Any style brought forth from a need to protect ones self and in the modern age will reflect into a deadly looking art. Here is its foundations.

A Martial art developed in Israeli, Krav Maga means “contact combat” in Hebrew.

This martial arts style is currently used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and their military Special Forces. In the United States Krav Maga is used by members of the NYPD, FBI and the US Armed Forces. Many other elite military and police units around the world incorporate Krav Maga.

Krav Maga is becoming a popular martial art if the U.S.

Today, Krav Maga is taught to men, women and children of all ages. In Israel this martial arts style has become part of the educational system.

Imi Lichtenfeld the founder of Krav Maga was born in Hungary and grew up in Bratislava. As a young adult he won national and international awards in gymnastics, boxing and wrestling.

Imis father was a police officer and self defense instructor. During the 1930s Imi honed his fighting skills on the streets a Bratislava, protecting himself and Jewish neighbors against anti Semitic thugs. These fights sharpened his awareness of the difference between sport and street fighting.

In the 1930s Germany was a dangerous place for Jews. Imis fighting to protect his family and neighbors became unpopular with the local police. He was ordered to leave his homeland in 1940.

He traveled for several years finally ending up in Israel which was then Palestine. Imi soon joined a paramilitary organization known as Haganah and fought to create the state of Israel.

During this period he began teaching soldiers martial arts and basic self defense techniques. The Israeli government asked Imi to develop an effective fighting system. Imi became the chief instructor for the military school for physical training. Imi continually developed and refine this unique system combat system. Israel was in a constant state of war with its neighbors. The techniques he developed were constantly being put to use and tested in real combat scenarios.

After his retirement from the military, Imi devoted his time and energy to adapting Krav Maga to everyday life. The system spread rapidly to the civilian population and is now rapidly being accepted through out the world.

If the ambience of that scene is pure Tel Aviv, the actual locale is much closer to home ‹ Reston to be exact. The Reston Town Center will soon be the site of the “Israeli Street Festival: A Taste of Milk and Honey,” that will highlight the culture, food and many other aspects of the Jewish state.

The June 17 event, which will run from noon to 5 p.m., is being organized by the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia in Fairfax. It is the first large public event in the Washington area marking Israel’s 60th birthday, which takes place on May 14.

Anniversary programming will take place throughout the next year, and is expected to culminate with a still-to-be determined celebration. This month’s festival in Reston is expected to draw 5,000-10,000 people from throughout the Washington area. Admission and parking are free.

“The purpose of the program is to get people excited about Israel and celebrate Israel,” said Roz Engels, director of adult services and special events at the Northern Virginia Jewish Community Center. “It’s not negative; ‘oh poor Israel, they need us now.’ ”

Specifically, festival organizers are hoping to solidify public support for the Jewish state, bolster tourism there and even increase contacts between businesses based in the two countries. Funding for the $14,800 event is provided primarily by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Engels said. (WJW is a media sponsor.)

Featuring exhibits by more than 35 area synagogues and other Jewish organizations, the festival will showcase an array of Israeli-themed entertainers and Middle Eastern food, as well as Israeli dogs, a virtual tour of the Jewish state, pro-Israel speeches from a politician or two and even iced coffee donated by Starbucks.

“You’ll have the ambience of doing business in Israel; you sit down and have a little coffee and talk,” said Dan Wasserman, a member of the festival organizing committee.

The festival also will be a forum for promoting commercial contacts between Israeli and Northern Virginia businesses. Several Israeli firms that provide state-of-the-art, homeland security-related products already have Northern Virginia offices, according to Ralph Robbins, executive director of the Virginia Israel Advisory Board, a gubernatorial organization.

Robbins, who is scheduled to make a pitch at the festival for even more Northern Virginia-Israel business partnerships, said he would like to see increased local participation in the 30-year-old Binational Industrial Research and Development program, a bilateral fund that provides grants aimed at stimulating research and development that benefits both Israel and the United States.

“This event will bring people out for Israel at a time when there’s too much controversy involving Israel, and that says a lot,” Robbins added. “It also says a lot that it’s taking place in Northern Virginia. Thirty, 40 years ago it was basically one big farm.”

Organizers and others associated with the festival said the event is a recognition that the Northern Virginia Jewish community is coming of age. That community, while highly dispersed geographically, is growing rapidly. As recently as 2003, it numbered 67,000, or 31 percent of the total Jewish population in the Washington area. In the meantime, the number of Jewish institutions there has grown steadily.

