Krav Maga

Our lineage is quite simple, but very interesting.  Moshe Katz is our founder; he was awarded his Fourth Dan Krav Maga Rank by Itay Gil.  You can read more about Moshe below.  Itay Gil's early training in Krav Maga was in the military, the preponderance of which was directly from Eli Avikzar.  You can read more about Itay below.  Eli Avikzar was the top student and first Black Belt of Krav Maga founder Imi Lichtenfeld. Mr. Avikzar was also the Chief Instructor to the Israel Defense Force from 1976-1987 where he trained some 90,000+ soldiers.  You can read more about Eli Avikzar HERE. Imi Lichtenfeld was the founder of Krav Maga.  Read more about Imi HERE.  Our History page will give you further insight into the development and evolution of Krav Maga. 

In a nutshell our lineage looks like this: Imi Lichtenfeld, Eli Avikzar, Itay Gil, Moshe Katz, Mr. Hillis.  You can read more about Mr. Hillis below. 

See a video of Moshe in Action, helping train others at Itay's Shop in Jerusalem; Moshe is the "bad guy" with a knife wearing a green t-shirt under the padded striking vest.   

We have several videos of Mr. Gil on our Online KM Video Page. Please take a few minutes to watch some of them as they will display the wide range of skills Mr. Gil and Mr. Katz have in their training regimen. 

Most Krav Maga from the various Israeli based org's have MUCH in common.  Ours’ is a unique perspective as it is the first to be applied in modern Israeli Special Forces and Hostage Rescue Units.  As a result of when and where it was to be used, a more gross motor skill Krav Maga had to be devised.  Itay Gil, who will be interviewed in a later article in the series I am sending you, was given the task of completely renovating the tactics used by YAMAM.  When he presented his suggestions to his Chain of Command it was simple, "What needed to be changed? - EVERYTHING!"  Good men were being lost in rescue missions and it was due to outdated material which left an equipment laden operator, who was likely tired and sweaty after a pursuit or just from be charged on adrenaline for an extended period of time, vulnerable to a terrorist who carried minimal gear - most of which were items he/she could use to kill people.  As a result of this analysis the Krav Maga we use was developed.  Granted, what you see today will not be exactly the same as what was used then - it has evolved as needed to further ease the use and recollection of the skills in the heat of combat.  With little time to train (usually because they were always working) and even less to prep just prior to an unsuspected call-out, operators needed and still need skills which are both reflexive/natural but also based in whole body movements thus eliminating the failed skills of the past which incorporate too many fine motor movements.  This is the case with the technique shown in this article.  You'll note that the use of digital acuity is nearly removed.  Even the hand usage has been reduced to "scooping" rather than a grasp or grab which require the hands to function at peak performance.  Under extreme physical duress, this kind of articulation is simply unwise and usually impossible! Moshe Katz has further evolved our Krav Maga based on his teaching at over 120 Universities around the globe. He discovered that while much of what he learned in Krav Maga was VERY effective, it was less effective for very small persons against larger stronger attackers.  Using his education under Mr. Gil as a baseline, he (with his friend Sharir Richman in Jerusalem) evolved the techniques into something far more efficient and useful for nearly anyone: SWAT or Military Operators, Jr. High School Students, Detention Officers, Parole Officers, Business Persons, etc.  As a result, his material is being widely received among persons of every strata of society around the planet. One need only look at the itinerary on his website to see this.

Next Seminar is;
Saturday, June 26th 2010
3:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Cost:
 Members $35.00
Non-Members $50.00

Call to reserve your Space today

602-971-5425