The goal of Krav Maga was, and is, to protect people. We have the same goals as we teach at Monster X Camp in Grapevine and Keller. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Noah Gross, Israeli researcher, martial arts history.
These are his words on the history of Krav Maga
Q: Who were the most influential martial arts instructors in Israel at the time of the development the Kapap? (This preceeded Krav Maga)
A: There were many instructors of Kapap in the 1940′s but I’d have to say that there were, only a hand full who formulated the core of Kapap as an approach as well as the content. They would have to be Gershon Kopler (Jujutsu and Boxing), Yehuda Markus (Jujutsu/Judo) and Maishel Hurwitz (Short stick and walking stick methods). Another name worth mentioning is Yitzhak Shtibel (Boxing).
Q: Could you tell us what was Kapap based on and who could teach it?
A: At the time, back in the 1940′s, Kapap was not an integrated system like Krav Maga is today, there was no grand master or head of the system. It was rather a paramilitary and then military approach to training combatants in hand to hand combat. Instructors could be trained in one of several disciplines included in Kapap or all of them. They taught Jujutsu, Boxing, Knife fighting, short stick method, walking stick method, stone throwing and Bayonet. Over the years the courses evolved and material was formalized into set lessons for instructors to teach according to manuals. So you could have an instructor teaching after 2 months of training while at the same time you could have another instructor with several years of experience the level of proficiency varied a great deal. The head instructors such as Gershon Kopler, Yehuda. Imi Side had a lot of experience in wrestling and boxing and self defense still from his days in Bratislava. Then he served as an instructor in the Palmach for several years after which he was inducted into the I.D.F & continued to serve as an instructor. By 1948 he was already very well respected & considered one of the leading instructors of Kapap w/a focus on Jujutsu/knife. Over the next decade between 1948 & 1958 Imi became the lead instructor of Kapap – Krav Maga.
Q: Was Imi the developer of the concept “Krav Maga”? If not, who was?
A: This is an interesting question with a complex answer. First we must ask what are the concepts of Krav Maga and more importantly when were they formalized? Krav Maga has had several phases of development some of which are easy to recognize and define and others which are harder to define. One way of looking at it is as follows, and this only a general schematic division of time.
• The first stage would be Kapap from 1940 – 1948/second stage would be Kapap – Krav Maga 1948-1958/third stage would be Krav Maga 1958-1964/And the next would be civilian krav Maga1964 and on.
Of course it did not stop then but for this discussion it’s less important.
What is critical to understand is that Imi came into an organization that was heavily into hand to hand combat and already had a formalized training method with a defined curriculum in the various disciplines of hand to hand combat. This organization had a structure and hierarchy of command very much like a small army or a large special-forces unit. Imi was integrated into this structure as part of it not something separate, so while he did have an influence on it so to was he influenced by it.
Given the known material documentation of the concepts behind Kapap and the curriculum taught, there is no evidence that Imi made any significant or major contribution to its formulation up until 1948.It had in fact well defined concepts and formalized methods by 1942 the time of his arrival in Israel. Then when examining the material taught in the I.D.F during the early and mid 1950′s it becomes clear that the material is based on the Kapap of the 1940′s. Although the term Krav Maga starts being used in official documents in late 1948 it is not to be mistaken as signifying any changes in approach to hand to hand combat nor in the material being taught. In fact both names Kapap and Krav Maga are used on official documents interchangeably as late as 1958. Even when in 1953 a committee is formed with the purpose of reviewing the material being taught in hand to hand combat or Krav Maga it is asked to choose 35 main techniques from the broader curriculum. This reflects a change in approach from much higher up in the military hierarchy at the planning level were an analysis of the needs of the military are made and it is decided to slim down the amount of material being taught. Imi’s significance during the 1950′s is based more on his being the most experienced instructor and much less on any kind of innovation and reformulation of Krav Maga. At the same time one should be aware that the process of change is constant, the military is constantly changing in its analysis of threats adjustment of its forces to address those threats and the adjustment of the training material and methods for its soldiers. This includes hand to hand combat as well. In addition when a person is training and teaching the same material over extended periods of time there is also a process of adjustment and modification. Given these two facts and the knowledge that Imi was working with this material from 1942 to 1960 one can expect that he would have made changes and adjustments. When examining what was taught as Krav Maga in 1960 in the I.D.F it is evident that Imi did bring in some concepts that were not present in the early 1950′s. Of note is the term 360 defense. Aside from the great respect Imi is due for being a hand to hand combat instructor in the Palmach and I.D.F and leading its instruction in the I.D.F in the late 1950′s until his retirement, his choice of teaching it to civilians is of great significance. The process of working with the material and adjusting and modifying it continued in the civilian version of Krav Maga headed by Imi well into the 1980′s. This phase I am far less familiar with so I will not comment on it.
