The History of Krav Maga

Imi Lichtenfeld: Founder
Krav Maga was developed in Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld, also known as Imi Sde-Or. (Sde-Or - "Light Field" - is a calque of his surname into Hebrew.) He first taught his fighting system in Bratislava in order to help protect the Jewish community from Nazi militias. Upon arriving in the British Mandate of Palestine prior to the establishment of the Jewish state, Imi began teaching hand-to-hand combat to the Haganah, the Jewish underground army. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Imi became the Chief Instructor of Physical Fitness and Krav Maga at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) School of Combat Fitness. He served in the IDF for about 20 years, during which time he continued to develop and refine his hand-to-hand combat method. He died in January 1998 in Netanya, Israel.

Krav Maga in Popular Culture

The History Channel show Human Weapon, the Discovery Channel show Fight Quest and the National Geographic Show Fight Science have showcased Krav Maga.

In the game and book series "Splinter Cell" the main protagonist, Sam Fisher, has attained the 3B ranking in Krav Maga.

The comic book series New X-Men character Prodigy utilizes "Israeli Special Forces Training", likely an allusion to Krav Maga, that he psychically absorbed from the X-Men Wolverine and Shadowcat.

In the television show, Numb3rs, FBI Special Agent Megan Reeves uses Krav Maga in combat situations and teaches a class on the side.

In the Jennifer Lopez movie, Enough, her character trains in Krav Maga for self-protection.

In addition in the show Alias Jennifer Garners character Sydney Bristow employed Krav Maga as well as other disciplines.

Daniel Craig trained in Krav Maga for his role in Casino Royale. Most of the fight scenes in the film contain usage of Krav Maga discipline.

Hilary Swank stated on the red carpet of the 2008 Acadamy awards that she is currently training for Krav Maga.