Krav Maga is one of the most effective and toughest styles of self-defense. Athletes who practice Krav Maga do not strive for entertainment. Points, types of shots and other components of almost any competition do not play any role here. There is only one goal worthy of attention: to neutralize the enemy as quickly as possible without suffering any significant damage.
Until now, very few people practice this type of martial art. First of all because good trainers Krav Maga is not enough. But if you have set out to master several techniques that will allow you to get out of any situation with honor, then Krav Maga is exactly what you need.
In the early 1930s, a certain Imi Lichtenfeld decided that the Jewish people needed at least some kind of weapon against the growing unrest in society. Lichtenfeld began teaching his new martial art(although it can only be a stretch to call the art of Krav Maga) in Bratislava. The goal was to teach the basic principles of self-defense in the shortest possible period of time. Boxer and gymnast Imi quickly realized that none of the principles used in sports disciplines apply in real life. He began to train people in a completely new and completely immoral way from the point of view of honor and valor.
The Birth of Krav Maga
Ten years later, Imi discovered that almost all of Europe already existed as a puppet Nazi regime, and decided to move to Palestine to fight for the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. In 1942, he joined the Haganah paramilitary organization, whose leadership quickly noticed Imi's outstanding abilities as a combat instructor. Former athlete almost immediately becomes the head of the training center for elite units of the nascent Israeli army. His art begins to be taught to Palmach units, Palyam naval commandos, and then gradually moves into the category of compulsory training for every soldier, regardless of gender.
Becoming Krav Maga
After Israel finally became a state in 1948, these individual combat units merged into the Israel Defense Forces. Lichtenfeld became the main combat instructor of this structure. It was in this role that he developed what is now known as Krav Maga. The Imi system was perfect for untrained recruits. In just three weeks, a competent instructor managed to teach his students the basic principles of attack and defense, which allowed them to get out of the most difficult situations with honor. difficult situations. To create a system that works in real combat conditions, Lichtenfeld combined the most effective methods boxing, aikido, judo, wrestling and jiu-jitsu.
Basic principles of Krav Maga
Krav Maga is a tactical, mixed martial art. The instructors initially set efficiency as the fighter’s main task: the threat must be neutralized as quickly as possible. This common goal regulates all other principles of Krav Maga - no etiquette towards the enemy and, of course, no entertainment, only functionality.
Workout
Keep it simple - that's what instructors tell beginners, confirming their words with actions. No kata or other drills familiar to oriental martial arts. Only blocks, sharp blows, short but very effective ligaments aimed at hitting the most vulnerable parts human body. In addition, Krav Maga was developed in such a way that a beginner could put what he learned into practice as quickly as possible: competent instructors can actually achieve these results in just a few weeks.
Focus on vulnerable parts of the body
Main principle Krav Maga - focusing on the enemy's weak points. Many counterattacks involve strikes to the throat, eyes and groin. Not like a man? So what. But you are guaranteed to emerge victorious from the battle, or at least get time to retreat from the battlefield as quickly as possible. Krav Maga has only one goal: the person using it must survive, period.
Krav Maga and weapons
In essence, Krav Maga involves the simplest integration of any weapon into actions. Gunshot or cold - it doesn’t matter at all. An athlete training in Krav Maga knows how to use everything that comes to hand. This allows trainees to react to an unforeseen attack as quickly as possible, almost without thinking. Keys, glasses, belts and chairs can be used to shock or permanently neutralize an opponent.
Defense and attack
Many martial arts use the development of separate defensive and offensive movements. The disadvantage of this approach is that if the enemy is faster and more prepared than you (and this is often the case in the real world), all your actions will be reduced to a continuous attempt to cover vulnerable parts of the body. Krav Maga involves a combination of offensive and defensive movements: the fighter not only disrupts the enemy’s attack, but also counterattacks at the same time. Again, there is only one goal - to neutralize the adversary as quickly as possible.
I recently learned about Krav Maga. Or rather, I had previously heard about the martial art system adopted in the Israeli army for training, but did not know what it was called. Then somehow it happened that I heard about Krav Maga again and got excited about the idea of writing about it.
Krav Maga is a mixture hand-to-hand combat and military self-defense systems. All over the world, Krav Maga is recognized as very effective and has earned its popularity, although self-defense experts believe that Krav Maga in Russia and Ukraine is complete heresy.
