Page 15 - Complete Krav maga : the ultimate guide to over 250 self-defense and combative techniques

When not on the trail of violent felons, Samuel taught self-defense techniques at
Hercules, Bratislava’s first gym, which he owned. In training, Samuel constantly
emphasized the need for proper moral conduct in dealing with the public and
with suspects.

In the 1930s, Imi honed his fighting skills in the streets of Bratislava, protecting
himself and other Jews from local fascist thugs. He took part in numerous fights

to prevent anti-Semitic mobs from terrorizing the Jewish community in the city.
These fights sharpened Imi’s awareness of the difference between sport and
street fighting. It was at this time that the seeds of Krav Maga were planted in
his mind.

By the late 1930s, Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Germany had turned Europe into a

battlefield and made it a perilous place for Jews. Imi’s fights to protect his
family and neighbors from anti-Semitism rapidly made him unpopular with the
local authorities, and he was forced to leave in 1940.

After several years of travel, he arrived in Israel, which was then called
Palestine. He joined the Haganah, a paramilitary organization fighting for Jewish
independence. During this time he taught other soldiers basic hand-to-hand

fighting skills, and his reputation grew.

In 1948, the State of Israel was born. The fledgling Israeli government asked Imi
to develop an effective fighting system, which later became codified as the Krav
Maga system. The Haganah was eventually incorporated into the Israeli Defense
Force (IDF), and Imi became the military school’s chief instructor for physical
training and Krav Maga.

This history of Imi and Israel is important for anyone interested in understanding
the nature of Krav Maga training. From the moment it was born, the State of
Israel was at war with its neighbors. Israel needed to field an army immediately,
sending soldiers into battle with minimal training and no time for retraining or
refresher courses. For this reason, combat techniques had to be easy to learn and
easy to remember under stress, even if the soldier had not had training in a

significant amount of time. In addition, the IDF was sending into battle soldiers
of all ages and abilities, from 18-year-old warriors to 40-year-old farmers. The
combat system had to be accessible to a wide variety of soldiers, not just athletes
in their prime.

Imi’s solution was to base the self-defense portion of his combat techniques on

the body’s natural instincts. Instead of deciding what he wanted the soldier to do,