Imi Lichtenfeld facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Imi Lichtenfeldאימי ליכטנפלד |
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Lichtenfeld (left) with disciple Yaron Lichtenstein
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| Born | Imrich Lichtenfeld 26 May 1910 Budapest, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 9 January 1998 (aged 87) Netanya, Israel |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Style | Krav Maga |
| Notable students | Eyal Yanilov, Darren Levine, Haim Gidon |
Imrich "Imi" Lichtenfeld (also known as Imi Sde-Or) was a famous martial artist. He was born in Hungary and later became an Israeli citizen. Imi is best known for creating Krav Maga, which is a special Israeli self-defense system.
Early Life and Sports Achievements
Imi Lichtenfeld was born on May 26, 1910, in Budapest. At that time, Budapest was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family later moved to a city called Pressburg. Today, this city is known as Bratislava.
Imi's father, Samuel Lichtenfeld, was a police chief inspector. He was also a former circus acrobat. Imi grew up learning self-defense at his father's gym. The gym was called Hercules Gymnasium.
From a young age, Imi was a very successful athlete. He was good at swimming, boxing, wrestling, and gymnastics. He competed in many national and international events. He even became a champion wrestler for Slovakia.
In 1928, Imi won the Slovak Youth Wrestling Championship. The next year, in 1929, he won the adult championship. He won in both the light and middleweight categories. That same year, he also won the national boxing championship. Plus, he won an international gymnastics championship.
Developing Krav Maga: Self-Defense for Real Life
In the late 1930s, Jewish people in Bratislava faced a lot of danger. There were groups causing trouble for them. Imi and other Jewish boxers and wrestlers decided to help. They worked together to protect their Jewish neighborhood.
Imi quickly realized that sports fighting was very different from real street fights. He started to create a new system. This system focused on practical ways to defend oneself. It was for dangerous situations where lives could be at risk.
In 1935, Imi traveled to Mandatory Palestine for a wrestling competition. He was going to compete in the Maccabiah Games. But he broke a rib during training on the way there. This injury taught him an important lesson. He learned that you should 'not get hurt while training.' This became a key rule in Krav Maga.
Imi went back to Czechoslovakia, where the danger for Jewish people was growing. He organized a group of young Jewish people. Their goal was to protect their community. From these street experiences, he learned a lot. He understood the big differences between sports and real fighting.
He developed a main rule for self-defense. It was to 'use natural movements and reactions' to defend yourself. Then, you should immediately and strongly counterattack. This idea grew into a more detailed theory. It was about 'simultaneous defense and attack.' This means defending and attacking at the same time. Also, you should 'never occupy two hands in the same defensive movement.'
In 1940, Imi had to leave Slovakia because of the rise of Nazism. He headed for Palestine on a ship called the Pencho. The ship was wrecked near the Dodecanese Islands. Imi finally reached Palestine in 1942. Before that, he served bravely with a British-supervised Czech army unit in North Africa.
In 1944, Imi began teaching his skills to fighters. These fighters were part of the Haganah. The Haganah was a Jewish defense organization. He taught them physical fitness, swimming, wrestling, and how to use and defend against knives. He trained special units of the Haganah. He also trained groups of police officers.
In 1948, the State of Israel was created. The IDF (Israel's army) was formed. Imi became the Chief Instructor for Physical Fitness and Krav Maga. He worked at the IDF School of Combat Fitness. He served in the IDF for about 20 years. During this time, he made his unique self-defense method even better.
Later Life and Teaching Krav Maga
After leaving the military in 1964, Imi continued to teach Krav Maga. He changed it so it could be used by police forces and everyday people. He made the method simple enough for everyone. It was designed for men, women, boys, and girls. It could help anyone survive an attack with as little harm as possible.
To share his method, Imi opened two training centers. One was in Tel Aviv and the other in Netanya. He trained many Krav Maga instructors. These instructors were approved by him and the Israeli Ministry of Education.
Imi also created two important organizations. On October 22, 1978, he started the Israeli Krav Maga Association (IKMA). Later, in 1995, he founded the International Krav Maga Federation.
Imi Lichtenfeld passed away on January 9, 1998, in Netanya, Israel. He was 87 years old. He is buried in the Netanya Shikun Vatikim Cemetery.