History of Krav Maga
Krav Maga means "close combat" in Hebrew. Original, right? This dates back to the 30s of the last century. Location: Czechoslovakia. A young Jewish athlete named Imi Lichtenfeld is considered the creator of Krav Maga - worldwide famous boxer, wrestler and gymnast. As you may have guessed, in the 1930s, after Hitler came to power, life was not sweet for Jews in Europe, to put it mildly. Therefore, Imi creates squads of fighting Jews to protect communities from fascists and anti-Semites. The dude quickly realized that fighting in the ring and fighting on the street are different things and he needs to come up with something else. Lichtenfeld combined all his knowledge of martial arts and shifted the emphasis not on attack, but on quickly and decisively neutralizing the threat.
Already in 1940, Imi quickly realized that there were no more determined fighting Jews around him, and Hitler looked at him with disapproval, so a guy with a difficult life and surname went to Palestine with the goal of protecting the Jewish people from all sorts of troubles. He joined the Haganah, an Israeli militarized organization that protected Jews from the discontent of the indigenous people, who were not very happy about the people in their country. Israel's military leaders quickly noticed Imi's abilities and made him their chief martial arts teacher. They put him in charge of the training of such elite Israeli military forces as the Palmacha (elite strike force), Palyam (naval special forces) and, in fact, the Haganah, which we already know.
After gaining statehood in 1948, Israel rewarded Lichtenfeld by making him the chief combat and physical education instructor at the IDF school. Then Imi created the Krav Maga system. The essence of the system was to quickly teach conscripts the basics of hand-to-hand combat with simple and effective movements that would help them cope with the enemy in difficult and deadly situations. They taught conscripts the basics of Krav Maga in three weeks. Krav Maga was based on boxing, aikido, judo, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Krav Maga is characterized by constant movement, unity of defense and attack, strikes fall mainly on the soft tissues and pressure points of the enemy. Krav Maga immediately became the official martial art of Israel and remains so to this day.
Imi himself trained conscripts in the army for another 20 years, and then retired, teaching Krav Maga to Israeli civilians. The dude even founded the Krav Maga Association in 1974 to emphasize that they were serious. Several students brought Krav Maga to America, where they began to teach it to police officers and some military units. Indeed, Krav Maga is not just another crap from the mountain, as I previously thought.
Principles of Krav Maga
Any normal martial art has its own principles. Otherwise, all this turns into a standard fight, but we don’t want that, do we? It is worth noting that recently elements of fashionable Muay Thai have been included in Krav Maga.
Neutralize the threat
This is the basic principle. Without him - nowhere. If your life hangs in the balance, you won't be guided by the laws of honor, right? The main goal is to incapacitate the attacker as quickly as possible. Do whatever is necessary to save your life.
Simplicity
There is nothing complicated about Krav Mata. There are no rules of dress, there is no code of conduct with seniors. There are only strikes, grabs and blocks, because the system is designed in such a way that you can quickly learn it and be able to use it quickly.
Quick transition from defense to attack
Many martial arts clearly differentiate between defense and attack. As a rule, first you defend, and then you attack. But not in Krav Maga. Here you need not only to parry the blow, but also to quickly counterattack. This happens because of the principle: neutralize the threat as quickly as possible. For example, if they are aiming at your throat, you parry the blow and hit him in the eyes, in the groin or in the stomach.
Continuous movement, or Retzev
This is explained by the fact that you need to move constantly, counterattack - and bring down a hail of blows on the attacker. And quickly to prevent the threat.
Ability to use any weapon possible
Both traditional, in our understanding, weapons such as firearms, and any bladed weapon. But to this is also added the use of weapons, which in fact are not weapons, which takes me back to vivid childhood memories of the film “The Chinese Policeman”.
Weapon defense training
In addition to how to properly hit an enemy with something heavy, Krav Maga shows how to properly protect yourself from an enemy with something heavy.
Particular attention to pressure points and soft tissues
Krav Maga is usually terribly criticized, claiming that it is unmanly to hit an opponent in the balls. By the way, we also think so, and we wrote about it in this article. To all these arguments, the masters respond that in a dangerous situation there is no time for morality, but a time to hit vulnerable parts of the body.
Detention
In addition to rapid incapacitation, Krav Maga emphasizes grappling in order to exert control over the attacker. All this also takes place under the auspices of eliminating danger.
Now look at the selection of masters of this art form. It’s interesting, but Muay Thai will somehow be more effective.
Krav Maga is one of the most effective and toughest styles of self-defense. Athletes who practice Krav Maga do not strive for entertainment. Points, types of shots and other components of almost any competition do not play any role here. There is only one goal worthy of attention: to neutralize the enemy as quickly as possible without suffering any significant damage.
Until now, very few people practice this type of martial art. First of all, because there are few good Krav Maga trainers. But if you have set out to master several techniques that will allow you to get out of any situation with honor, then Krav Maga is exactly what you need.
