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COMBAT KRAV MAGAthe magazine 02/13

BEST WEAPON:Fix yourvocal chords?Page 7

INTRODUCING:LehimaMeshulevetPage 7

THE BIG, FAT HIJACKSo, who is the source of Krav Maga?

Depends whom you ask.Page 3

Est.1920History Edition

TRAINING GEAR:Sweat likeits the IDFPage 2

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COMBAT KRAV MAGA the magazine

What a month!

First, please accept our apologies for the delay inreceiving this newsletter.

During the last few weeks - and months - we have gonethrough a number of organizational changes and they

have had a quite visible affect on all our operations.

The first months of 2013 have been the most rewardingmonths in our (short) history.We broke records: over 70 students attended our 2-dayseminar in Italy with the Krav Maga Academy (KMA).Two instructor courses for 2013/14 are in the finalizingphases and our selection of professional courses isincreasing. This spring we have also received a recordnumber of seminar bookings.

On the other hand, the first months of 2013 have also

been the most challenging ones.We began our London classes in February. However,before we even got started we ran into severe,completely unforeseen logistical issues. When ourvenues were finally lined up for a more permanentschedule, immediately after that we suddenly becameshort staffed. We were looking at having to change theschedule/instructors on a weekly basis.

We!d rather do anything but let our students down -without our students we are nothing. Hence the only fairoption seemed to be to suspend the classes for nowinstead of switching schedules weekly.

This is not to say we won!t be back. We are workinghard on it as we speak and we!re not used to having iteasy anyway, but...bare with us, because we won!t beback until our troops are watertight.

We will keep you posted.

In the meantime, please remember that no debate,opinion or topic is meaningless. If there is somethingspecific you would like us to cover or if you!d just like tosend us some feedback, please let us know via email atinfo@combatkm.com.

We have a lot to say this month which is why we savedsome of our articles till the next issue. It!s out in April, sotill then - enjoy!

Combat Krav Maga Team

COMBAT KRAV MAGA02/13 2

AT THE OFFICE

Contact: info@combatkm.com

Watch: www.youtube.com/combatkm

Follow: www.twitter.com/combatkm

Converse: www.facebook.com/combatkravmaga

Shop: shop.combatkm.com

Read: www.issuu.com/combatkravmaga

COMBAT KRAV MAGA copyright

Unauthorized reprinting or republication of this

publication (Combat Krav Maga the magazine) inwhole or in part for commercial use is strictly

forbidden. Quoting and copying written material in

this publication is, however, authorized in all

cases when the source of said material is

prominently displayed. Copying any visual work

displayed in this publication is prohibited.

Upcoming Professional Courses/April and May 2013

HECPO (Hostile Environments Close Protection

Operations) 7-12 May

Close Protection Specialist 12 April - 12 May

Israeli Certificate in Close Protection 12-18 April and

7-12 May

Pistol&Carbine Advanced 7-8 May 2013

Offensive - Protective - Evasive Driving 13 May 2013

....and much more! For locations and price details please

email info@combatkm.com. Complete list of our

seminars and courses can be found on our Facebook

Events page, www.facebook.com/CombatKravMaga

In This Issue

At the Office: What a month!" " Page 2Debate: The Big Fat Hijack" " Page 3Introducing Lehima Meshulevet"" Page 7If all else fails...scream!"" " Page 7Coming up next"" " " Page 7

FINALLY AVAILABLE!

IDF Training Gear

We recently added aselection of authentic IDFtraining gear onto ouronline store. All productsare made to order andshipping is included in theprice.For more info please visit:shop.combatkm.com.

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DEBATE

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THE BIG, FAT HIJACK

Are you the source of Krav Maga? Play your cards right and you could be.

I AM the source of krav maga. No!I am! I was there too. No, youweren!t. He held myhand whenhe developed the machine guntechnique. Yeah, but he gave methat belt first. No, I stood rightnext to you. Yeah, but you got itafterme. OK, but I touched hisforehead when his health wasgetting worse. I touched it too! SoI am the source. No, I am!

OK, this conversation reallynever happened (we hope), butthis is what it sounds like when astudent, a Regular Joe of kravmaga, seeks information onwhere the system came from.We know, because this is exactlywhat we did. We spoke to people,we read articles, we readadvertisements. Inside our headsan image was developing: insimple terms, a heroic man,fighting masses with his bare

hands and an unforgiving attitude.

This special knowledgedeveloped during those hardtimes (and for the IDF) was thenpassed on to a few - or one,depending on whom you!relistening to - dedicated students.

