Ninjutsu and Krav Maga

lbouchet · White Belt

Hi all;

I already posted this somewhere here, but I don't know where it went so here goes again!
I've been practising Ninjutsu for a while now, and from my (limited) experience with other martial arts I know it is an effective combat-oriented street fighting art. To answer questions on previous posts, there is no competition aspect in Ninjutsu because it's too dangerous -- there are no rules. When someone comes at you with a knife or a baseball bat, it's not "dirty" to break his knee or crush his windpipe...! Anyway, from what I've read about Krav Maga, these two styles seem very similar. For example lots of eye-gouging and ball-busting in both, no katas to memorize, an emphasis on a core group of movements that you then can use to adapt and improvise with in any given fight situation (because no one fight is the same). My question -- were the Israelis who came up with Krav Maga in any way influenced by Ninjutsu or any other combat-oriented "jutsu" martial art?
Sorry if this has already been discussed on this board, maybe I should check the archives first before asking!

Cheers all
Luc

Tobias_Reece · Brown Belt

Krav Maga is a modern MA developed in the middle east, so I gather that it did take some effective techniques from othe MAs.

It was designed purely for combat.

I remember being told that Krav Maga was streetfighting at its best, teaching techniques like how to dodge grenades etc.

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LeaF · Black Belt

Krav maga was developed for the war like situations in the middle east so it is possible that it contains some elements from nunjitsu among other MA because it is new just like Tobias said perhaps you will find this helpful

OldRookie · Orange Belt

Good answer LeaF!

I have doing a little online research on Krav Maga myself as it is pretty unheard of in my little redneck town!
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btroadman · Yellow Belt

This is an old thread, but I have to add my two cents. Imi Lichtenfeld is the correct spelling, it was created in 1948, he passed away in 1998. In 1999 Darren Levine created the Krav Maga Worldwide Enterprises to help the Krav Maga Association of America, Inc. expand and promote Krav Maga in the United States and around the world.

KM isn't BASED on any MA, but Imi was a boxer so some of the techniques encorporate good punches, but aren't just like a boxer. KM makes round kicks similar to muay thai fighters, but with some differences that any muay thai fighter will point out.

The important thing to keep in mind is that KM has ALWAYS been integrated by it's own thought process -- the focus on instinctive movements and simple techniques that are accessible under stress. It has NEVER simply borrowed techniques and stuck them in it's system. Because it is an integrated system, every technique must make sense in relation to every other technique -- the same thought process informs the whole system.

Having said that, I will also say that KM has a number of techniques that were not seen by people outside the IDF until their videos came out, including a number of our gun techniques, our knife techniques, and stick defenses.
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TJS · Black Belt

Btroadman post sums it up well.

Imi Was a Boxer/wrestler and did some judo/jiu jitsu so obviously some influences from those systems can proabably be seen.

I dont know of any ninjitsu influences.

Treebranch · Black Belt

Well if Krav Maga has Jujutsu in it, then you will see similarities in Ninjutsu as well. Modern Ninjutsu is really Old Jujutsu with 3 Ninjutsu schools mixed in with it. It is not pure Ninjutsu. It is basically Samurai fighting arts mixed with some Ninjutsu. If they are taught properly, they are both very effective systems of fighting.
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