Krav Maga (culture post)

[Elliott Hammer]

I watched an episode of Human Weapon (great show) on the history channel about an Israeli martial art. Basically the show follows two martial artists who (one MMA and one Wrestler/ex Football player) as they go around the world and learn about different martial arts, training in them for a few weeks each and then facing off against the experts of that martial art. The martial art from this episode is the Israeli Krav Maga (literally meaning "close-combat"). This is a mixed martial art and uses elements of Karate, Jujitsu and several other techniques. The main difference between Krav Maga and most other martial arts is that it is adjusted for real life combat, meaning life or death situations. This means that the moves are meant to do the most damage possible in the smallest amount of time, and kill if possible. All citizens go through army training in Israel, which means they all learn Krav Maga. It is used in the streets by police and bodyguards, and an adapted version (one that includes using the M-16 assault rifle as a close combat weapon) is used in the armed forces. It was developed in part by an Uzbeki man who witnessed how the Jews got beaten up and abused in his country by Nazis and Nazi sympathizers. He realized that the wrestling and boxing fighting techniques of his country were not enough to fight off a mob or armed assaults. Krav Maga is meant to be useful against multiple attackers and armed attackers, especially when you don't have a weapon to start out with.