Krav Maga Overview

Krav Maga

Krav Maga is the Israeli Defense Force’s system for unarmed defensive tactics and survival. Krav Maga was developed by Imi Lichtenfeld who served as the very first Commander of the IDF’s Hand to Hand Combat and Physical Fitness training Section. His system became the official Hand to Hand Combat system for the entire Israeli Defense Force, including the Special Forces, and remains the official system till this day.

Krav Maga evolved in the IDF to arm soldiers with the necessary mindset, strategies and tactics to survive threatening close quarters encounters in the field. The focus of Krav Maga is not to teach the soldier/officer how to fight, but rather how to dominate and terminate a threatening situation as quickly as possible.

Krav Maga is not a Martial Art system, it’s a tactically channeled scientific approach to engaging a threat in close quarters. Krav Maga is based on instinctive response which allows the system’s tactics to be learned and effectively applied in minimal time. Krav Maga’s unique approach is that its strategies are focused on dominating the human mind and mitigating the threat’s instinctive reactions keeping the attacker in a constant state of mental shock preventing him from initiating or continuing his attack.

Krav Maga was developed to provide effective solutions to the conditions in which Israeli soldiers, police officers, and security personnel are engaged in the field which include facing armed attacks, multiple attackers, determined and suicidal attackers that deploy maximum violence, and ambush attacks. The system’s mindset and strategies are designed for success in a concept called the Negative Five. This concept is an Israeli Military training concept which is applied to the three main subject matters in the Israeli National Security framework: Krav Maga, Tactical Shooting, and Counter Terror Warfare.

This concept assumes that when an IDF soldier gets attacked, that soldier will be in the worst case scenario-  physically, tactically, and mentally unprepared for the sudden attack.

The true military Krav Maga platform adheres strictly to this concept and therefore represents tactics that can truly provide the most effective responses for real life violence survival.

Krav Maga is the tactical system used by one of the most active military and police forces in the most violent conflict zone in the world. This fact allows Krav Maga to be constantly field tested and ensures its effectiveness.  It also means that it is kept up to date with the modern and evolving threats of the battlefield and streets.

CT 707 offers several certification programs which include:

  • Civilian End User and Instructor certification,
  • Law Enforcement End User and Instructor certification,
  • Military Operator and Instructor certification.

Some of the subjects covered in the Israeli Special Forces Krav Maga curriculum include:

Empty Hand Defensive and Offensive Tactics:

  • Principle of dominating and terminating an engagement rather than fighting
  • 4 ranges of unarmed engagement; long range, medium range, close range, and the ground
  • 3 engagement objectives; Control, Incapacitate, Terminate
  • Tactical Objective – point of rapid domination
  • Preventing, intercepting, and countering grabs, holds, and strikes
  • Surviving multiple attackers
  • Ground survival

Defense against impact weapon attacks

Knife threat and knife attack survival

Defense against firearm threats (handguns and long guns)

Operational Krav Maga applications:

  • Weapon retention
  • Third party protection/unarmed hostage rescue
  • Knife fighting
  • Intercepting and disarming a threat armed with a micro explosive
  • Extreme close quarters tactics for Special Operation Groups
  • Unconventional/confined space environment operations (Ex: Air Marshals)
CLOSE