Commando Krav Maga Vs. Krav Maga

Krav Maga is the creation of the Israeli Defense Force. The IDF created its own martial arts discipline, designing it to successfully defend practitioners against various threats in a variety of situations. Commando Krav Maga is marketed as a streamlined, improved version of the original, but the proprietor of Commando Krav Maga was embroiled in controversy regarding the accuracy of his training resume.

  1. History in Action

    • The framework for Krav Maga was developed by Imi Lichtenfeld, a wrestler with a street-fighting pedigree. Lichtenfeld honed the system while defending Bratslavia’s Jewish Quarter during World War 2. Following the war, when Israel was established, Lichtenfeld emigrated to the new nation and played a role in shaping its defense force. Through the ensuing decades, Krav Maga was further refined and became an integral aspect to Israeli military training for regular infantry, special forces, and both military and civilian police units.

    Krav Maga for Self Defense

    • The style of Krav Maga has moved beyond the Israeli military and has become prevalent throughout the world. It's known as an effective self-defense discipline that can be taught to students with a broad range of physical attributes. Krav Maga focuses around the principle of immediate and reactive neutralization of threats using fluid, naturally reflexive strikes and counter strikes. The strikes stress an economy of movement that allows a practitioner to strike and counter with considerable quickness, and the style is highly adaptable to defending against attackers armed with weapons, and against multiple attackers.

    Krav Maga Workout

    • The high-tempo, high-intensity movements of Krav Maga also make it an ideal full-body workout, and the style has been adapted for purely fitness applications. Krav Maga for fitness involves taking classes that use many of the same quick-strike routines of the martial art -- such as jabs, blocks, elbow strikes, knee strikes and snap kicks -- but in a non-combat format. The tempo for a typical class will often provide more intensity than what is found in the martial art version, but the focus of instruction will not provide any of the information or training necessary to employ Krav Maga in a self-defense situation.

    Commando Controversy

    • Commando Krav Maga is the product marketed and sold by martial arts instructor Moni Aizik. The Commando Krav Maga system claims to be a streamlined, improved version of the original discipline, to the point where most able-bodied individuals can become certified instructors following a brief training course. Aizik has claimed to be a former IDF special forces commando with an extensive battle record, and that Commando Krav Maga is the product of a request made by Lichtenfeld to Aizik to improve the system. According to the Advertising Standards Authority, Aizik’s claims cannot be verified, and the organization has called on Aizik to desist from using those claims in advertising Commando Krav Maga. Aizik is also the defendant in a class-action lawsuit alleging that Aizik’s resume used to sell Commando Krav Maga is fraudulent.