Welcome to Federation of Israeli Martial Arts

See History of Israeli defense. In Hebrew Krav Maga means Contact-Combat. It is a military self-defense and fighting system developed for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Krav Maga grew out of Kapap – the original self-defense system in Israel. The terms were used interchangeably for several years and by the 1960’s Krav Maga became its own system. Hungarian-born Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld greatly contributed to Krav Maga when he was a Kapap instructor and then became head of the Krav Maga division. When he retired, Imi established the first civilian school of Krav Maga. Krav focuses on real-world situations, practicality, efficiency, and instinct. It was initially a blended system of boxing, wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, Judo and Karate. The emphasis in Krav Maga is a philosophy of aggression, simultaneous defense and offense and continuous movements until the opponent is unable to continue. The other facet of Krav Maga that makes it different from most martial arts is its emphasis on simplicity of movement and that it is easy to teach and quick to learn. There are many organizations, associations and federations. Most have similar techniques.

South African born, 9th Dan Black Belt, Dr. Dennis Hanover emigrated to Israel in 1960. He was a specialist in several traditional martial arts including Judo, Jiujitsu, and Kyukoshinkai Karate (under founder Mas Oyama). Hanover developed Hisardut (Survival) as a blended system applying them to real-life threats and challenges. He taught Israeli Special Forces units a more advanced close combat method than the Krav Maga program taught to regular IDF troops. Several elite Israeli military units have been trained in Hisardut including Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal), Naval Commandos (Shayetet 13), Anti-terrorist Unit (Yamom) and border patrol riot suppression teams (Mishmar Hagvul). In Israel, civilian Hisardut programs are named Dennis Hisardut. There are a growing number of Hisardut organizations, associations and styles.

Kapap - first CQB training and combat doctrine introduced in Israeli history, made up of a combination of several fighting styles such as boxing, judo, jujitsu, combat with knife, gun and rifle. The emphasis is put on fighting empty handed against each of these weapons, and weapon against weapon. Kapap is suitable for all fighting fields and enables the warrior to overcome any kind of fighting and prepares him to almost any possible situation. Kapap slowly evolved into Krav Maga. Mid 1960s, the term Kapap mostly disappeared from common usage. Kapap is not a sport nor is it competitive; it is also not a martial art but a great mean of self-defense. The Kapap warrior is a fast, precise and lethal fighting machine. Kapap is made suitable to different levels of the learners: children, teenagers, adults, policemen, soldiers, security and armed forces personnel and bodyguards.

A Kapap person is prepared for any situation against any kind of weapon. He will know how to defend himself and his surroundings against any form of attack which puts him or his environment in danger. He will be able to operate, shall the need arise, with excellent skills, different kinds of weapons and firearms. A Kapap warrior knows he will never compete, never receive a medal or trophy when he overcomes an opponent. However, he will gain his life which is the true reward.

Strategies and techniques for disarming along with proper use of weapons, infiltration and sabotage tactics are incorporated. In 1999 Kapap started being taught in an organized manner. Many martial arts lost their fighting effectiveness and became soft in order to meet the needs of sports competitions. Kapap came back in light of the terrible security situation and street crime which created the need for real self-defense techniques.

Former Haganah and IDF instructor Haviv Galisko started teaching modern Kapap in Israel in 1999. The late Haviv Galisko was born and raised in Jerusalem. Haviv was a member of the Hagana one of the "defenders" and road openers of the city of Jerusalem. A soldier in the Moriah regiment, he fought and was wounded twice during the "Kattamon" and the "St. Simon" monastery battles. Haviv was one of the first Kapap instructors in the "Hagana". He learned the secrets of the art of defense from a British sergeant as well as from his brother Moshe who served as a brigade soldier who fought in Greece, Italy and Libya and died during the inroad to Jerusalem. Haviv Galisko became a Kapap trainer for the Hagana and then for the IDF after Israel became a state. After being wounded, Haviv went on training Kapap at the the YMCA in Jerusalem. He then moved to Be'er Sheva where he continued to teach his firstborn Moshe-Hai Galisko. In 1972, he helped his son Moshe open the first Kapap and Karate Training Club. From 1979 to 1981, Moshe taught Kapap in the city of Yamit in the Gaza Strip. From 1987 until the day he passed away (2005), Haviv helped his son run the Center for Martial Arts in Isael and begin to establish a presence for Kapap around the world. Today GM Moshe Galisko is the President of the International Kapap Association and the FIMA International Director for Kapap.

Kapap instructors in Israel today train Israel Defense Forces, in addition to specialized armed forces units such as the Yamam and Shabak as well as various elite units. Today Kapap is taught in over 32 countries and enjoys a wide following.

LOTAR - acronym for the Israeli counter-terrorist school Lochama B”Terror – Combating terrorism. Includes hand-to-hand combat systems related to Krav Maga and Kapap. Not a specific martial art but rather a general term describing the means, tactics and strategies that the Israeli government uses to combat terrorism. This includes stress training, improvised weapons, knives, sticks, guns, explosives, infiltration, and sabotage. The Israeli special police unit known as Yamam (established in 1974) deals with terrorism and criminal violence and has been referred to as Lotar – unit that fights terror. Like other Israeli self-defense styles, Lotar is based on instinctive tactics utilizing real-life situations as its foundation. Historically, Lotar, like Krav Maga, was a replacement in some branches of the Israeli military and police for the original Kapap training. Today, Lotar is marketed outside of Israeli as a martial arts style and over the past several years, a few branches and Lotar organizations have started to appear in the USA and Europe.

The modern Israeli martial art of Haganah is different and distinct from the original name of the Israeli Defense Forces. It was created in the United States by Israeli Special Forces Commando – Golani Brigade, Mike Lee Kanarek. Like all Israeli styles, Haganah is a hybrid Israeli Martial Art, mostly an equal blend of Krav Maga self-defense techniques and Hisardut fighting techniques. Haganah adds Lotar techniques used by Israeli Special Forces and functional Combat Sports Martial Arts practiced in the US. Kanarek was trained in Hisardut by FIMA co-founder Moti Horenstein and Shihan Miki Erez, both of whom trained directly under Hisardut founder Professor Dennis Hanover. Like all other Israeli styles, Haganah focuses on mental toughness, preparedness and worst-case scenarios.

Kavanah means focus, purpose, mindfulness in Hebrew. It is also an acronym for Krav ve Haganah (Fight and Defend in Hebrew). FIMA co-founder GM Naftali Yehuda founded Kavanah and like all the other modern Israeli styles, is a blended system with both Israeli and Asian components. GM Yehuda, a lifelong traditional martial artist with instructor certifications in several martial arts is a certified instructor in Krav Maga, Kapap/Lotar (with Avi Nardia and Chaim Peer) and Hisardut (with Moti Horenstein and Miki Erez). This system has been taught to US Marines and Navy as well as in the Israeli Special Forces – Egoze unit in the IDF as well as civilians. Kavanah emphasizes appropriate responses to varying threat levels making it highly relevant for civilian use. In addition, Kavanah incorporates ten Tenets by which to live and eight critical “C” words by which the principles of Kavanah are built – the total “18” is Chai - which means “Life” in Hebrew.