............................................................................By Jim Wagner..............................................................................
Many of you who read www.realfighting.com are Krav Maga practitioners. Lately some of you may have been hearing about other Israeli martial arts systems that you never even knew existed; terms such as KAPAP, Hisardut, LOTAR, Krav Magen, and others. You may be asking yourself, do these systems even really exist, or are they fabricated to ride the successful coat tails of Krav Maga? Ever since I wrote a feature article for Black Belt magazine about the Israeli martial arts, it has created quite a stir in the Krav Maga communities.
I
found this out just recently when I
went on some of the chat rooms to
catch up on the "chatter"
about the Israeli martial arts. What I
found were a lot of accusations,
people upset that other Israeli
martial arts were cropping up, and a
lot of confusion in general.
Well, since this hornet's nest
seems to have been stirred up by me,
quite unexpectedly I might ad, it is
obvious that I have a responsibility
to shed some light on this Israeli
martial arts controversy.
After all, I'm the one who
introduced the Israeli fighting system
of KAPAP (Krav Panim l'Panim -
face-to-face combat) to the United
States and Canada by bringing Major
Avi Nardia over here to train police
and military units back in 2001 and
2002.
First of all, let me
start by saying that I have trained in
KAPAP, Krav Maga and Hisardut, and I myself
have taught at the Wingate Institute for the
Israeli Defense Forces (Bahad 8) in Netanya,
Israel. This was authorized by the head of
the Krav Maga Department for the IDF, Mr.
"S" (I will keep his name
confidential). I have also taught at the
University of Tel Avi for Lt. Col. Chaim
Peer (a KAPAP/Krav Maga instructor), and I
have taught at the Israel Police Operational
Fitness Academy at Havatselet Hasharon,
Israel, authorized by Colonel Gidy Lind. I
have also spent time interviewing the Who's
Who of the Israeli martial arts, in Israel,
that include Dennis Hanover, Eli Avikazar,
Moni Isaac, Mr. "S," Gaby
Michaeli, Moshik Keidar, and Avi Beier (he
wrote the book SELF DEFENSE which was
published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense
ISBN 965-05-0682-9).
I am probably one of the
few foreigners in the world who has been
allowed to train Israeli police and military
units, and who has had access to not only
the people who shaped the arts, but I have
also visited historical locations associated
with the birth of the Israeli martial arts
such as the Palmach cave. The important
thing to know about me is that I believe
that no single Israeli martial art is above
another. They are all interrelated to one
another, and they are all valuable for those
seeking a "reality-based"
self-defense system. I have met Darren
Lavine (Krav Maga USA), I have trained
extensively with Alon Stivi (Hisardut USA),
and I have trained many Europeans who are in
the International Krav Maga Association.
The bottom line is that everyone I have
mentioned, and every system named, is
excellent, and my goal in researching and
studying the Israeli martial arts was not to
create divisions, but to enrich the system
and to educate practitioners. Although, I
myself have studied a few Israeli systems, I
do not teach any of them. For those who know
me and my work, I teach my own REALITY-BASED
PERSONAL PROTECTION incorporating Israeli
techniques and training methods where
needed. Therefore, I am unbiased when it
comes to reporting and talking about KAPAP,
Krav Maga, Hisardut and other Israeli arts.
Without overlapping my
last Black Belt article, I will give you a
brief, and I do mean brief, history on the
birth of the Israeli martial arts. Prior to
World War II the first term used for
hand-to-hand combat by the underground
Israeli Army called Haganah (the Hebrew word
for defense) was "KAPAP." This
acronym did not point to one particular
system, but referred to a mixture of
rigorous physical conditioning, firearms and
explosives training, radio communications,
wilderness survival training, combat first
aid and foreign language courses (the enemy
languages of German and Arabic). The
hand-to-hand combat training was a
combination of Western fighting systems such
as boxing (London Prize Ring Rules),
Greco-Roman wrestling, and standard British
military knife and baton training.
