K.A.M.I – Krav Magen Israel stems from the family of Krav Maga and is an essential part of the generic name “Krav Maga”.
The founder of K.A.M.I – Krav Magen Israel was Eli Avikzar (RIP) who was the first ever student to receive a Black Belt in Krav Maga from the founder of Krav Maga, Imi Sade-Or (RIP).
For many years Eli and Imi worked together until Imi’s retirement from the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). Eli was then elected on the recommendation of Imi to Head the Division of Krav Maga in the IDF.
Upon Eli’s retirement from the IDF, he proposed to Imi to add the word ISRAELI to Krav Maga in order to distinguish between the generic name “Krav Maga” (literal translation – Contact Combat), to a more specific and meaningful name including its origin. Imi rejected this idea under the pretense that the name ISRAELI will deter foreign students from studying Krav Maga.
In 1987, with the blessing of Imi, Eli resigned from the Krav Maga Association, and formed a new one called “Krav Maga Israeli” or in short K.A.M.I. Imi did not accept this new name, and because of the great respect that Eli had for Imi, he changed the name from “Maga” to “Magen” (literal translation – Shield or Defense), but kept the word Israeli, in order to make the name “Krav Magen Israeli” a specific name and not a generic one.
The word change from Maga to Magen (Defense), was done so people could learn to defend themselves, and still belong to the family of Krav Maga.
Eli insisted that every student will have the same dress code and that the colors would be blue and white as in the Israeli flag.
K.A.M.I is a flourishing self-defense system, with a syllabus that accommodates the changing reality and environment in today’s streets.
The name “Krav Maga” is a generic name, that anyone can teach it without any professional inspection or oversight. K.A.M.I with its Emblem is a registered trademark Association all over the world including Israel, with a syllabus that is the same for all students in the world. The syllabus is followed under close professional supervision by K.A.M.I management.
K.A.M.I today is the largest Association in Israel under ongoing professional supervision from outside bodies as well as its own internal supervision. All its trainers and coaches are qualified from the level of assistant instructor up to Expert in the specific martial arts, and all this is under the vigilant supervision of the Academic College at Levinsky-Wingate and the Ministry of Sport.