Q: It is said that Imi took already existing techniques from other systems such as boxing and wrestling and adapted them, what do you think about this?
A: This is an interesting point I find a little ironic.
Kapap which is what Krav Maga was born out of was based on Jujutsu/Judo, Boxing and knife and stick. So from its beginning it had at its disposal all of what these disciplines had to offer. Over time the curriculum was slimed down to address the needs and limitations of military training. How then can one say that after 20 years of this material being taught and used can someone bring in material from the very same sources it is based on? The only reasonable answer is that now that it was being taught to civilians there was a need for more material, and far less for practical reasons. The system worked fine for the military for more than 20 years without any additions. And in fact when I examine military Krav Maga manuals as late as 1973 almost a decade after civilian Krav Maga started the curriculum is identical in 90% to 1964, 1960 and even 1953.
Q: Why are all the techniques of Krav Maga attributed to Imi while other important figures such as Marcus are forgotten?
A: I think this happened for several reasons. By the time Imi retired he was viewed as Krav Maga, the people who knew him in the army, soldiers, officers and commanders and those who knew him from the Palmach all saw him as the leading figure and authority on hand to hand combat. Back then no one was interested in the history of its development, there were no ranks and belts organizations and grand masters, it was after all a hand to hand combat system in the military and nothing else. So no one was concerned with who developed what and when. This started being an issue many years later and many years after Imi founded civilian Krav Maga. Over time many people forgot the history which from the beginning very few people knew and so it became a fact, Imi invented Krav Maga. no less important is the fact that until 1964 when Imi opened his first civilian club no one cared what the system was called, many knew it as Kapap while others knew it as Krav Maga, and no one thought they were two different systems. Marcus and Kopler and many other instructors died in the 1940′s while other instructors moved on into civilian life and left their past military history behind. By the time I started doing research in 1999 Krav Maga as a civilian system and military system had become so big so wide spread around the world that really no one bothered to question the “official” history given by Krav Maga people who most of the time are simply passing on what they were told.
About Head Instructor and Owner of Monster X Camp and The History of Krav Maga
Through the years, Coach Clay has studied various forms of Martial Arts, beginning with a militaristic form of self defense and
fighting starting at age 4, and then Olympic Tae Kwon Do under world renowned Master Sang Ju Cho. While continuing with his training, he then left the Olympic persuasion of Tae Kwon Do to study American Karate (Tae Kwon Do-Chung Do Kwan), where he was seen even at a very young age to be a stand out amongst all competitors. After American Karate, Coach Clay continued to study in Gendai Goshin-Jitsu, a realistic Japanese form of self defense and fighting. He found that he had great interest in many methods of fighting and self-defense such as Sim-Do, Kenpo, Dai-Ichi Shotokan, Combat methodology Hapkido, Judo, Sambo, Ju-Jitsu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Kali-Escrima, Submission Fighting, and last, but certainly not least, Krav Maga and Haganah Israeli Self Defense, which merely brought Coach Clay back to his roots of fighting and self defense.
( Special thanks to Israeli Krav International and your-Krav-Maga-Expert.com for interview content)
