Brief History of Krav Maga

Imrich “Imi” Lichtenfeld (Immi Sde-Or), founder of Krav-Maga, was born in 1910 in Budapest, which at the time was one of the centers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He grew up in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, in a home where sports, law, and Central European education were equally respected. Samuel Lichtenfeld, Imi's father, was undoubtedly quite a unique figure. At age 13 he joined a traveling circus, and for the next 20 years engaged in wrestling, weightlifting, and various demonstrations of strength. For him the circus was also a school, where he met people involved in a wide variety of sports, including some quite unusual ones. These people taught Samuel what they knew - including various martial arts.

With his father's encouragement, Imi became active in a wide range of sports. He first excelled in swimming, and subsequently in gymnastics, wrestling, and boxing. In 1928 Imi won the Slovakian Youth Wrestling Championship, and in 1929 the adult champion- ship (in the light and middle weight division). That year he also won the national boxing championship and an international gymnastics championship. During the ensuing decade, Imi's athletic activities focused mainly on wrestling, both as a contestant and a trainer.

In the mid thirties, conditions began to change in Bratislava. Fascist and anti-Semitic groups appeared, determined to upset the public order and harm the city's Jewish community. Imi became the un-crowned leader of a group of young Jews, most of them with a background in boxing, wrestling, and weightlifting. This group attempted to block the anti-Semitic bands from entering the Jewish quarter and wreaking havoc there.

In 1940, having become a thorn in the side of the anti-Semitic inclined local authorities as a result of his activities, Imi left his home, family, and friends and boarded the last immigrant ship that succeeded in escaping the Nazis' clutches. The vessel was an old riverboat named Pentcho that had been converted to carry hundreds of refugees from Central Europe to the land of Israel (then called Palestine). The gripping story of the Pentcho and its passengers is told in detail in the book Odyssey by John Birman (published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 1984). Imi's private odyssey aboard that ship and afterwards, which was filled with thrilling episodes, took about two years.

In 1944 Imi began training fighters in his areas of expertise: physical fitness, swimming, wrestling, use of the knife, and defenses against knife attacks. During this period, Imi trained several elite units of the Haganah and Palmach (striking force of the Haganah and forerunner of the special units of the IDF), including the Pal-Yam, as well as groups of police officers. In 1948, when the State of Israel was founded and the IDF was formed, Imi became Chief Instructor for Physical Fitness and Krav-Maga at the IDF School of Combat Fitness. He served in the IDF for about 20 years, during which time he developed and refined his unique method for self-defense and hand-to-hand combat.

After he finished his active duty, Imi began adapting and modifying Krav-Maga to civilian needs. The method was formulated to suit everyone - man and woman, boy or girl, who might need it to save his or her life or survive an attack while sustaining minimal harm, whatever the background of the attack - criminal, nationalistic, or other. To disseminate his method, Imi established two training centers, one in Tel Aviv and the other in Natanya. That organization is currently known as; The International Krav-Maga Federation.

Even during his last years, Imi continues to personally supervise the training of those who have attained high ranks in Krav-Maga, and to spend time with the instructors in Israel and abroad. Imi monitored the trainees' progress and achievements, captivating them with his personality and imparting them with his knowledge and unique personality.

Imi, a teacher, a fighter and a great human being, passed away on the 9th of January 1998, early in the morning, in the hospital just 5 hours after he got there, and with Eyal Yanilov. at his bed-side.

Shawn Kovacich

Reno Krav Maga's head instructor is an officially certified Krav Maga Instructor with over 35 years of experience in the traditional martial arts with high ranking black belts in Karate and Tae Kwon Do, as well as, ranking in several other traditional martial arts such as; Hapkido, Aikido, and Judo. In addition to his formal education in the martial arts, he also has a wealth of real-life experience dealing with violent and mentally unstable individuals on a daily basis as a; law enforcement officer for several years, a psychiatric aide in a state run mental hospital, and years of practical experience as a bouncer in various bars, nightclubs, and strip clubs. All of this experience and expertise has been combined with the training he has received, and continues to receive, in Krav Maga by his current Krav Maga instructor, Boaz Aviram, whom you can read about in the next section, to create his new school, Reno Krav Maga.

Shawn has also gained world wide attention for his two world records for endurance high kicking as certified by the Guinness Book of World Records. He achieved his first world record on September 27th, 1986 with 10,502 high kicks in 5 hours and 30 minutes. His second record was even more impressive, with 11,000 high kicks in 5 hours 18 minutes and 43 seconds. This was accomplished on January 21st, 1989.

Shawn is the author of the highly acclaimed Achieving Kicking Excellence™ series of martial arts books and DVD's, and is currently working on several additional marital arts, firearms, and self-defense books and DVD's. Several of these volumes are scheduled to be released in 2018 through 2020.

Boaz Aviram

Boaz Aviram served as the IDF's (Israeli Defense Force) chief instructor for Krav Maga, which is the Israeli Defense Forces training system of Hand to Hand Combat, where he specialized in teaching the most advanced Krav Maga applications to special operations units, and conducting the Krav Maga Instructor's training program where he certified others as Krav Maga instructors. He retired from the IDF in 1983.

The very first IDF Fighting Fitness Academy Krav Maga Chief Instructor was Krav Maga creator and founder, Imrich “Imi” Lichtenfeld (Immi Sde-Or), the second was Eli Avikzar and the third was Boaz Aviram.

Guro Felix Valencia

Born in the Philippines, Felix Valencia has trained extensively since the age if 4 (over 38 years) within a multitude of devastating no-nonsense fighting arts within each range of combat. Valencia has been inducted into the Karate Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the Filipino Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He became world renown as “Edgar’s Brawler” when he found a home within Punong Guro Edgar Sulite’s Filipino based system of LAMECO Eskrima. Putting this knowledge into real life application, Valencia has successfully competed in numerous full contact stick and knife fights. As a result, Guro Valencia has chosen the most street applicable systems, extracting techniques and philosophies of martial arts that allow him to flow without interruption between each range of fighting, utilizing a volatile arsenal that comprises Valencia LAMECO Eskrima. Guro Felix Valencia has earned the reputation both in the Martial Arts and Law Enforcement communities as one of the most versatile Martial Artist alive.