ABOUT KRAV MAGA FORGE
Q: What ages do you teach?
A: Snellville: Adults 14 and up, Kids 7-13.
A: Holly Springs: Adults 14 and up, Juniors 9-15.
Q: I have never done martial arts, can I still train?
A: Absolutely, Krav Maga is specifically designed to be easy for everyone to learn. While we do have students with high level experience in martial arts that want to round out their knowledge with the practial, effective techniques from Krav Maga, we start everyone at beginner so they develop a strong foundation for continued growth.
Q: I am not very fit, can I still train?
A: Yes. Fitness is a key component of effective self defense and our classes will challenge you and develop your fitness. If your baseline fitness level is low, you will have to pace yourself at first, but with our collaborative, nurturing team atmosphere you will find yourself pushing to keep getting better and before you know it you will be inspiring other students.
Q: What makes Krav Maga Forge special?
A: We teach authentic Israeli Krav Maga, the best self defense system in the world, in a fun, collaborative, family environment with small classes and high degree of instructor attention so our students quickly learn the most effective techniques and tactics to survive threats in the real world.
Q: How much are memberships?
A: Classes are $150/month for adults, with a 10% discount for teachers, first responders, and active duty military.
- Each additional adult family member is 10% off full price.
- Kids (Snellville ages 7-13) are $110/month.
- Juniors (Holly Springs ages 9-15) are $130/month.
Q: How long is the contract?
A: We do not have contracts, all memberships are month to month with Billing on the 1st of each month.
Q: Is there an initiation fee?
A: No initiation fees.
Q: What uniforms and equipment do I need to purchase?
A: You will be required to purchase and wear a Krav Maga Academy T-shirt. You can start without purchasing equipment, but will eventually need groin protection, 16oz Boxing Gloves, and Shin Guards for safe training with your partners.
ABOUT KRAV MAGA
Q: What is Krav Maga?
A: Krav Maga is a system of self defense developed by the Israeli Defense Force and Security Services for armed and unarmed close combat. It is specifically designed to quickly train Israeli soldiers devestatingly effective, practical techniques to win life or death fights on the battlefield and on the street.
Q: What does Krav Maga mean?
A: Krav Maga is commonly translated from Hebrew to English as "Contact Combat".
Q: How did Krav Maga originate?
A: In the 1930s, Imi Lichtenfield began to organize resistance to help defend his neighboorhood against fascist and racist violence in the rough streets of Bratislava. He took the best techniques from sport fighting, and through hard earned experience on the streets, Imi learned what worked. With this knowledge, he started formulating the principles and laying the foundation for Krav Maga. During WWII, Imi immigrated to Palestine and continued to develop and teach self defense to the organizations (Haganah and Palmach) that later became the IDF. Imi became chief instructor of physical fitness and Krav Maga at the IDF School of Combat Fitness. He served in the IDF for 20 years and later adapted Krav Maga for Civilian use.
Q: Are there weapons in Krav Maga?
A: Yes. One of the principles of Krav Maga is to use common objects around you as weapons. We will train this. We also train against the weapons we expect to encounter on the street, such as guns, knives, and sticks. Our focus is training to survive these attacks, but it is important to know how to use these weapons and understand the dynamics of a violent armed attack. In fact, Krav Maga is widely recognized as the most effective system for fighting against real world weapons.
Q: Is there ground fighting in Krav Maga?
A: Yes. Real fights frequently go to the ground, so we train for this. A lot of Krav Maga training involves starting from positions of disadvantage and being on the ground against one or more attackers, sometimes with weapons, is really bad. In your training we will build up to this, but this foundation will start in the beginner classes. Our goal is to get up and get away, so we do not focus on submissions, except to learn and understand the technique as part of the process of learning how to escape. Krav Maga is not sport fighting, it is training to fight for your life, from a really bad position, so we want you to learn how to fight to your feet as quickly as possible.
Q: I heard Krav Maga is just kicks to the groin, is this true?
