Krav Maga’s Syncretic Nature

By: Christian Aracena of Krav Maga Institute NYC

Mixed martial arts’ popularity has risen over the past decade. People are increasingly intrigued by a multitude of disciplines as opposed to one. For many in the United States, the concept of a martial arts admixture is new, but to those that have spent some time studying the Israeli Defense Force, it is a traditional and instinctive practicality. Combining the most useful aspects of countless disciplines is essential to the foundation and development of Krav Maga (Hebrew for “contact combat”), a self-defense system that prides itself on subduing an attacker in the most efficient way possible while minimizing the potential for serious injury.

Krav Maga’s foundations were cemented by Imre “Imi” Lichtenfeld (1910 – 1998), a wrestler, judoka, and boxer who dedicated his life to developing the self-defense system through the incorporation of fast and efficient techniques. After years of refinement, the system’s street practicality eventually became essential for the Israeli Defense Force and other state units. Krav Maga practitioners are taught how to handle attackers and defend against a variety of weapons and scenarios. Adaptation plays a critical role in the development of Krav Maga, which continuously refines itself in order to better secure a practitioner’s life. As new disciplines and techniques prove their efficiency, they’re added to the long list of potential options in a student’s arsenal.

The principles of Krav Maga are centered on the student’s quickest path to safety. Key elements include:

• Adaptation: Students learn to adapt to whatever physical and mental dangers they encounter.
• Vulnerable Areas: Students learn to target the most vulnerable areas of the human body (eyes, groin, solar plexus, back of the head, etc.).
• Neutralization: Students learn how to properly subdue an attacker without using unnecessary force.
• Individual Capability: Since people come in all shapes and sizes, Krav Maga adapts to the student’s physical and mental capabilities (or limitations) to prepare them for any scenario.
• Practice: Practice and training improve efficiency and the likelihood of reducing injury and danger.
• Instinctive Reaction: Students learn to react to physical dangers by learning techniques that are quick, easy, and malleable.

Krav Maga’s practical influences are derived from the most useful aspects of various martial arts. Striking is an important piece of Krav Maga because it can hurt and neutralize an attacker, even one that is wielding a weapon. It helps create distance and teaches how to take advantage of the combative space. Strikes used in boxing, muay Thai, karate, taekwondo, and Wing Chun are all useful tools that have influenced Krav Maga. Boxing teaches phenomenal footwork and punch defense and helps develop the student’s punching prowess and accuracy. Muay Thai adds elbows, kicks, knees, and an effective clinch into the striking mix. Karate and taekwondo produce powerful and efficient kicks while Wing Chun’s hand trapping and palm and closed-fist strikes serve as extremely reactive and fast techniques that are utilized offensively and defensively simultaneously.

Krav Maga also absorbs efficient techniques from the grappling catalogue of judo, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and aikido. Grappling skills allow a practitioner to control where the fight takes place; it also helps in getting out of precarious or uncomfortable situations. Learning how to keep a fight standing or how to get up effectively from the ground can be critical in the street. Trips, throws, and balance are all critical elements of judo that students of Krav Maga learn. Wrestling’s single- and double-leg takedowns are popular and applicable in various spaces (whether in the gym or street), and they’re easy to learn.

Krav Maga’s necessity for instinctive and fast movements rely on techniques that can manipulate joints and posture — aikido fits perfectly into that mold. Aikido’s wrist manipulation, throws, and injury prevention (to the attacker) are crucial in disarming an assailant. In Krav Maga, it’s ideal to keep a fight standing, so the system also has some elements from jiu-jitsu, namely techniques that help a student get back to their feet and control their opponent on the ground with submissions and strikes.

Krav Maga is a syncretic self-defense system at its core and due to that essence is able to constantly improvise and develop its techniques. Imi was a multi-disciplined man who understood that in times of immediate physical response, humans can’t be picky or limited, but instead must apply whatever is necessary to survive. The judo, boxing, and wrestling that Imi had learned throughout his early years helped guarantee the safety of endangered Jewish communities against the threat of fascism. Needless to say, Krav Maga’s nature allows the system to be influenced by its practitioners’ reality than by a potentially outdated guideline.