In the Palmach cave they
even trained extensively with thick 6'
staffs because they were in short supply of
firearms. Another term that was born around
the same time was the term Krav Maga (Krav
meaning combat or fight, and Maga meaning
touch or contact). In context the term means
Contact Fighting. This term was used as a
generic term, like we use the term
"fighting." Some soldiers called
their training KAPAP while others called it
Krav Maga. It is no different than terms
used in today's U.S. military. Some American
military personnel refer to hand-to-hand
combat as "Combatives" while
others call it "Close Combat."
Still other names for it is "Line
Training" or "Defensive
Tactics."
Because my military and
law enforcement training and experience
extends back two decades I understand each
term equally, and they all mean the same
thing to me. To somebody just now getting
into the military they will probably not use
the term "Line Training," because
it was slightly before their time. If you
get down to it, you could split hairs and
say that "Line Training" is more
Marine oriented, and "Combatives"
is originally from the Army, but the
differences will be negligible. The same
holds true for the terms KAPAP and Krav Maga
in the early days (prior to the 1970s).
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War (the Egyptian
and Syrian invasion of Israel), an Israeli
combat commander, Second Lieutenant Moni
Isaac, lost most of his platoon during a
Syrian ambush in the Golan Heights. Only
seven men out of 64 survived. Lt. Isaac had
to be reassigned to another unit. Instead of
sending him to another combat unit, the army
saw the need to develop a program to teach
their soldiers to be better prepared for
hand-to-hand combat, and decided on making
Moni Isaac a training instructor because of
his judo and ju jitsu background (by 18
years old Moni Isaac had won 7 Israeli
championships). Imi Lichtenfeld
(approximately 50 years old at the time) and
Moni Isaac (a mere 20 years old) were placed
together to come up with a basic
hand-to-hand combat program. Imi Lictenfeld
was teaching at the Wingate Institute for
the IDF, but lacked combat experience. Moni
Isaac had the combat experience and the
martial arts background.
The criteria for the
program was that the system had to be
simple, easy-to-learn, take little time to
master, and most of all be combat effective.
With the help of other civilian and military
instructors, Lichtenfeld and Issac
experimented with hundreds of techniques and
training methods at Wingate and at Edmond
Buzglo's martial arts school in Tel Aviv,
who was also a student of Imi Lichtenfeld at
the time.
When the curriculum was finalized the two
men pondered on what to call the new
military system. Imi Lichtenfeld wanted to
call it Krav Maga. Moni Isaac wanted to call
it KAPAP. They were both adamant about
sticking with each name, but finally came to
an agreement. As Moni Isaac told me in an
interview, "Imi wanted it (the name)
simpler and wanted the name Krav Maga. From
that moment on Krav Maga was for the general
army, and KAPAP was for Special
Forces." Once the name was decided upon
Krav Maga would be the official label for
the basic hand-to-hand combat system that
new recruits would learn, along with
follow-on training, and KAPAP would be
synonymous with SF training. Imi Lichtenfeld
is ultimately credited for the creation of
modern Krav Maga because of his senior
status at the time, and because he was the
first official chief instructor of Krav Maga
for Bahad 8. Moni Isaac was more than happy
to stay out of the limelight, for as one of
his students, Joel Gerson put it, "Moni
is intensly private."
Imi Lichtenfeld stayed on with Wingate for
20 years, and also expanded Krav Maga by
teaching it to Israeli citizens with the
help of his top instructor Eli Avikazar; who
at one time was also a military Krav Maga
instructor. Moni Isaac went on to become a
Major in the IDF, then immigrated to Canada
where he was to open up one of the most
successful martial arts schools in Toronto.
Some years later Eli
Avikazar had a doctrinal dispute with Imi
Lichtenfeld, but to this day will not say
what it was all about out of deep respect
for his former master. The result of the
impasse was that Eli Avikazar broke away
from Krav Maga and formed his own offshoot
called Krav Magen (Hebrew for fight shield).