In the early 1930s, a certain Imi Lichtenfeld decided that the Jewish people needed at least some kind of weapon against the growing unrest in society. Lichtenfeld began teaching his new martial art (although it is a stretch to call the art of Krav Maga) in Bratislava. The goal was to teach the basic principles of self-defense in the shortest possible period of time. A boxer and gymnast, Imi quickly realized that none of the principles used in sports disciplines were applicable in real life. He began to train people in a completely new and completely immoral way from the point of view of honor and valor.
The Birth of Krav Maga
Ten years later, Imi discovered that almost all of Europe already existed as a puppet Nazi regime, and decided to move to Palestine to fight for the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. In 1942, he joined the Haganah paramilitary organization, whose leadership quickly noticed Imi's outstanding abilities as a combat instructor. The former athlete almost immediately becomes the head of the training center for elite units of the nascent Israeli army. His art begins to be taught to Palmach units, Palyam naval commandos, and then gradually moves into the category of compulsory training for every soldier, regardless of gender.
Becoming Krav Maga
After Israel finally became a state in 1948, these separate fighting units merged into the Israel Defense Forces. Lichtenfeld became the main combat instructor of this structure. It was in this role that he developed what is now known as Krav Maga. The Imi system was perfect for untrained recruits. In just three weeks, a competent instructor managed to teach his students the basic principles of attack and defense, which allowed them to overcome the most difficult situations with honor. To create a system that works in real combat, Lichtenfeld combined the most effective methods of boxing, aikido, judo, wrestling and jiu-jitsu.
Basic principles of Krav Maga
Krav Maga is a tactical, mixed martial art. The instructors initially set efficiency as the fighter’s main task: the threat must be neutralized as quickly as possible. This general goal governs all other principles of Krav Maga - no etiquette towards the opponent and, of course, no showmanship, only functionality.
Workout
Keep it simple - that's what instructors tell beginners, confirming their words with actions. No kata or other drills familiar to oriental martial arts. Only blocks, sharp blows, short but very effective ligaments aimed at hitting the most vulnerable parts of the human body. In addition, Krav Maga was developed in such a way that a beginner could put what he learned into practice as quickly as possible: competent instructors can actually achieve these results in just a few weeks.
Focus on vulnerable parts of the body
The main principle of Krav Maga is focusing on the enemy’s vulnerable points. Many counterattacks involve strikes to the throat, eyes and groin. Not like a man? So what. But you are guaranteed to emerge victorious from the battle, or at least get time to retreat from the battlefield as quickly as possible. Krav Maga has only one goal: the person using it must survive, period.
Krav Maga and weapons
In essence, Krav Maga involves the simplest integration of any weapon into actions. Gunshot or cold - it doesn’t matter at all. An athlete training in Krav Maga knows how to use everything that comes to hand. This allows trainees to react to an unforeseen attack as quickly as possible, almost without thinking. Keys, glasses, belts and chairs can be used to shock or permanently neutralize an opponent.
Defense and attack
Many martial arts use the development of separate defensive and offensive movements. The disadvantage of this approach is that if the enemy is faster and more prepared than you (and this is often the case in the real world), all your actions will be reduced to a continuous attempt to cover vulnerable parts of the body. Krav Maga involves a combination of offensive and defensive movements: the fighter not only disrupts the enemy’s attack, but also counterattacks at the same time. Again, there is only one goal - to neutralize the adversary as quickly as possible.
Krav Maga is a fairly popular martial art of Israeli origin in the world. Studying it, you can come across two diametrically opposed assessments: adherents sing praises and talk about how this is the best and most universal combat system, opponents call it nonsense, a commercial project and a scam. Let's try to figure out what it really is, and whether it will be useful in a theoretical street fight.
History of origin
Imrich Lichtenfeld, creator of Krav Maga
The term Krav Maga is translated from Hebrew as " contact fight“, and the system itself was created for the needs of Israel. The author of this system is Imrich or Imi Lichtenfeld, born into a Jewish family in Budapest in 1910. His father was Samuel Lichtenfeld, of whom it is known that at the age of thirteen he joined a traveling circus and traveled with it for twenty years. During this time, he learned circus wrestling, and let us remember that it was at that time that famous wrestlers often performed in circuses.
Samuel fell in love with lifting weights and acrobatics and often interacted with representatives of various martial arts of the time, from whom he learned a lot about self-defense. He eventually settled in Bratislava and served in the police, becoming famous a large number detention of criminals.
There he founded the Hercules weight lifting club, in which he began to train his son, Imrich, who became interested in wrestling, then boxing and acrobatics, and was so carried away that he became the country's champion in all these areas and even joined the National Team. All this did not stop Imi from being a multifaceted personality - he loved the theater and even played Mephistopheles in one of the amateur performances.