We bumped into this versionof events on the majority of theover 11 million pages a Googlesearch ("krav maga") coughs up.Anywhere we went online, thenarrative was already there. The

only variant was the man whomthe hero of the story, "the source! -may his soul rest in peace, ImiLichtenfeld - named as hissuccessor or was closest to.

The late Mr Lichtenfeld hasvery little to do with the currentsituation: each krav maga masterappears to be The Source or atleast very close to it - hencebasing their expertise on thisconnection. Some have been

extremely successful and withtime developed a near religious

base of followers. Some are lessknown and appear to prefer it thatway. Some, on the other hand,ruthlessly use any opportunity toadvertise their connection to "thesource! while often not having anyactual skills. That being said, tous this really is not a popularitycontest. We just want to cut thec--p and find the facts. While wecriticize the hype (and the religion,when that is the case), we respect

all involved. And it is for thisreason we wanted to let theexperts explain what reallyhappened.

What is this "source! everyonewants to be attached to and howrelevant is it being close to it? Andhow watertight is it - where didkrav maga really come from andwas it really invented by oneman?Let!s hear it from Noah Gross,

author, historian and an expert onIsraeli Martial Arts.

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Please note the lack of mention of dates in the process. This allows the condensing of time periods andthe switching of the order of events. At this point we must stop and ask are these statements and theirimplied meanings true and accurate? The answer is no, they are not accurate.

A government was indeed formed, but was not involved in micro managing the military and therefore it isunlikely that individuals within the government would ask someone to develop a self defense system.

This system was supposedly developed for military use, as there was no other purpose at the time.Military hand to hand combat is not about self defense and this sort of language is conceptually wrong.

The reference to this self defense system also implies that whatever system was being used at the timewas ineffective. The omission of Kapap is convenient and thus no conflict is created regarding itsexistence prior to Krav Maga.

The chronology of events or lack of correct chronology also poses problems. The proper order of eventsshould be as follows:

founding of the state of Israel formation of the military on the foundation of the Hagana forces

formation of a school for physical training formation of a Krav Maga branch within that school appointment of Imi as chief of the Krav Maga branch

To critically analyze the events and properly organize them, two elements were necessary. The first,knowledge of historical events in their chronological order and, second, a familiarity with the biographicalbackground of the person about whom this information is being delivered.

To be fair to the authors of this above paragraph (the most common narrative), they often do providebackground information on Imi regarding the years preceding the events describe. From this article theyhave been omitted. However, it would have been just as revealing to dissect the preceding paragraphs.Sadly, we would find them to be rife with the same kind of mistakes and distortions. To find the answerswe are looking for, we need to compare these dates to Imi's personal biography.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! (Bare with! Continues on next page)

So...what is being implied?

Upon the inception of the state ofIsrael in 1948 a government wasformed. This government was directlyinvolved in micro managing the

military and therefore commissioned aman named Imi Lichtenfeld to developa self defense system to replace theineffective unnamed systems used upuntil that point. The system wasdeveloped and at a later stage wascalled Krav Maga. A military school forPhysical Training and Krav Maga wasformed and Imi became the chiefinstructor of this school.

The most common/copied narrative:

...in 1948 the State of Israel isformed and the fledgling Israeli

government asked Imi to develop aneffective system of self defense andfighting, which later became the KravMaga system. The Haganah (Jewishparamilitary organization) waseventually incorporated into theIsraeli Defense Force, and Imibecame the Chief Instructor for themilitary school for Physical Trainingand Krav Maga.

Noah Gross:

The history of Krav Maga

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A General Timeline

1920. The Hagana is formed. From this moment (and even

before), there is a constant exploration of hand to hand

combat and training methodologies.

January 1941. Hand to hand combat disciplines such as

boxing, knife fighting, stick fighting and jujutsu are taught

separately with guiding principles and uniform methodologiesunder the name Kapap. The first Hagana Kapap instructor!s

course takes place. The courses chief instructors are:

Maishel Horowitz, Menashe Harel, Gershon Kofler,

Yitzhak Shtibel.

May 1941. The Palmach is formed jointly with the British

military mandate forces. Shortly after its formation, the

Palmach goes underground and becomes the Hagana's

standing military force besides its militia forces. Maishel

Horowitz is brought to the Palmach to teach his stick fighting

method as part of the first Kapap instructor's course for the

Palmach. Moshe Pinkel Zohar is appointed chief instructor of

physical training in the Palmach and remains in this positionuntil 1948 when the Palmach is incorporated into the IDF

where Moshe Pinkel Zohar continues to fill this position.