Around 1975 Dennis Hanover, a South African
immigrant to Israel in 1960, contributed to
the Israeli military martial arts in a
significant way. His background was in ju
jitsu and kyokushinkai karate. He was
neither a Krav Maga instructor nor a KAPAP
instructor, but was commissioned by the army
to contribute to the new counter-terrorist
program called LOTAR (deriving its name from
the counter-terrorist school Lochama
Be'Terror), because of his innovative
teaching style. He had created his own
system called Dennis Hisardut (Dennis for
his first name, combined with the Hebrew
word "survival"). For the past
three decades Dennis has trained a wide
variety of government entities, plus
thousands of Israeli citizens. Now in his
60's, Dennis has a thriving martial arts
school in the city of Herzliya.
The goal of any student
is to surpass their master. That's precisely
the story of Avi Nardia. Currently a Reserve
Army Major in the IDF, Avi Nardia is himself
a legend in Israel; not among the civilian
populace, but among the SF units and
specialized police units. His instructors
above him were Chaim Peer, Moni Issac, and
Shukee Ron (a Thai boxer from Holland), not
to mention his own father who was in the
elite unit known as Unit 101 commanded by
Major Ariel Sharon, the current Prime
Minister of Israel The unit was tasked with
infiltrating enemy lines and launching
devastating raids in the 1950s. The
hand-to-hand combat training for the unit
was referred to as KAPAP.
Avi Nardia started his
military career as an active duty Airborne
officer. Within those five years he served
in several combat tours in Lebanon, and
operations along the Syrian, Jordanian and
Egyptian borders. After his military service
Avi Nardia pursued his life-long dream and
studied Japanese karate, ju jitsu and kendo
in Tokyo, Japan for seven years. Returning
to Israel, Avi Nardia joined the secret
counterterrorist unit YAMAM (equivalent to
the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team), which is a
branch of the Israeli Border Police,
nicknamed "the Green Police." For
several years he served as both as an
operator and Kapap/Lotar/Krav Maga
instructor. Any operator who has gone
through his counterterrorist training knows
him as one of the toughest, yet no nonsense,
instructors in all of Israel. He has trained
numerous Israeli and foreign special forces
units.
When I met up with Avi Nardia in 2001 he had
just left the YAMAM and was a Police Tactics
and Defensive Tactics instructor at the
Israel Police Operational Fitness Academy at
Havatselet Hasharon. In fact, just months
before I met him in Jerusalem, he had
ordered one of my video tapes, Police and
Military Edged Weapons Defense, and invited
me to Israel to train the instructor cadre
there. I accepted, and taught a couple of
courses. It was a great experience, and my
Israeli hosts were quite hospitable. In
return the Academy granted me my desire, and
that was to learn Israeli firearms methods
firsthand.
A few months later I had Avi Nardia, and
another operator (who must remain unnamed),
flown out to California to instruct several
law enforcement agencies in Israeli
counterterrorist methods. This was just
before 911, and most of the students thought
Avi was "nuts." Not that his
teaching was not informative or relative to
their jobs, but Americans at that time could
not understand the Israelis' harsh attitude
and methods against terrorism. Students just
shook their heads in unbelief when Avi told
his "war stories." Yet, the
techniques he taught were supreme, and
everyone went away with new
"tools" for their tool bag.
I flew Avi Nardia out to
the United States a second time, and this
time he was accompanied by Uri Kaffe (a
Reserve Police sniper and former Israeli
Border Police sergeant). This was post 911
and everybody took the training a little
closer to heart. Avi and Uri also went to
other states to teach their tactics and
KAPAP.
When Avi Nardia came out for the first time
to the United States in 2001 he had no idea
that Krav Maga was flourishing in this
country and in Europe. He had never heard of
the American instructors who were teaching
the system, and he was actually more curious
on whether the civilian version lined up
with the original military version. On his
second trip to the States he made it a point
to visit some schools that were teaching
Israeli-based styles. The bottom line was
that some schools were, and some were not.