Everything changed in the mid-thirties of the 20th century, when Nazi groups began to be created in Bratislava under the influence of events in Europe. Jewish pogroms began and Imi created an organization from Jewish boxers and wrestlers that defended the Jewish community from Nazi attacks. From 1936 to 1940, Lichtenfeld participated in hundreds of street fights with the Nazis, and during their entrance it became clear that his boxing and wrestling training was not always enough, since sticks, knives, bottles and other improvised objects were used.
Imrich Lichtenfeld
In these battles, a specific art of survival in difficult street conditions began to emerge. Using the police skills he learned from his father, wrestling and boxing, Imi gradually came to one of the basic principles of future Krav Maga: “use natural movements and reactions to defend, combine them and go on a counterattack.”
In 1940, when Nazism finally won in Slovakia, Imi left home and, joining the Czech Legion, fought on the side of Britain until 1942. After the war, he retired and moved to Israel, which was then a British protectorate. There he began to train the fighters of the Haganah, a militant Zionist organization operating in Palestine, in his art. After the formation of the State of Israel in 1948, Imrich served in the army, training fighters, and after retiring in 1964, he adapted the system and began teaching it to civilians.
Imrich Lichtenfeld
After Krav Maga came to the United States in 1981, the system began to gain the attention of people around the world. Today it is used in the army, special forces and police of Israel, as well as in various private security agencies.
Principles and arsenal
Krav Maga was created in conditions of street conflicts and fights with the Nazis, and was polished in the Israeli army and police. Therefore, the main principle of the system is simplicity of training, because often they had to train either young people who knew nothing, or elderly veterans, so he chose the simplest and most natural movements and techniques.
An important component of Krav Maga training is its versatility, that is, specialization - military, police or civilian - is substituted under the general model of movements. The goal of Krav Maga is to end the conflict in the shortest possible time, and how to achieve this depends on the specific specifics. If in the army system it is easiest to shoot the enemy, then in the police system you need to detain and take him to the police station, and in the civilian system you need to completely knock him out and run away.
Krav Maga is taught to people of any gender and any age. The technique includes various grabs, creases, throws, strikes with any part of the fist, palm, elbow, head, legs and knees. Strikes are allowed at any vulnerable points bodies: groin, eyes, throat, back of the head. They are trained to work against sticks, knives and pistols, and, naturally, they are also trained to work with them.
An important component of Krav Maga is situational and stress training, when people act out various situations in different conditions: on the street, in the entrance, in the car, against several opponents. They also teach how to break up a fight and protect a girl or child. Girls, in turn, are trained to fight off a rapist or a burglar trying to snatch her purse.
In addition, trainees are constantly exposed to stress in order to learn how to function in a difficult environment. For example, they are yelled at, pulled, pushed, or blindfolded. Much attention is paid psychological preparation and the ability to think and plan one’s behavior. For example, cross to the other side of the street if a crowd is moving towards you, do not get into cars with strangers, etc. There are similar courses and training for children.
Recently, the sports direction of Krav Maga has also begun to develop. Competitions are held according to rules reminiscent of hand-to-hand combat. And some representatives of this direction participate in competitions in other types of martial arts.
Outdoor use
But it is precisely in the street orientation that the main problem of this discipline lies. And its basis lies at the very beginning of the appearance of Krav Maga, when its creator blizzarded the Nazis on the streets of Bratislava.
All those techniques that allowed Imi Lichtenfeld’s students to survive in fights, that is, blows to the groin, eyes, back of the head, cannot be trained to a combat level in a gym, since sparring partners will run out very quickly. Well, if you hit nearby or not with all your strength, then you will never develop a hard and correct strike to the point of automatism.
While soldiers and police quickly practice their techniques in practice, during real conflicts and arrests, civilians cannot afford this. A dangerous illusion arises when fifty-kilogram girls and chubby boys, who have never run a hundred meters and have never lifted anything heavier than a gamepad, after a couple of training sessions begin to think that they will knock down a master of sports in wrestling or boxing weighing a hundredweight with a blow to the groin.
Of course, the instructors say that they have full-contact sparring, but it’s hard to imagine that they are hitting each other in the groin or in the eyes. If this is sparring with gloves and sports rules, then how do they differ from boxing or wrestling? Only the worst level of combat training. Well, it’s impossible to imagine competitions in real, not sports, Krav Maga, otherwise it will be like in the joke: “If there were world competitions in Krav Maga, the winner would receive as a prize the payment of a bill from the intensive care unit, the second place finisher would receive a bill from the intensive care unit as a prize; wheelchair, and the third is a free funeral.”