November 1947. The UN General Assembly passes

Resolution 181 which is a Partition Plan for Palestine, a two

state solution. As a result of this and the rejection of the plan

by the Arab leadership, civil war broke out between both

communities in Palestine.

May 1948. The state of Israel is formed. The Arab states

respond with a military invasion of the state of Israel, turning

the conflict into a full blown war. Within two weeks of the

declaration of Israel's independence the IDF (a conscript

army) is formed, integrating the three Jewish undergroundorganizations Hagana, Palmach (Palmach was part of the

Hagan and not an independent organization. It was the

Hagans standing army) and Etzel and Lehi into one military

body.

May&June 1948. The service for physical training (Sherut

Leimun Gufany) in the IDF is formed and the head of the

service is Moshe Pinkel Zohar. Within the service a school

for physical training is formed and its chief officer is Mairon

Avramson.

September 1948. The first documented use of the term Krav

Maga is used interchangeably with Kapap. The first instanceshows up in the documents of an officer named Amos

Golani, whose job is to supervise the physical training in the

combat field units.

June 1949. The service for physical training is

decommissioned and replaced by the branch of physical

training. The school and its staff all continue in their same

capacities only as part of the branch.

1954. The terms Kapap and Krav Maga are still used

interchangeably in official documents.

1920 Imi Lichtenfeld is 10 years old in Bratislava.

1939. Imi is head of a Jewish self defense group in

Bratislava. At this time he has experience as an

accomplished sports wrestler and boxer and knows jujitsu.

1940. Imi leaves for Israel.

1941. Imi is in active duty in Czech Legion under the

command of the British military and he serves for a year in

Egypt, Libya and Syria.

1942. Imi arrives in Israel, and upon the recommendation of

former comrades of his self defense group is conscripted

into the Palmach.

1942-1948. Imi functions as a Kapap instructor teaching

knife, jujutsu and boxing according to the Palmach

curriculum.

1948. With the integration of the Palmach into the IDF and

the formation of the school for physical training Imi is

commissioned as one of the eleven instructors on staff at the

school.

1956 -1958. Some time during this period Imi becomes the

chief instructor of physical training and perhaps the head ofa new branch formed, the Krav Maga branch. It is yet

undetermined when this branch was formed, it is however

known to have existed as early as 1958. Documentation

confirming earlier dates has yet to be found. Review of

documents from the period 1956-1958 is still pending. No

witness accounts have been found to confirm any earlier

dates.

1964. Imi retires from the IDF and opens his civilian Krav

Maga club in Netanya.

Meanwhile...

Source: Noah Gross

So what? Bare with! Weve combined all these facts with the information usually presented when

talking about the history of Krav Maga - that popular narrative from earlier. Next page, please.

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The Results of the Intergrated Timelines

In 1948 the IDF was formed and the forces of the Palmach were incorporated into it. As a result, Imi Lichtenfeld, atalented Kapap instructor, was commissioned alongside his fellow instructors and officers to keep teaching and trainingsoldiers in the hand to hand fighting disciplines known at the time as Kapap.Imi was in active duty as a hand to hand and physical training instructor in the IDF for 15 years. During those 15 years

he was part of the process of developing the hand to hand combat disciplines in the IDF. Imi rose in rank andresponsibility until in the last five years he headed the newly formed Krav Maga branch in the IDF.This period seems to be the time frame during which Krav Maga began transitioning into an integrated system madeup of Kapap!s structure group of hand to hand combat skills and using Kapap!s guiding principles.

There was no commissioning of any persons to develop a system, but a known group of people are responsible for arecognizable process of evolving the existing system, adjusting it to the times and organizations using it.

There was no unnamed ineffective system to replace, but rather the known system of Kapap, its disciplines, principlesand methodologies were used as the foundation.

There was no head position and no branch for Imi to be the head of until a much later period of time.

Kapap was the precursor of Krav Maga. Krav Maga, at its outset, was simply a new version of Kapap. Even thoughKrav Maga has sprouted many different civilian versions, one can still recognize the roots of Krav Maga as reflected inhistorical Kapap. Modern Kapap, on the other hand, can be recognized as being true to the approach and philosophyof Kapap but not based on its physical attributes.

When we are willing to reexamine what we believe to be the story of Krav Maga and Israeli Martial Arts, then we willbe able to appreciate the contributions of all those figures, such as Imi Lichtenfeld, who helped develop Israeli MartialArts.