A: Kicking the groin is one of the most frequently used technique in Krav Maga, because it works! We attack the groin because an effective strike to the groin will elicit a physiological response, even if the attacker is under the influence of drugs or adrenaline. One of the principles of Krav Maga is to focus our attacks on vital targets. We do this to achieve the maximum effect and disrupt our attacker. Keep in mind, that we train Krav Maga so we can win and survive a real world fight for our lives and not a sparring session. This means using the most effective, most devestating attacks we can, so we can end the fight quickly and go home safe.
Q: Who can train Krav Maga?
A: Everyone. While Krav Maga was originally developed for soldiers and is widely used by Special Forces and SWAT teams around the world, it has been adapted for civilian use.
ABOUT KRAV MAGA ACADEMY
Q: What is Krav Maga Academy?
A: Krav Maga Academy is a federation of Krav Maga schools with a shared curriculum, standards, teaching method, code of ethics, instructor training, instructor certification, and student testing. Krav Maga Academy is based in Israel, with schools in Europe, North America, and South America. Krav Maga Academy and was founded by Shachar Izraeli, Krav Maga Master and former head of Krav Maga Instruction at the prestigious Wingate Institute in Netanya Israel.
Q: Why is Krav Maga Forge a Krav Maga Academy school?
A: In 2012, Toky Reed participated in a 10 day Krav Maga instructor course at the Wingate Institute in Netanya Israel with a group of high level Krav Maga Instructors from the US and Europe. Shachar Izraeli taught their first class and within the first 5 minutes all the instructors were visibly impressed. The speed and precision of Shachar's execution was amazing. Also, Toky saw that Shachar's Krav Maga had answers to questions she didn't even know she had. While she was already a high level, certified Krav Maga instructor in the US and had trained under multiple Krav Maga Masters, and even taken instructor training from multiple organizations, she could not shake the feeling that she was missing out on the best Krav Maga training available. As soon as she could arrange it, she traveled overseas again, to take Shachar's instructor course, learning his system by starting with the basics and after many long years of progressive training working through the entire curriculum all the way to Expert 2 (2nd degree Black Belt). Toky decided to join Krav Maga Academy because she knew it was the best authentic Israeli Krav Maga for her and for her students.
Q: Who is Shachar Izraeli?
Shachar Izraeli is a Krav Maga Master and the founder of Krav Maga Academy. Shachar began his martial arts training in his early childhood. In High School he first encountered Krav Maga while watching a television show about the "Mistaravim", an elite undercover army SWAT unit which utilized Krav Maga. After a grueling "Gibosh", Shachar joined the undercover SWAT unit in 1994. During his Service he was injured and left the military, but continued to pursue his interest in Krav Maga.
In 1997 Shachar took the Krav Maga instructor's course at the Wingate Institute. After one year, he completed the course with honors he began to teach Krav Maga. In 2005 he earned his 3rd Degree Black Belt, from Eyal Yanilov and in 2010, he earned his 4th Degree Black Belt. For 10 years Shachar was active member of the International Krav Maga Federation, led by Eyal Yanilov. When the IKMF broke apart in 2010, Shachar and Elad Bienenfeld, established the Israeli Krav Maga Academy (KMA).
In 2012, Shachar was invited to join the Martial Arts team at the Wingate Institute, the prestigious National Sports University of Israel. Shachar later became head of Krav Maga instruction at the Wingate. In 2013, the Wingate awarded Shachar his 5th Degree Black Belt/Master Rank.
Today KMA has branched out and now has many affiliates, including international schools in Europe, South America, and North America. Shachar has certified many Instructors and Black Belts in Israel and around the world. Shachar continues to spread his love for Krav Maga by hosting seminars and instructor courses in Israel and around the world. Shachar has taught many seminars and training programs for the police and elite army combat units. Shachar has also developed specialized programs for other targeted populations such as taxi drivers, women, and so on. Recently, Shachar established a collaborative project with the Israeli Ministry of Education to teach Krav Maga Academy's BARAI method to public school students in Israel. Shachar continues to grow KMA so he can help spread Imi Lichtenfield's legacy, Krav Maga, to the world because he truly believes
"Krav Maga, so that one may walk in peace - Imi Lichtenfield"