Thus, the absence of full-contact competitions deprives the system of the most important thing - the opportunity to practice and consolidate in bodily memory all movements and techniques in the most realistic stressful situation, when the enemy really wants and is trying his best to defeat you by knocking you out, choking you or slamming you into the wrestling mat .
But Krav Maga also has undoubted advantages for the street - it is learning to use our evolutionary advantage - the brain. The ability to first plan your actions and then get into a fight helps people not to get lost in a negative environment and correctly assess the chances. After all, it happens that even famous athletes die on the street at the hands of hooligans, simply because they overestimate their capabilities.
What's the end result? Krav Maga is a fighting system created in street brawls and honed in the army and police, it is great for those who already know how to hit or throw and want to diversify their skills. For the rest, it’s better to start by going to boxing or wrestling, in order to at the same time get rid of the dangerous illusions of getting hit in the nose or having your head stuck in the carpet.
Upon request for the word " Krav Maga » Internet search engines return an average of 15,000 hits. About half of them lead to two articles by Alex Levitas - “ Krav Maga Israeli: Israeli style of hand-to-hand combat" and " Krav Maga: use what’s at hand.” Another hundred or two links will lead you to various reprints of articles by Stanislav Leikin from the St. Petersburg cravers website pro-krav.ru; a thousand, if not more, sites dedicated to celebrities will tell you exactly what Krav Maga studied Jennifer Lopez for the film “Enough”...
The remaining 6-7 thousand links lead to various forums dedicated to martial arts, where fierce disputes between the blind and the deaf are in full swing (because the participants in the disputes, as a rule, Krav Maga did not study or see, but only heard or read about it - see the same magnificent articles by A. Levitas) on the topic “this is bullshit of your Jewish hand-to-hand combat or the super system of training special forces and the Mossad.”
Thus, it can be stated that interest in Krav Maga in the Russian-speaking part of the Internet is very, very high, and the amount of available information is negligible. This has led to the birth of a lot of myths and misconceptions about Krav Maga. We will try to understand the ten most popular myths below.
Myth 1. Krav Maga is an Israeli martial art
Israeli - yes. Combat - yes. Art - no.
Krav Maga differs from traditional martial arts in about the same way as a hammer is from a rapier. And we are not talking here about the effectiveness or advantage of a hammer over a rapier (all new systems contrast their “applied, real, street, total, lethal, etc.” style with “outdated, unviable, mossy, etc.” traditional systems) – we are talking about the scope of application.
I'll try to explain.
Rapier is a weapon that appeared in a certain historical period (16-17 centuries), as an evolution of more ancient weapons(sword) as a result of changes in society (lightening, and later the disappearance of armor), and lost all meaning with the invention of the multi-charged hand firearms(capsule revolvers).
A hammer is a tool consisting of a handle (wooden, plastic, metal) and a head mounted on it (stone, plastic, metal, wood). It appeared in the Stone Age and is still used today, changing in every possible way.
Fencing with foils developed as a system of stances, movements, strikes, defenses and feints in many European schools, which led to the emergence of different styles - French, Italian, Spanish, German. Much later, sport fencing appeared. But all these schools are united by several common principles: combat is fought with the help of a rapier, a certain stance is used, and a set of techniques and tactical maneuvers characteristic of a given school. This is precisely what allows us to consider rapier fencing a martial art, where it is unacceptable to replace a rapier with a katana, a fencing stance with a boxing one, and a flanking with an outward lever of the hand. Of course, in a real battle, no one forbids doing all this - but then it will no longer be rapier fencing, which has been studied in the halls since the times of Thalhofer and Marozzo, but some kind of system of “total real applied combat on rapiers” - i.e. the notorious "dirty street kenjutsu".
A hammer, in turn, will always remain a hammer. A blacksmith's sledgehammer or a dentist's hammer, a carpenter's nail puller or mallet, a spinning hammer or a psychotherapist's hammer, a combat hammer or a hammer, an alpenstock or even a pneumatic jackhammer is still a hammer. A tool designed to solve specific problems. Changing its size, shape, method of application depending on the assigned tasks. And still remains a hammer.
Krav Maga- This is not a martial art. Krav Maga is a tool for solving problems. Core Krav Maga – basic principles and a basic set of tactical and technical actions - allow this tool to be adapted to solve a wide range of problems.
The army needs to teach soldiers the basics of hand-to-hand combat in a month and a half of training - please, army Krav Maga: “kicked and finished.” The police need to catch a criminal - here's the police Krav Maga: “lie down, you goat.” Do civilians want to live too? Civil Krav Maga: “hit and run.” The basis of self-defense for women is the task of “get off me, you freak,” and hand-to-hand combat for bodyguards is based on the “take away the client” scheme. But there are still developments Krav Maga for children, for taxi drivers, for stewards of El Al airlines, for ambulance attendants and mental hospital staff...
