Krav Maga was developed in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld, who in 1948 became Chief Instructor of Physical Fitness and Krav Maga for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). After he started the IKMA in 1978, the FBI sent 22 people to Israel to attend a Krav Maga Basic Instructor Course, since which time it has expanded all over the world.
More about the history and tradition of Krav Maga
The FEKM (European Federation of Krav Maga) was created in 1997 by Richard Douieb, to whom Imi Lichtenfeld gave the responsibility for Krav Maga in Europe, and now includes more than 20000 members across 11 countries. It is the largest and most well respected Krav Maga organisation in the World.
Krav Maga Self Defence (KMSD) is an expanding club operating out of Brixton, in the heart of London, and is run by Simon Pither a qualified FEKM Black Belt instructor with over 25 years of martial arts experience. Simon was instrumental in the development and finally the creation in January 2015 of the UK Sector of the FEKM, the FEKM-UK, which provides the UK with its own internal federation for providing higher-level gradings, instructor tuition, and club support.
more about The FEKM-UK
We believe that Krav Maga is probably the most effective method for the rapid development of fast, simple, effective and controlled self-defence – the truth of which is supported by the fact that it is the system of choice for army, police and security forces around the world.
Our approach is friendly and we pride ourselves on the thoroughness of our instruction and our care for our students. Krav Maga was designed by the founder to be accessible and effective for as many people as possible – not only physically and mentally but also financially. As a result, we keep the costs down as much as possible and have as many training sessions in a week as we can to enable everyone to have access to quality teaching.
Our primary focus is on teaching the safe, effective, and lawful application of what is, after all, a potentially lethal set of techniques and principles. We positively encourage all students to achieve to the fullest of their ability and strive to enable everyone to push their boundaries and develop their skills. We have found from experience that this helps us all to grow as human beings as well.
Self-defense is the essential framework of Krav Maga and is made up of a variety of techniques and responses to a wide variety of attacks (armed or unarmed) and from various positions (upright, seated, lying down). Krav-Maga is not simply another martial art even though there are similar techniques, however, each individual must follow a strict growth pattern by following the syllabus which is set up in 5 standard grades white to black.
More about the Belts and Grades.
Hand-to-hand combat is the more advanced phase of Krav Maga where one is taught ways in which to neutralize an opponent quickly and effectively using elements that are, strictly speaking, more concerned with actual fighting: tactics, feints, and various attack combinations.
If you want to develop into a FEKM Krav Maga instructor, there is a route for you that involves going to 2 special training sessions run in the UK by our UK Sector Technical Director, Yann Veillerant, followed by an exam that tests your technical ability to teach Krav Maga. More information can be found here.