No history, no tradition, no Kata, no uniform, no belts, and they brag: "No Rules"! Let me jump on this how tough they are with their claim "No Rules"!
Yesterday I was on the phone with Bill Boyd who is one of our top men in St. Louis. For years Bill has taught a lot of Police Officers. Recently a couple of his police officers quit studying with Bill and started training in Krav Maga.
They told Bill the reason they stopped training with him is that "Kenpo was too Violent!" Like Bill told them: "Kenpo is like your gun, you have to know when to pull the trigger!" And when you pull the trigger you want the bullet to stop them.
Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall building in a single bound, Its Imi Lichenfeld! Or Imi Lichenfeld Sde-Or. Who? The man they claim developed Krav Maga.
My first points; No history, no traditions! Oh there is plenty of history, but no two accounts a history are the same. The Claim is he (Imi) was born in 1910. But is this even true? One account says he was born in a Checkaslovia another says he was born in Hungry! The only thing for certain, we know he died in 1998
Years ago when there was only one Krav Maga organization, based out of Los Angles, their claim of the origin of Krav Maga was it was created by Imi Lichenfeld, a street fighter. That was it. Now look at the climes of Imi's martial arts background. Now look at all the different claims. It seems each claim is designed to make him a "Super Hero". One account says he ran off, as a youth to join the circus. Another account says his father had been a circus performer.
Below are just three links to the many different accounts of the history of Krav Maga.
http://www.usadojo.com/articles/history-krav-maga.htm
Or
http://www.your-krav-maga-expert.com/krav-maga-history.html
http://www.history.com/content/humanweapon/martial-art-disciplines/krav-maga-of-the-israeli-co mmandos
Here they claim Imi was a Heavyweight boxing champion! Some even claim he was both a Lightweight and Heavyweight boxing Champion
Out with the old Krav Maga in with the new. Now they have eliminated Imi. Much as Ed Parker did with Professor Chow when he created American Kenpo.
THE BIRTH OF COMMANDO KRAV MAGA
Shortly after the Yom Kippur War in the 1970s, the Israeli military looked to improve upon its close quarter combat system. It was at this time that Moni Aizik, a member of one of Israel's most elite Commando units, was assigned to evolve the military's existing hand to hand combat system. Moni was sought after because of his extensive martial arts experience and battlefield experience.
In his youth, Moni dominated the Judo and Jiu Jitsu arena winning 7 National titles. After turning 18, Moni served his country as a member of one of Israel's most elite Commando units in the IDF. Having fought in the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Moni's unit was decimated and he was one of the few that survived. During his service, Moni quickly learned what would and wouldn't work in real life situations.
FACT: My comment! The Yom Kipper war lasted only 20 days. 12 days of actual fighting, The was strictly between tanks and air craft. There was no hand to hand combat.Krav Maga
http://www.kravmagafederation.com/krav-maga-origins.html
On this website he is even more - the following is an exert:
The concept of Krav Maga was formed in the streets of Eastern Europe and developed in the struggle for the nation of Israel. The style's creator, Imrich "Imi" Lichenfeld, was born in 1910 in Hungary and raised in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. Imi's father, Samuel Lichenfeld, was a former circus performer and a chief detective who owned the first modern gym in Bratislava, where he was active in wrestling, boxing, and weight lifting. Samuel had been an excellent wrestler in his day, and he encouraged Imi to participate in an assortment of athletic activities, including gymnastics, wrestling, and boxing. As a young man, Imi won numerous championships in a variety of sporting events, achieving exceptional accomplishment in boxing and wrestling. Between the years of 1929 and 1939, Imi was one of Europe's most successful wrestlers. Now we learn that for 10 years he was on of Europe's best wrestlers. Even the other Krav Maga historian did not know thus.