At the same time Krav Maga still remains Krav Maga(and the hammer is a hammer)! The problem changes, but not the means to solve it. External signs change (not a single instructor Krav Maga will not argue until he is hoarse on the topic “is it possible to tear off the heel in zenkutsu-dachi”), the basic principles remain the same (“threat point”, “recoiling” and many others).
It is the presence of these principles (just as the presence of a handle and head that defines the concept of “a hammer is a hand-held percussion instrument”) that allows us to talk about Krav Maga as a specific tool for solving problems in the field of personal security.
And this brings us to debunking myth #2.
Myth 2. Krav Maga is just another mixed fight, or just regular hand-to-hand combat
The first synthetic hand-to-hand combat system, combining techniques from different styles, arose in Europe in 1898. Its author was the English engineer Edward William Barton-Wright. The system was called Bartitsu (the name was derived from the author's surname "Barton" and the traditional "jiu-jitsu") and included techniques from the classical schools of jiu-jitsu, judo, English boxing, Savate and the school of cane fencing of the Swiss professor Pierre Vigny. It was with the help of bartitsu (erroneously called "baritsu") that Sherlock Holmes overthrew Professor Moriarty into the abyss of the Reichenbach Falls.
Bartitsu did not survive its creator and is now practically forgotten; but it was she who paved the way for those who liked to compose tricky words and come up with synthetic styles. In the twentieth century, many such styles were born. I will list just a few of them: jukado, kajukenbo, jitkunedo, woon-hop-kuen, ukidokan... Domestic authors prefer abbreviations: UNIBOS, SPAS, IZBOR, ISRB, RUB, SRUB... But there is also “Fighting Machine” by A. Taras and “ War Machine" by V. Shlakhter, "Boibo", "Steel Falcon", Da-tse-shu and many, many others.
History of creation Krav Maga, at first glance, makes us classify this system as synthetic. There is one author - Imi Lichtenfeld, it is known that he was seriously involved in wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu, therefore, Krav Maga there is a synthesis of boxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu techniques.
This conclusion is not correct. History of creation Krav Maga much more reminiscent of the creation of Soviet sambo. In both cases, His Majesty’s State Order took place. Krav Maga was originally developed not at the whim of the Founding Father, but for the needs of the army and police. Krav Maga was guided not by the abilities of the Founding Father, but by a simple unprepared person. Finally, Krav Maga was created “from scratch”, and not by borrowing techniques.
First, I. Lichtenfeld developed theoretical principles Krav Maga. A motor base was imposed on them - stances, movements, strikes, defenses, pain controls. Yes, the stance is reminiscent of boxing, and the submission controls are reminiscent of jiu-jitsu, but only because everyone has two arms, two legs and one head, and a punch will always remain a punch - at least in appearance, because a simple punch may be based on the principles of “shuttle”, “hikite”, “wave”, “ center line"or, in the case Krav Maga, "recoiling".
Therefore, we can only talk about external similarities Krav Maga with boxing or jiu-jitsu. At the level of the motor base Krav Maga is unique system, which brings us to the debunking of the second part this myth – « Krav Maga“This is an ordinary hand-to-hand fight.”
The so-called “noname” hand-to-hand combat (or Army hand-to-hand combat - ARB) is usually understood as a mixture of boxing, karate and sambo techniques, taught in the armed forces of the USSR since the mid-1980s - and the proportions of these techniques are usually determined by the previous one, up to -army instructor experience: former boxer a sambo wrestler relies on throws, and a karateka is indispensable for breaking bricks on Paratroopers' Day. Army manuals on physical training(NPRB-38, NFP-59, NFP-66, NFP-78, NFP-87) devote a maximum of 20-25 pages to preparation for hand-to-hand combat, practically unchanged over the past 60 years.
Difference Krav Maga from ARB or “noname” hand-to-hand combat are visible to the naked eye: techniques Krav Maga recognizable, unlike “kickboxing in camouflage”. They are recognizable mainly due to the presence of “crowns”, or specific techniques characteristic only of Krav Maga- this is a grab by the bolt of a pistol, and a grip of an armed hand with the elbow, and an attack with a “beak”...
Of course, these techniques can be found in jiu-jitsu, sambo, and aikido. But the system is determined not by the presence of certain techniques, but by the general motor base and the theoretical principles underlying them.
Therefore, we can say with confidence that Krav Maga– this is not just another mixfight, and certainly not the fruit of individual creativity of army or police instructors.
