Krav maga is a self-defense technique developed in Israel. It is a mixture of many techniques such as wrestling, striking, and grabbing. In Hebrew it means hand-to hand combat.
It is considered to be one of the best self-defense techniques because it is based on real life situations.
It is used by Israeli Defense Forces so yes, it is aggressive. More so, krav maga teaches you to attack the most vulnerable spots on the attacker’s body.
The basic principle of this technique is to end the fight quickly.
There are no rules here, this is not a sport. However, when you are in training, you are safe. Before engaging in the first fight you have already been tought a series of moves and you have protective geer on.
You will learn to respond to any kind of attack and to use any tool at hand. If you ever dreamed of fighting like an action hero from the movies, this is the right thing for you.
If you want to learn Krav Maga you must know that training is the same for men and women, meaning that you will not be treated as a woman.
You will learn to end the fight quickly, leaving your attacker in pain, a lot of pain. Because this is a dangerous technique you must be aware that with it comes a great responsibility. You cannot go around and use it in every street and bar fight. You shuld use it only in self-defense.
The founder of Krav Maga is Imi Sde-Or (his birth name was Imrich Lichtenfeld), born in Hungary in 1910 and raised in Slovakia. He was an awarded gymnast, wrestler and boxer. However, the situation in Slovakia became rather unpleasant for Jews in the mid 30s and Imi realized that boxing and wrestling would not be of much help to him if he were to be attacked. He began to modify his fighting skills and to create something that will later become Krav Maga.
The situation in Slovakia became unbearable for him so he and his family fled Europe and Nazi regime in 1940. Imi ended up in Palestine. He joined Palestine army and became the instructor for Physical Fitness and later Krav Maga.
After his retirement from the military, Imi opened a school to teach Krav Maga to civilians. In 1978 he founded a non-profit Israeli Krav Maga Association. This technique entered US in 1981 and Europe in the early 90s.
Ladies, if you want to feel safe at all times, Krav Maga is what you need. It is aggressive, it has no rules and it can be used in a real life situation. You will need to toughen up because no one will treat you like a lady during training. You will become a mean machine in high heels.
Check out these instructional Krav Maga videos below to get a feeling for it:
Amazing!