“Having a large Jewish public event of this type in Reston is definitely symbolic of a new step being taken in the development of the Northern Virginia Jewish community,” said Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk of Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation in Reston, which will have a booth at the festival.

To illustrate the community’s progress, Nosanchuk said that last summer, his congregation took its first group trip to Israel in the 40-year history of the synagogue. Of the 62 congregants who went, more than 40 were visiting Israel for the first time.

“Jewish awareness throughout Northern Virginia is being raised, including the recognition of our connection with Israel,” said Rabbi Sholom Deitsch, director of Chabad Lubavitch of Northern Virginia, which also will have a booth at the festival. “Plus, there’s such a sense of pride among Jews when an event of this type takes place in a public area.”

Other recent Jewish public events held in Northern Virginia include a 2001 Jewish festival in Reston that drew about 5,000 people, and a 2005 Israeli festival at George Mason University in Fairfax.

This year’s festival will also feature six bicyclists from Israel, who will be in the area for more than a week to promote two-wheeled tourism in the Jewish state. Their visit is being funded chiefly by the federation as part of the Partnership 2000 program, a joint effort with the Jewish Agency for Israel aimed at linking people and communities in Israel and the Diaspora.

The cyclists, who will be in the Washington area June 11-18, will explore several area bike trails, and will present two slide shows about cycling in Israel. One will be on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at B’nai B’rith International in Washington, and the other will be on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington in Rockville. At the Reston festival, the cyclists will have a table and will discuss Israel-related cycling. All local cycling events are free and open to the public.

Cycle tourism in Israel is growing in popularity, according to Beri Kravitz, a program assistant for the federation’s Israel@60 program.

“It’s much slower; you’re not zooming down the road in a tour bus,” she explained. “You get a better view of the scenery. When you come into Jerusalem, you really get a feel for the ups and downs of the hills and valleys. It’s a totally different experience.”

But today, a new brand of “working out” can often mean strapping on the gloves, taking some swings and learning the finer points of inflicting a little pain. Say goodbye to yoga and Jazzercise — in recent years, many on-the-go types are turning to the old-school art of boxing and the cutting-edge hand-to-hand combat strategies of krav maga to stay in shape.

From the speed, power and technical intricacies of the boxing ring to the natural instincts and martial artistry of the Israeli military-born fighting discipline of krav maga,  attracting the average Joe and Jane to join their own neighborhood Fight Clubs.

“Krav Maga is supplanting everything else I do,” said Roger D’Onofrio, 51, owner of a martial-arts studio on Greenwich Street in San Francisco. “For 40 years, my specialty has been Chinese boxing — ever since I saw `The Green Hornet’ on TV. I opened this studio five years ago to teach it. Now, 85 percent of my business is Krav Maga.”

At 4:45 p.m. on a weekday, students step over a small “Welcome” mat and onto wall-to-wall wrestling mats for a beginner class. They warm up by “throwing elbows” (a short-range punching technique), perform stretches, then do closed-fist push-ups for 15 minutes. Next come punching, kicking and blocking drills against pads for another 15 minutes. Breathing grows raspy. Rivulets of sweat trickle down T-shirts.

The intensity rises another notch. D’Onofrio’s assistant, Barny Foland, 50, guides the students in hand-to- hand combat drills. One is a lesson on a way to swiftly break a headlock, then switch tables on an assailant by downing him with a nasty blow to his upturned throat. “Get it right here, then it will work for you out on the street,” Foland tells the students.

“Krav Maga is the best exercise I’ve ever done,” Charles Hanover says after the class. “It’s got incredible stretching technique. I can stand and touch the floor for the first time ever,” says Hanover, 38, a San Francisco real estate broker.

“It’s better for stamina than a Stairmaster. Plus the martial science can’t help but give a psychological benefit. If feels good for me to know that if I ever get into a situation, I’ll know what to do, not just react by instinct.”

Krav Maga prides itself on being simple, direct and pragmatic values that appeal to Americans. There are no fancy outfits, no elaborate katas (stylized movements or poses), no elaborate protocols or rituals. It was invented by a Jewish Slav, Imi Litchtenfeld, who combined wrestling, boxing and other martial arts to defeat gangs attacking Jewish neighborhoods before World War II. He then fled the Nazis to Israel, where he eventually joined the Defense Forces and spent decades developing his “contact combat” (the meaning of the words Krav Maga) technique and giving lessons to the military.

