Israeli Martial Arts

Krav maga is the best known of the Israeli martial arts, and is actually less of a martial art and more of a self defense system. It was created for use on the streets of the Jewish quarter during a period of high anti-Semitism in Bratislava by Imi Lichtenfeld. It has been adapted for modern day use in Israeli fighting troops, and even for use in self defense by common people.

Krav maga also sees use in many films and TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the movie Enough with Jennifer Lopez.

The Kapap system is lesser known than krav maga and was developed in the late 1930s, within the Jewish Aliyah camps. This was done as part of training to prepare the troops for their arrival in Palestine.

Rather than a fighting system, kapap evolved into a concept of fighting, due to the fighting skills development that it gave the practitioner.

It was primarily considered a practical skill set for Palmach fighters.

Kapap was officially abandoned by the military due to its lack of practical use and is now difficult to learn except by old, outdated materials. The best source for learning Israeli martial arts is to investigate krav maga, which carries over a lot of its earliest concepts and has been appropriated for modern day use.

Krav maga is a simple, effective fighting system for hand to hand combat and sees wide practice among martial artists all over the world.

You can even learn krav maga online.