The meteoric rise of Krav Maga

'It's our treasure'

"I see the difference in a soldier before and after his first Krav Maga training," says Nimni.

"It builds his confidence, he clutches his weapon less, he realizes he's less dependent on it."

The training sessions－around 20 over a period of six months for combat soldiers, but fewer for those in a non-fighting role－are a mandatory part of military service, which in Israel is compulsory.

The system was developed by a Hungarian Jew called Imi Lichtenfeld. With Nazism and Fascism on the rise in 1930s Europe, he gathered around him a group of young Jews whom he wanted to train in self-defence.

Fleeing Europe in the early 1940s, he joined the Israeli army in 1948 where he tried to develop a method of self-defence that was simple, effective and quick to learn in order to meet the military's needs.

Krav Maga immediately become part of the army's doctrine, and has evolved over the years in line with the needs and feedback of soldiers in the field.

In the 1980s, Lichtenfeld instructed his protege Eli Avikzar to take Krav Maga onto the international stage.

Several foreign militaries have since adopted the method, recruiting former Israeli army instructors to teach their troops.

"Within a few years, Krav Maga has become extremely widespread, but it is our treasure, we are proud of it and we protect it," says Nimni who hasn't yet decided whether he would be willing to "export" his skills abroad.