We have looked at the unfolding of historical events around the development of Israeli Martial arts as accurately as ispossible at this time. We recognize the various stages of it!s development and therefore we can attribute changes andadjustments to all those who played a role in the process of developing Israeli Martial Arts. In light of historical facts,we see Imi for who he was, a pivotal figure in the transition from Kapap to Krav Maga and he is the originator ofcivilianKrav Maga.

Finally - What Are We Trying to Say?

Meet The Expert:

Noah Gross, ACT (Armed Combat Tactics)Noah Gross has been practicing martial arts for most

of his life. Over twenty of those years were dedicated

to studying and teaching Bujinkan Ninjutsu in which

he holds the rank of sixth Dan. In the late 1990's he

became involved with Western Martial arts and at the

same time began doing research on the development

of hand to hand combat in pre-state Israel. Western

martial arts led Noah to Alexander Zhelezniak

together with whom he co-founded ACT - Armed

combat and Tactics. In 2010 he published his

research in a book titled "Kapap: From the Field to the

Battlefield" and is currently working on publishing it in

English. Noah can be contacted at

Noahsarc3960@gmail.com.

Source: Noah Gross

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CURRENT

According to the American NationalCenter on Domestic and Sexual Violence,one in every four women will be sexuallyassaulted during her lifetime. This statisticprompted the Ohio State Police to createa specific self defense training programfor women, the Rape AggressionDefense.It is a program of realistic self-defensetactics for women...that begins withawareness, prevention, risk reduction andrisk avoidance, while progressing on the

basics of hands-on defense training", writes The Lantern, the Ohio State University magazine.According to Ohio State Police 90 percent of self defense is mental and being aware of surroundingscan often prevent attacks. Additionally, while the usual arsenal used in Krav Maga as well - awareness,fists, elbows and knees - are fantastic tools, the greatest, most natural weapon is actually your voice.If you!re yelling, you!re breathing. If you!re breathing, you!re alive", advises Police Officer CassandraShaffer.

The Scream - A Womans Best Weapon?

Introducing: Lehima Meshulevet

Lehima Meshulevet (Combined Martial Arts) originated in Israel in 1985. It wasfounded by Eli Elimelech who trained in full contact Karate for many years.Lehima Meshulevet, which is only formally taught in Israel, differ from otherIsraeli martial arts by not limiting itself to one way of thinking. Whereas theothers have a set method of training, thinking and moving, Lehima Meshulevet

encourages its trainees to keep their eyes and ears open and absorb any newskill and information they think is valuable from other sources.Simply put, take and learn from all the other martial arts out there and try in abest way possible to merge only the best elements from all those martial artsinto Lehima Meshulevet.Aside from the obvious physical benefits of becoming stronger, faster andmore able, be it for day to day physical labor or simply for self-defense, themain benefit is a mental/spiritual one, say two LM Black Belts, RonenEdelshtein (pictured) and Nir Ainbeender.The most important thing for any Combined Martial Arts sensei is to teach hisstudents to be better human beings first, and only then better martial artist.Our students can attest that training in Combine Martial Arts have helped themface mental challenges not only during their training, but also in facing tests atschool, pressure at work and other obstacles and struggles one faces in hislife.

Lehima Meshulevet: Ten Commandments

1. It is not shameful to fear before a match. Fear is the best friend for any reasonable athlete.

2. A professional is he/she who keeps doing what he needs regardless of what he feels inside.

3. Use your fear. Let it fire your resolve.

4. In the ring, only one can win. When you enter the ring you must know that you are the winner because you have woken up earlier,

ran farther, fought harder and trained better than your opponent.5. If you allow yourself to lose your concentration, you allow yourself to fail.

6. Victory starts the moment you truly decide you are deserving of it.

7. The strong and the weak are discovered during the hardest battles, and only you decide how you will be discovered.

8. A champion is he/she who can overcome himself during his hardest moments.

9. The fire in the eyes, this is what differ those who come to participate in the competition from those come to win it.

10. What is the difference between a hero and cowards? On the surface there is no difference; both are afraid of getting hurt or die. But

on under the surface, the first takes the initiative and acts, which makes him the hero; while the latter does nothing, which makes

him a coward.

Next Issue

April 2013:

All Those ThingsWe Couldn!t Fit

in Now -Edition

Women and

Krav Maga:

Patronizing or

Empowerment?

How are you

likely to be

attacked on the

street? We have

the evidence.

The Knockout:

Punch v. Krav

Maga technique.

A real life story.

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