Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

was to bring as many Jews as possible through the British blockade and to
fight back Arab assaults.
Lichtenfeld joined the Hagana soon after his arrival and became a
self-defense instructor for Hagana soldiers and special operations units.
Weapons were scarce at this time for Jews, so hand-to-hand combat was a
vital necessity. From his arrival until 1948, Lichtenfeld constantly worked
on the theories and curriculum of what he eventually labeled krav maga.
He developed his system according to three criteria: It had to be effective,
it had to be simple enough to be learned by anyone with any type of body
shape and size, and it had to be learned quickly.
In 1947, Israel was declared an independent nation by the United Nations,
a decision that quickly led to war between Israel and its surrounding
Arab neighbors. Despite overwhelming odds, the Israelis won the conflict
and established the independent State of Israel as a homeland for Jews.
World War II had left devastating psychological and physical scars on
Jews. The Nazis had killed six million, one-third of the total number of
Jews worldwide. Many of the survivors fled to Israel. The “lesson” of the
Holocaust, as the destruction of European Jews came to be known, imprinted
on Israelis the realization that the survival of Israel would depend
on Jews alone. Even after the victory of 1948, Israel would have to remain
in a state of high alert because of the hostility of its Arab neighbors. This
readiness is reflected in the intensely combative nature of krav maga.
By the time the IDF was fully organized, Lichtenfeld had prepared
the curriculum of krav maga. All Israeli soldiers were given basic training
in the system. Israeli special operatives received advanced training. Often
Israeli Mossad (Secret Service) agents were sent into regions where carrying
a weapon was not practical. Krav maga was the only “weapon” that
these operatives could use. In 1961, several of the Mossad agents who
captured the infamous Nazi leader Adolph Eichmann in Argentina were
krav maga experts.
Krav maga is, therefore, one of the most modern martial arts, and it
is also one of the few that was developed directly for battlefield and urban
combat. The constant state of warfare and terrorist attacks that have become
a part of Israeli life have meant that any system of self-defense would
have to be effective and realistic. Due to these extreme circumstances,
Lichtenfeld had, in effect, a laboratory for the development of the art. Soldiers
and practitioners in combat conditions who were forced to use the art
for self-defense could report back to Lichtenfeld which techniques were effective.
Lichtenfeld consequently modified techniques based on these actual
experiences. As a result, krav maga is a proven warfare combat system.
Although the system was originally intended for the military, by the
early 1960s Lichtenfeld was teaching krav maga to civilians. Because of in-
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