Imi Lichtenfeld: The Man Behind Krav Maga

Imi Lichtenfeld is the man behind what we now know as Krav Maga  a practical, no-frills self-defence system designed for real situations, not theory. Born in 1910 in Budapest, Imi spent his life creating and refining a method that strips away the fluff and focuses on what works when it matters most. Today, Krav Maga Global UK and other organisations carry forward the approach he built: efficient, instinctive, and rooted in reality.

Imi’s early life shaped everything that came later. After World War I, his family moved to what’s now Bratislava, where his father  a former circus acrobat and senior police officer ran a gym. There, Imi was introduced to disciplined physical training and the core idea that self-defence should be practical, adaptable, and effective.

He wasn’t just a thinker, Imi was an athlete. A serious one. He became a national champion in wrestling, boxing, swimming and gymnastics. By 1929, he’d won adult titles in two weight divisions. These experiences gave him a clear understanding of the gap between sport and survival, something that would define his approach to self-defence later on.

Things changed fast in the 1930s. As anti-Semitic violence surged in Bratislava, Imi and other Jewish athletes were forced to step in and defend their community from fascist gangs. It was here that Krav Maga really started to take shape. He realised sport rules didn’t apply in the street. He began developing a system that worked under pressure, fast, aggressive counter-attacks based on natural reactions and clear decisions. These weren’t techniques for the ring, they were tools for staying alive.

In 1940, with Europe becoming more dangerous by the day, Imi boarded a ship bound for Palestine. The journey wasn’t smooth — the ship wrecked, and he eventually arrived in 1942 after serving in the Czechoslovak army under British command. Combat experience in North Africa only sharpened his understanding of what people need in high-stress, high-risk environments: simple techniques, trained under pressure.

By 1944, he was training fighters in the Haganah, the Jewish defence organisation. After Israel was founded, he became the Chief Instructor for Physical Training and Krav Maga in the Israel Defence Forces. Over 20 years, he shaped what became the military Krav Maga system, designed to be learned quickly and applied under extreme stress.

After retiring from the military in 1964, Imi focused on teaching civilians and law enforcement. His goal stayed the same: a system that anyone regardless of size, age or fitness could learn and use to protect themselves. He opened schools in Tel Aviv and Netanya, and in 1978 helped create the Israeli Krav Maga Association to protect the quality and integrity of the system.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Krav Maga began to spread outside Israel. In the UK, Krav Maga Global (KMG) grew into the leading organisation, directly linked to Imi through his top student, Eyal Yanilov. Under Eyal, the system has evolved to meet new needs but it still sticks to the core principles Imi laid down: simplicity, adaptability and effectiveness.

Imi passed away in 1998 in Netanya, but his legacy is everywhere in Krav Maga today. Every time we train under pressure, deal with aggression realistically, or prepare mentally as well as physically, we’re building on what he started.

For us at Krav Maga Global UK, Imi’s story is more than history  it’s a reminder of what we’re aiming for. He took everything he’d learned from sport, from the street, from the battlefield  and turned it into something people could use to stay safe. That’s what Krav Maga is all about. Survival. Confidence. Control. And the ability to protect what matters.