Imi Lichtenfeld, founder of Krav Maga

Imi Lichtenfeld was born in 1910 in Budapest and grew up in a universe where sports played an important role:
 Champion in wrestling in Slovakia in 1928
 Light weight and middle weight champion in boxing in 1929
 Champion in gymnastics

The first principles of the method appeared in the 1930’s when Imi Lichtenfeld, who was an outstanding fighter, realized that his experience in sports were not efficient in real street fights that his community as well as himself were regularly victims.

After being introduced to a general in 1942, Imi began training elite units and the special forces of Haganah and Palmach since 1944…



Due to the small number of soldiers and the urgent situation, the army only gave a reduced training before shipping the soldiers to the front. In 1948, after the state of Israel was established, Imi Lichtenfeld became the main instructor of the new Israel’s army for close quarters combat.

As a result, the soldiers needed a method that would be of use in a hand-to-hand combat. This method had to be taught quickly and had to be easy to remember. It needed to be above all effective. Imi Lichtenfeld, whose fighting reputation was widely known, was in charge of this mission and this is how Krav Maga was created.

Imi served in the army for twenty years and during this period he developed and constantly improved the combat and self-defence system that is unique in the world. It still remains today the official system for Tsahal, for security forces, for the military police and for the Israeli special anti-terrorist units…

After leaving the army, Imi adapted Krav Maga to the needs of the civilian population… Imi died on January 8 1998 at the age of 87.

Contrary to what one might think, Imi Lichtenfeld was not a “muscle man” but simply a great teacher and creative person who avoided violence and contributed very much to the development of security in Israel and to Krav Maga in general.