5 Reasons I Choose Krav Maga

1. Pragmatism

Krav Maga has been called the deadliest and most effective self-defense system because its roots lie in a pragmatism forged in response to an ancient hatred. In the 1930s, when national socialists began a series of antisemitic riots that targeted Jewish communities, Imi Lichtenfeld knew that a new form of defense was needed – one with no rules. Krav Maga is a logical way of doing things based on dealing with specific situations rather than theoretical ideas. The enemies that came to the neighborhoods in Bratislava had no rules, no honor, and no reason. They came with crude weapons, brute strength, and hatred – and they made no distinction between man, woman, or child. The Jewish communities needed a pragmatic way to protect themselves and their loved ones. Master Imi Lichtenfeld forged a fighting system that would allow them to ensure that the promise “never again” would become a reality.

Now, decades after Imi Lichtenfeld taught the Haganah (a precursor to the Israel Defense Forces), his self-defense system is taught worldwide to communities seeking to protect themselves. Krav Maga is particularly effective because there is only one rule: get home safe. While Krav Maga stresses the importance of de-escalation strategies, we are taught that if we have no choice but to fight, we must ensure that we incapacitate the enemy, so they cannot hunt us down and punish us for fighting back. As a small woman, the appeal is obvious. Statistics show that when women fight back, the punishment is far more severe – many times, the penalty can be deadly. One of the first things all Krav Maga practitioners are taught is: “You must be willing to do what is necessary. No one is allowed to touch you without your permission. If they take your space, you will reclaim it. You must not hesitate – if they start the fight, you finish it.”


2. Accessibility

I have worked with survivors of assault, trafficking, and gender-based violence worldwide. The beautiful thing about Krav Maga is that anyone can do it – no matter their size, strength, or ability. Every move in Krav Maga has been built on the instinct of a human being. Moreover, the Israel Defense Forces who teach Krav Maga test their moves by trying them out on the smallest soldier available. A dear friend of my husband’s is a veteran of an elite unit who later founded his own Krav Maga company in Atlanta. He once told me: “We laden the soldier down with all of their gear, weapons, and supplies and attack them – if they can complete the technique efficiently, we keep it in the curriculum. If not, we scrap it.”

Krav Maga was developed for a vulnerable minority community under siege regularly. This unique form of evolution – and the unique threats that face the Israel Defense Forces – makes Krav Maga ruthlessly efficient and accessible to even the slightest individual. The practitioners of Krav Maga today are constantly experimenting, applying the methods to new scenarios, analyzing attacks, and learning to respond faster and more effectively to emerging threats. I have seen men, women, and children as young as three implement techniques under pressure. I have seen senior citizens with walkers and canes fight back.

3. Adaptability

One of the most frustrating answers for new Krav Maga practitioners is the answer: “it depends.” Yet the nature of Krav Maga is rooted firmly in the need to adapt to rapidly changing emergencies. Krav Maga wasn’t built for a ring or an arena; it was built based on real-life street-based situations, including but not limited to hostage situations, stabbing and carjacking attacks, active shooter scenarios, armed robbery, assault by multiple attackers, and suicide bombings. Krav Maga has been forced to evolve along with the enemy. Practitioners of Krav Maga are under constant threat of an opponent who respects no creed, idealizes violence, and does not play by the rules – so by necessity, they must be prepared to adapt. Good Krav Maga masters and instructors worldwide constantly evolve based on evolving threats. Krav Maga is, by necessity, evolutionary and revolutionary.


4. Realistic

I have practiced Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, and some Aikido and Karate – but I came to Krav Maga because I was headed to Iraq, and I knew I needed something that would force me to face every possible reality I could encounter. I have a deep love and respect for other fighting systems – but none of them had presented me with the situations I would deal with in a country facing an enemy like ISIS. At the time I was scheduled to fly to Iraq, ISIS was still terrorizing the cities in the region. It occurred to me that perhaps I needed an instructor who had faced an opponent less polite and honorable than the ones I had encountered in my training. A friend recommended Krav Maga precisely because of the emphasis on handling the situations I was concerned about.