Myth 3. Krav Maga is just a bunch of tricks
There are techniques that allow you to very quickly and without special effort disable the enemy.
All “lethal”, “super effective”, “striking” blows and strikers have one huge drawback. Even the most deadly blow may fail in the most basic way. Any tricky trick may not work. The enemy may react negatively to your intention to knock out his eye. He can dodge or parry your deadly blow.
So what then? And then the fight starts. And a fight is a dish in which blows to the eyes, throat and groin play the role of spices, giving the dish aroma and special piquancy. However, a dish cannot be prepared from spices alone. You also need meat.
Meat in Krav Maga enough. Much has been said above about the principles Krav Maga, about the freedom to transform techniques to solve specific problems.
But the techniques in Krav Maga there too. Or rather, not techniques, but technical actions - strikes, defenses, painful controls, releases from holds. And they work until they sweat, until they become completely automatic.
But it should be remembered that it is impossible to learn a technique for all occasions - just as it is impossible to learn foreign language according to the phrasebook. Technical actions are “words”; theoretical principles are “grammar”. Knowing “words” and “grammar”, you can make “sentences” yourself.
But learning begins precisely with “mom washed the frame” or “this is a table” - it is repetition, practicing certain connections and combinations of technical actions until a conditioned reflex is developed that allows you not only to understand in theory, but to feel in practice the principles underlying them - and move to the level of “independently inventing techniques”, i.e. free fight.
And here we move on to the fourth, most popular myth.
Myth 4. There is no sparring in Krav Maga.
IN Krav Maga There are sparrings.
Myth 5. If Krav Maga is so cool, why isn’t it seen in martial arts? And why aren’t competitions held on it?
The “fights without rules” that arose 10-15 years ago (in many variations and with a lot of names - “Octagon”, “Pankration”, “Valetudo”, UFC) at first really served as a place to find out “whose kung fu is cooler”. Fighters of different styles fought each other according to minimal rules, actually figuring out which technique has an advantage in close combat and which in long-range combat, and what to do with a sambo wrestler on the ground.
However, over the past time, fighting without rules has become an independent (and commercially profitable) sport. Athletes, preparing to enter the ring, no longer run from hall to hall, studying low kicks from Thais, putting out their hands from boxers, and putting their hands on the ground from wrestlers. Now, focusing on the experience of his predecessors, the “fighter without rules” is initially engaged in a style known as “freefight” - a new, synthetic martial arts that combines boxing, wrestling and Muay Thai.
And where is Krav Maga? See myth #1. Fights without rules were born as an attempt to find out what is more effective - a katana or a rapier. This is a completely healthy desire for a fencer or any martial arts practitioner to test his weapon in action. But Krav Maga- This is not a martial art. This is a tool.
Can you imagine a blacksmith who would come with a sledgehammer to an inter-style tameshiwari competition? No. Not because he will defeat everyone there (and most likely he will lose - firstly, he never learned to break bricks with a sledgehammer, and secondly, the rules prohibit using a sledgehammer), but because he doesn’t need it. He is not an athlete, he is a blacksmith. He swings a hammer for the sake of an urgent need, he makes a living from it. It makes no difference to him whether his hammer is heavier than that of the blacksmith from the neighboring village, or longer. This is his personal instrument, and not a reason for boasting and comparisons.
And the instructor Krav Maga will never get into any “Octagon” - firstly, he will probably lose, because he did not study “freefight”, and secondly, this is not his job. He's already paid well.
The reverse process is observed: at least three ex-champions in martial arts spoke very highly of Krav Maga- and although they won in the ring thanks to jiu-jitsu (Itai Gil), sambo (Oleg Taktarov) or Muay Thai (Chaim Peretz), they did not consider it shameful for themselves to study (and Chaim Peretz - and teach) a system that was fundamentally different from any combat sport.
After all, the difference between sports and life is not in the rules - they can be completely abolished, and not in the equality of forces (one on one, or three on one, with weight categories or without), and not even the absence of the surprise factor (the gong sounds at the same time for everyone).
The difference is in the goal. In sports you fight to win. In life - to survive. Krav Maga- not a sport. Krav Maga- a tool for survival.
The second half of the myths about Krav Maga relates not so much to the Krav Maga, how much to the realities of Israeli life. So…
Myth 6. Krav Maga is studied in the Mossad
Since the early 80s of the last century Krav Maga is being actively studied by law enforcement agencies and military special forces in the United States and Europe. But in Mossad Krav Maga not studied.
Myth 7. All Israeli soldiers study Krav Maga
The spread of this myth is our former compatriots who served in military service in the Israeli army. It sounds like this: “This bullshit is yours Krav Maga, we had an instructor in our training, so I punched him in the face - boxing rules!”
