simple and reusing common movements (against both unarmed and armed attacks), Krav Maga is a straightforward and relatively quick fighting system to learn and become proficient in, for basic self-defense. More complex scenarios such as dealing with multiple assailants, can take somewhat more time. With the goal of dealing with an attack and disengaging rather than trying to “win” an extended fight, Krav Maga’s aim is to teach survival i.e., how to walk away with as few injuries as possible (preferably none). Whilst Krav Maga does teach people who to survive prolonged engagements against skilled assailants it is more about ending a fight quickly by creating an opportunity to exit the confrontation/conflict.

The Krav Maga that we teach at Krav Maga Yashir (our training facility is located less than four miles from the center of Stoneham, Massachusetts) contains a full syllabus that teaches stand-up fighting, ground-fighting, grappling, striking etc., that doesn’t need to be supplemented with other martial arts such as Muay Thai, BJJ etc. If you are interested in experiencing Krav Maga training for yourself, you can sign up for a beginner Krav Maga class using the button below.

Beginner Classes