In my first week at Krav Maga Experts, I not only dealt with instructors who were former security operatives and experts, but I also dealt with situations I had never even considered. I learned how to deal with a knife threat on the ground (with a large man on top of me), an attack from a blunt object, a knife attack from multiple angles, and the most effective weak points in the body to exploit to inflict the maximum amount of pain that would allow me to escape. Naturally, I was hooked. I should stress that my appreciation for Krav Maga was not because they taught me how to hurt someone – my appreciation had everything to do with the brutal honesty of the techniques. I am no stranger to the ugliness of this world – I have seen some of the worst examples of humanity in existence. Finding a fighting system that prepares you to handle the most brutal, invasive, life-threatening attacks the human mind can conceive did more to help me than almost anything in my life.

My teachers came from all around the world, from many backgrounds. I trained with Israelis (including my husband, who taught not only IDF special forces but also US Marines), veteran soldiers who had been exposed to terror attacks, a remarkable Danish instructor who went on to found his own school, women like me who work with women at risk and vulnerable populations in the LGBTQ community, former and current security personnel and more. I met a community of people dedicated to making a difference in their communities. Best of all – the people I partnered with were humble and helpful.


5. Inheritance

I’ve mentioned that Krav Maga was born out of necessity for Jewish communities under the threat of death. I haven’t said how it has been an empowering, life-altering force in communities around the world. What started as a practical response to murderous riots against Jewish people became the most effective self-defense system practiced by communities under siege worldwide. Our inheritance as Krav Maga practitioners is to spread the power of Krav Maga to those who wish to walk in peace and keep their communities safe from harm. As both student and teacher, I have worked with men and women from every background imaginable. Krav Maga is found on all continents and taught in all languages.

I have been repeatedly inspired by my husband (and my mentor) Raz Chen, a living representative of the values of both the IDF, for whom he taught and Imi Lichtenfeld. Raz instills in everyone the responsibility to uphold the values of Master Imi Lichtenfeld and act solely in defense of ourselves and our loved ones. When a wave of violent, antisemitic attacks began to escalate in our communities steadily, I began teaching for Guardian Self Defense, a donor funder movement whose goal is to remove all barriers to life-saving training and make it accessible, affordable and sustainable to anyone who seeks it. GSD was our community response to ignorance and violence – and I cannot help but feel that Imi is watching us with immense pride as we proudly carry the torch he lit so many decades ago. We banded together and created a movement with tangible results rather than argue with trolls and antisemites online who cloak their bigotry in lecherous self-righteousness. We train hundreds of people every week. Many of our students are survivors of antisemitic hatred, and they inspire others to join us and fight back.

I also volunteer with Brave, an organization founded in the wake of hundreds of attacks against the Asian communities. Brave is a grassroots-funded movement dedicated to offering self-defense classes to at-risk communities in NYC and LA. We have since provided free self-defense training to hundreds of men, women, and children. One of the fantastic side effects of volunteering with Brave was meeting different martial artists from Karate, Muay Thai, and Jiu-Jitsu. After each class, we would stay and train together to see what could be applied in different situations. I experiment with different styles today, including Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. Since I began teaching, I have doubled my training because I want to offer the very best to the communities I work with on a daily basis. The best teachers are always students first and foremost – we always have something to learn, and good coaches are always willing to learn. Every tool in our toolbox helps strengthen (and humble) us.

A final note: intent is everything.

I chose Krav Maga because it is the form best suited to the threats I face – and my community faces – on a regular basis, but I stayed because of the remarkable mindset it offers. One of the lessons seared into my mind from the very beginning was the importance of intention. A remarkable instructor I trained within Israel sat me down before we began and explained the necessity of understanding the intent behind my response. That word was repeated to me again and again as he had me respond to every threat imaginable – including chasing me around a dark bomb shelter with a (fake) knife. The simulation was realistic enough that I can still feel my heart pounding in my throat, still hear the breathing in the dark, still feel the strength of my block against his wrist as the knife came rushing towards my face. The intention is everything – because if you don’t intend to do what it takes to survive – you won’t.

I want to dedicate my first article to my husband Raz and all of my teachers for their patience and support and thank my students for teaching me as much as I teach them. Here is to many more hours of empowering and educating one another.