According to the law of the State of Israel, every citizen is required to serve compulsory military service. This is common knowledge. Less well known is the fact that the Israel Defense Forces is divided into two unequal parts - the fighting troops ("krawi") and the working troops ("jobniks").
In order to get into the “kravi” and take part in combat operations, you must at least volunteer and meet a fairly strict list of requirements (for example, not be the only child in the family). As a maximum, you need to prove in practice your desire to serve in combat troops. How? Yes, very simple. One of my friends, by the way, is an army instructor Krav Maga, applied three times for transfer to the elite Golani infantry division. Having been refused for the third time, he voluntarily went to the guardhouse, telling his superiors that he would spend the rest of his service in prison - or in the Golani. After a week of imprisonment, he was transferred.
The IDF is, perhaps, the only army on the planet that, from the moment of its formation to this day, has been in full combat readiness and is waging an ongoing war against guerrilla gangs and terrorist groups. Of course, it is impossible (too expensive, and also pointless) to maintain the entire army in this condition - those who fight are trained to “kill”. Those who serve in the “jobniks” undergo a 90-day “young fighter course”, and, having received the necessary three lessons Krav Maga and having served their term of service in the rear, they begin to judge the system from the point of view of a veteran expert.
In Israel itself, no one takes such experts seriously - there are plenty of real experts there, with combat experience, but outside its borders they sometimes manage to promote their business on a popular brand " Krav Maga».
Myth 8. There is only one style of Krav Maga
So what? Krav Maga is it different? Yes, it happens.
The combination of "krav" (fight) and "maga" (contact) can be used in Hebrew in two cases. The first is to designate the system of hand-to-hand combat created by Imi Lichtenfeld and developed by his students. The second is to designate any martial arts. A sign reading “Krav Maga Taekwondo” or “Krav Maga Aiki” is a completely normal thing on the streets of Israeli cities, just like signs “ martial arts karate" or "martial art capoeira" - with us.
To eliminate this confusion, several organizations have been created to develop and promote Krav Maga Imi Lichtenfeld. These are the International Krav Maga Federation of Eyal Yanilov, the Krav Maga Association of America of Darren Levin, the Federation of European Krav Maga of Richard Dueb, the Israeli Krav Maga Association of Chaim Gidon... After Darren Levin tried to register the term “ Krav Maga"as a trademark (in the USA the idea failed, but in Canada it was a success - now those instructors there who do not want to pay tribute to Levin do not teach Krav Maga, but “the Imi system”) and sued Yanilov, many instructors began to change the name itself. This is how Krav Magen Israel, Commando Krav Maga, Tactical Krav Maga, Operational Krav Maga and others appeared. Author's styles also emerged Krav Maga Lieven and Maor.
The IDF, meanwhile, returned to the name Kapap (Krav Panim el Panim - face to face combat) and Lothar (Lohama be terror - fight against terror), and in parallel in Israel such systems as Haganah, Dennis Guisardut, Gadi Kenpo, Abir arose.
However, the topic of crushing Krav Maga individual styles and trends deserve a separate article. As for myth No. 8, in Italy, for example, “fitness Krav Maga" Here, as they say, no comments.
Myth 9. Krav Maga is just a promoted brand from which cunning Israelis make money.
This myth is almost true. You just need to replace “only” with “also”. Like this: " Krav Maga“It’s also a well-promoted brand from which cunning Israelis make money.”
Courses Krav Maga are expensive all over the world. For the knowledge underlying Krav Maga, the Israelis paid in blood. Now they (and not only them) are making money from this. On all five continents. In dozens of different countries.
And since their products are bought all over the world, it means that the demand for personal safety tools is still higher than the supply.
And not making money on it is simply stupid.
Myth 10. Practicing Krav Maga will make you invincible.
The Israelis themselves, when it comes to developments in the field of security, say about themselves this way: “We are not the smartest, not the coolest and not the most invincible. We just have more experience than others.” Please pay attention to my experience, both positive and negative.
One of the mottos Krav Maga is the phrase “Welcome to reality!” But the reality, alas, is that there are no invincibles.
And showing release from a chokehold from behind, instructor Krav Maga He will definitely tell you that you most likely will not have time to free yourself - someone else’s forearm on the Adam’s apple is so dangerous. And when practicing defense against a knife, you will definitely be given a feel for what it is like - a real attack with a knife, with a lot of sharp, fast and unpredictable blows.
The desire to become invincible will dissipate at the very first training session. IN Krav Maga They don’t feed on illusions. Instead, the desire to survive will come. And it is precisely in this area Krav Maga can significantly improve your chances.
No more - and no less.