In the 1980s, Darren Levine brought the system, adapted to civilian use, to Los Angeles. Levine, now a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles, founded the Krav Maga Association of America. The organization gives a 72-hour certification course for prospective trainers for $2,500. Then, if a trainer wishes to open a studio, there’s a hefty startup fee and monthly retainer for support from the parent group. Anyone with an unlicensed studio faces legal action. There are 21 licensed franchises in the United States, five of them in California.

“We don’t want to get big just for the sake of spreading,” said John Whitman, a senior instructor from the central office. “We want it to be right. We reject as many as we accept into the program.”

Whitman cites representatives of law enforcement, military and celebrity escort services as among the 1,700 members of the Los Angeles studio, where 58 classes are taught per week.

At 7 p.m. in D’Onofrio’s San Francisco studio, an intermediate class in Krav Maga gets under way. It’s structured like the beginner class, yet everything gets done at twice the speed and intensity. The highlight is a tip on what to do if someone jams a gun against your spine. There’s a spin to divert the muzzle, a pin move to immobilize the gun hand, a few swift blows to addle the attacker, then a method of stripping away the firearm and taking possession of it.

“When you feel a gun, you must act,” D’Onofrio says. “Once you start moving, keep moving until you’ve solved the problem. The surprise element is in your favor. Take full advantage of it.”

After it ends, thirsty, sweat-soaked students hit the water cooler.

“I found Krav Maga through the Internet,” said Sunde White, 25, a surfer who runs her own plant-maintenance business. “I like this because it makes me stronger for surfing. Now, every part of me is in shape. And as far as the fighting, the fact that it’s totally brutal doesn’t bother me. Anyone who attacks me deserves to get hurt.”

To read more of this article check out Chicago Sun Times 

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At first glance, Krav Maga may resemble most other martial arts classes. There’s lots of punching, kicking and self-defense techniques.

But the technique isn’t a martial art form at all - it’s strictly self-defense, according to John Urbanek, an instructor at Krav Maga-Milwaukee Inc. in Brookfield, Wis.

“We like to say that it’s very martial, but not artsy. It’s very brutal, efficient and effective,” Urbanek said.

Participants are taught to do “whatever it takes to get you home safely to your family. Biting, eye gouging, head-butting - whatever works. … It’s your life, you have to fight for it,” said Kurt Lakatos, owner and lead instructor at the studio.

Krav Maga (pronounced krahv mu-gah) is a system of self-defense moves based on actions a person might do instinctually. It was developed by the late Imi Lichtenfeld for the Israeli military about 50 years ago, and made its way to the United States in the 1980s.

Lakatos said there are different applications of Krav Maga for those in the military, law enforcement and civilians.

At most studios in the United States, exercisers use their own bodies as weapons. In the military, troops were taught techniques that involve weapons.

Krav Maga seems to be picking up a following. There are more than 200 locations around the country, an increase of about 20 percent from the previous year, according to Jeanine Jackson, Krav Maga worldwide licensing manager.

Lakatos learned the technique at a studio in Racine, Wis., then became certified to teach. He opened his studio in March 2006.

Lakatos estimated he has 30 students in his classes, and said he has worked with students 14 to 64, from novice to advanced exercisers and individuals from all walks of life.

Eva Rozanski, a student at Carroll College, started taking classes in August and said she already feels more confident and that her reflexes have improved. In addition to attending two-hour classes each week, she also takes yoga.

Chuck Wagner, a registered nurse in the Milwaukee area, has been taking classes for just four weeks and said he’s already made gains.”

Krav Maga is an excellent Martial Art to choose to study

But Japanese singer-turned-actress hitomi (right) insists that she is not as tough as she may seem to be.

In an e-mail interview with The New Paper, the 31-year-old pop icon wrote: ‘When I was in my 20s, I pushed myself to be a strong female figure in public.

‘People had a bias against me, (thinking) that hitomi is tough, but I am actually not. I have a lot of weak points, like I am untidy. I think that accepting one’s weakness makes a woman more charming.’

But don’t think you can mess around with this Krav Maga practitioner, for she can pin you down in one smooth move.

A magazine editor introduced her to the self-defence technique four years ago. Now, she practises it once a week.

Pity she does not get to show off any nimble moves in her debut film Nightmare Detective, which is now showing in cinemas here.

Instead, hitomi, who prefers her name spelt in the lower case, uses her wit and intellect to nab a violent serial killer.

To read more check out Electric Wire