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What is Krav Maga anyway?

Krav Maga was born out of necessity in the mid 1930’s during a period of anti-semitic aggression in Czechoslovakia by Imi Lichtenfeld. Already an expert in boxing and wrestling, he found that traditional combat sports were ineffective for self defence.

As a result he developed specific principles for defining an effective close combat self defence system. This was so successful that after the war he became the physical training and self defence instructor for the Israeli Military. ‘Krav Maga’ translated from Hebrew means ‘Close Combat’.

This sounds a bit tough…

Trust me, you can do it. I’ve been teaching martial arts for over 25 years and Krav Maga specifically for the last 10 and if there is one thing that I have learned it is that everyone has different comfort zones.

The way we teach allows everyone to push themselves and learn at their own speed with support and assistance from the instructor team and the other students.

As you become more comfortable with the training that you are doing, you are expanding your comfort zone and as a result you will soon find yourself doing things that you never before thought you could!

What can I learn?

Krav Maga is a Scenario Based Self Defence System. What this means is that we practice to escape situations of potential threat, whatever those situations might be.

It could be defending against a slap, kick, grab, hold or knife threat, or even being pushed to the floor and then held down. The point is that we have simple principles that we apply to every self defence situation – principles that have been proven to work time after time.

Is there a grading system?

Absolutely, you can progress through our structure which includes 6 grades to Black Belt and 7 further grades from there. (more info on the ‘Belts and Grades’ page)

However, and most importantly, 90% of the threats you might encounter in day to day life are covered in the first couple of belts. Beyond this you are developing additional skills and qualities and learning about more extreme threats.

Richard Douieb, the Founder of the FEKM, described Krav Maga as a ‘martial art on its head’ – it is about effectiveness on the street first, then building athletic skill, then striving for perfection

Will I get fitter?

During every session there is a warm up that includes some cardio and strength exercises that are designed to prepare your body for the session that you will be doing.

In addition to this, the technical exercises that you are doing will initially be unfamiliar to you, and as a result your body will have to learn to adapt to the training that you are doing.

Training in Krav Maga will result in increased strength, fitness, flexibility, co-ordination and spatial awareness – but all of these things are at your own pace. We encourage you to work at your own level, so that you can progress without injury, or impacting your development.

Is it just about Self Defence?

Well yes, and No! The core of Krav Maga is managing scenarios of threat, however combat is included in order to develop an understanding of how the skills can be used in a mobile situation.

As with all of our training you work at your own pace, and learn how to apply your skills in a safe and controlled environment.

Over time this training becomes more advanced, with the inclusion of tactics, feints and combinations to extend your capability to manage more serious physical confrontations.

Are there any weapons involved?

Definitely. In the UK knife offences have been rising since 2014 and as a result we include weekly sessions where you learn how to manage a weapon based threat or attack.

It is important to note here that physically engaging an attacker who has a weapon is a last resort. Our first job is not only to teach you how to manage the situation, gain space and escape, but also to know when that is not an option and physical force is required.

During the course of your training you will learn how to manage attacks with short and long knives, bottles, batons and baseball bats, with pistols and long guns being practised at a more advanced level

Is all of this legal?

Yes. It is written in law that you are not only allowed to defend your own person, but you also have the right and obligation to defend your property and your family, as well as other people who cannot defend themselves and even to stop an illegal act.

These actions have to be carried out in a lawful manner though, so we explain what the legal term ‘reasonable force’ is, and how it applies to various self defence scenarios.

These are all things that are important to learn when you are practising a system like Krav Maga that can potentially be extremely damaging to another person.

Who are the Instructors?

My name is Simon, I head up the instructor team and have a 3rd Degree Black Belt in FEKM Krav Maga, as well as being the President of the UK Sector of the FEKM.

All of the instructors are FEKM qualified and undergo continual assessment to improve and develop their skills. A full list of instructors can be found on this page.

The Federation Europeanne de Krav Maga (FEKM) has its head office in France, and the Founder, Richard Douieb, was given the responsibility for developing Krav Maga in Europe by Imi Lichtenfeld himself.