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Principles In Krav Maga, there are no hard-and-fast rules. It is not a sport and there is no competitive component. All the techniques focus on maxim...

Principles
In Krav Maga, there are no hard-and-fast rules. It is not a sport and there is no competitive component. All the techniques focus on maximum efficiency in real-life conditions. Krav Maga generally assumes a no-quarter situation; the attacks and defenses are intended to inflict or divert the most pain possible on the opponent. Groin, eye, and other efficient attacks are emphasized, as are a variety of other fairly brutal attacks.

The guiding principles for Krav Maga techniques are:

avoid injury
go from defending to attacking as quickly as possible
use the body’s natural reflexes
strike at any vulnerable point
use any tool or object nearby
The basic idea is to first deal with the immediate threat (e.g. hands around one’s neck), prevent the attacker from re-attacking, then neutralize the opponent, proceeding through all the steps in a very straightforward manner. The emphasis is put on taking the initiative from the attacker as soon as possible.

A variant of Krav Maga, called “Haganah” (Hebrew: defense), claims to be not only a martial art, but a method for enabling someone at a disadvantage to overpower a larger attacking adversary. The system’s main goal is to have the combatant enter a “point of reference”. This point is a lock/grab around the neck and back of the opponent. Because of this “point”, the combatant is focused and already has a plan instead of relying on fancy maneouvers that take time to apply, and are difficult to learn. Simple well-placed counterstrikes are applied to defeat the adversary. In addition to hand-to-hand combat and ground-fighting, the system applies defenses against knives, guns, and multiple weapons and attackers.

Techniques that Haganah covers include defense against punches and kicks, escapes and releases from chokes, bear hugs, firearms, grenades, and multiple attackers. It also covers various hand-to-hand combat techniques such as multiple types of arm blows, and different types of low kicks to the legs, executed with or without shoes. There are some ground survival techniques including combat-neutralizing grappling techniques, pinching, tendon and muscle tearing, and for specialized or advanced trained, tactical knife fighting, combat shooting and counter-terrorist strategies and techniques

In 1964, Grandmaster Imi Lichtenfeld finished his military service and adapted Krav Maga to civilian frameworks. In Israel, the style has become an important part of the educational system and is taught to elementary and high school students on the national curriculum along with being taught at the Wingate Institute, one of the world’s leading physical fitness centers. It is taught to men, women, and children under the auspices of the Israeli Ministry of Sport and Education. Krav Maga is the official system of hand-to-hand combat and self-defense employed by the Israeli Defense and Security Forces, the Israeli National and Military Police and its Special Operations and Anti-Terrorist Units. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) including their Special Forces Units, Israeli Police, and Internal Security Branches currently uses this style on a day-to-day basis. Haim Gidon and Eyal Yanilov are the most well-known advocates of the discipline in Israel, and are involved with spreading Krav Maga across the world. Haim Gidon hosts several international seminars every year in Netanya Israel. Eyal spends most of his time writing Krav Maga instruction books and teaching seminars across the globe.

Krav Maga is taught to all ages and abilities, at community centers, schools, and clubs throughout the world. Krav Maga is taught to Sky Marshals, commercial airline crews, and has expanded outside the borders of Israel and is very successful in the United States, Canada, Brazil, United Kingdom, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Poland, Japan, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Many United States local law enforcement, federal agencies, state police, SWAT and other special operations teams have been taught Krav Maga.

Krav Maga Worldwide Enterprises and the Krav Maga Association of America are the primary advocates of Krav Maga in the USA and have pioneered its use by law enforcement personnel. Chief Instructor, Mr. Darren R. Levine, is a Senior Deputy District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles’s Crimes Against Peace Officers Section (CAPOS), a special unit dedicated to prosecuting violent crimes. David Kahn heads the Israeli Krav Maga Association branch in the United States in New York and has authored the book Krav Maga published in 2004. Other organizations and their members that have been trained in Krav Maga include, but are not limited to the following:

Federal Bureau of Investigations
United States Marine Corps
United States Marshals Service
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
Drug Enforcement Administration Arrest and Control Unit
U.S. Treasury Department
U.S. Immigration Service
U.S. State Department
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
U.S. Coast Guard - Port Security Unit
U.S. Coast Guard - Tactical Law Enforcement
U.S. Coast Guard - Drug Interdiction
New York City Police Department
Illinois State Police
Chicago Metro Police Department
Alabama State Police
Baltimore County Police
Connecticut State Police
Pennsylvania State Police
Texas Department of Public Safety
Ohio State Highway Patrol
Florida State Highway Patrol
California Highway Patrol
California Department of Justice
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
Los Angeles Police Department Academy
Santa Monica Police Department
El Segundo Police Department
Beverly Hills Police Department
Burbank Police Department
Pasadena Police Department
New Jersey State Police
New Athens Police Department
National Police of Iran

Nowadays, this system is trained world wide. The European federation is headed by Richard Douieb, who teaches Krav Maga in Paris. The World Krav Maga Federation gathers seven European countries and is headed by Thierry Viatour.

In addition to the Israel Defence Forces, several other special forces (for example GIGN, FBI, and SWAT) have already adopted this system for their contact combat.

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