Of course, just like Japanese karate or
Chinese kung-fu, the further you go from the
source the more changes and adaptations take
place.
Avi Nardia was perfectly content living and
working in Israel. However, I suggested,
especially after the wake of 911, that he
come up with a civilian version of KAPAP. At
first he was very reluctant, but a few
months later he phoned me up and started
entertaining the prospects. As a friend, I
told him that I would lend any assistance
that I could. I didn't expect any money, a
cut, or even fanfare. He had shown me a
great time in Israel on a couple of my
trips, and I was extending the same courtesy
to him. To my surprise, Avi told me that he
would come to Los Angeles, take a leave of
absence from the military, and live in the
States for two years to establish his
modified version of KAPAP, and to offer an
expanded version of LOTAR to police and
military units.
Since his arrival several months ago, Avi
Nardia has been teaching his arts to
civilians and government entities alike.
Once he started doing this, many saw him as
a threat. Yet I know Avi, and he does not
bad mouth any system, and certainly not
American Krav Maga. One must not forget that
he too is a Krav Maga instructor certified
by the Israeli Defense Forces. I told him to
forge ahead with his KAPAP plans, because
people would not see him as trying to
replace Krav Maga here in the States, but
merely as offering an add-on system to those
who have studied Krav Maga or Hisardut. It's
like when people come to me wanting to study
my Reality-Based Personal Protection, I am
thrilled when they want to study a variety
of systems outside of mine. How else will
they know is what out there, how to make
educated comparisons or to evaluate their
instructors?
Avi Nardia is not a
threat to the current Israeli systems
established in North America and Europe, but
he is bringing to the table what few Israeli
instructors can not, and that is techniques
and training methods that, up until now,
have been only for a select few. KAPAP and
LOTAR are systems that make the Israeli
martial arts only that much richer. Although
Avi is a personal friend of mine, I don't
hesitate sending students to Darren Lavine
or to Alon Stivi, because I have seen these
men teach, and they have my full
endorsement. On the flip side, I've seen
some pretty lousy Krav Maga and Hisardut
instructors as well, whom I shall leave
nameless. Let's face it, an art can be good,
but a good instructor is everything - just
like a good school teacher.
The big question is why don't I personally
teach under Krav Maga, Hisardut, or even
KAPAP? After all, how many people have had
the exposure to the Israeli systems like I
have? My personal philosophy is much like
that of many of the instructors who helped
form the Israeli martial arts, and in the
words of Avi Nardia, "The original
concept of Krav Maga was to absorb all that
is useful." Does this sound familiar?
This was also the same philosophy of the
late great Bruce Lee when he was forming the
concepts of his Jeet Kune Do.
One must remember that several ancient
Western and Eastern systems were the
foundation of today's Israeli martial arts.
I believe that Reality-Based Personal
Protection is the final achievement of that
goal for civilians. Black Belt magazine and
I just finished filming 8 videos and DVDs on
this very subject. The series will be
released January 1, 2004. I even have Uri
Kaffe, whom I mentioned, appearing in one of
the tapes titled TERRORISM SURVIVAL.
Throughout the series I affectionately
mention Krav Maga, as well as other arts. I
do this because the Israeli martial arts are
a part of me. They're a part of my history,
and especially since I've taught and learned
in Israel itself. Therefore, I give credit
where credit is due.
I hope this brief explaination has cleared
some things up, and if anything, at least
you know who some of the "other
players" are in the small community of
Israeli-based systems. So, now as the
Israeli soldiers say in combat,
"KADEEMA!" - go forward; be
thankful for the variety.
Jim Wagner is a
world-renowned American law enforcement
officer and Defensive Tactics instructor. He
has been both a guest instructor of the
Israeli government, and a student in a
variety of Israeli Special Forces tactics
course. He has also trained in Krav Maga,
Hisardut and Kapap. Jim is a monthly
columnist for Black Belt magazine offering
his views on high risk issues through a
police/military perspective. Contact Jim
Wagner through his site:
www.JimWagnerTraining.com
