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Yes. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it "martial art". Today it says "israeli self-defence system". We saved the article's opening paragraph at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

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The word appeared 0 times in the opening at its peak in 2005. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-02.

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What did Wikipedia remove from the Krav Maga article?

The opening as it read in 2005

Krav Maga ( Hebrew קרב מגע: "contact combat") is a martial art , at first developed in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s . The developer was Imi Lichtenfeld . Lichtenfeld came to Palestine prior to the establishment of the state of Israel , he began teaching hand to hand combat to the Haganah , the Jewish underground army. After the establishment of Israel , Krav Maga was adopted by the Israeli armed forces and police as the martial art of choice. The art reached its current form in Israel shortly after its formation. Lichtenfeld retired from a long career as chief instructor of close combat in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), he started teaching Krav Maga to the civilian population. In this way, a civilian version based on the principles of self defense was developed. In a nutshell, the basic fighting principles are that every self defense response must meet all of the following criteria: In the given situation, the defense or attack must be the fastest the strongest the shortest the most natural and to the point (for instance, if you mean to escape, escape; if you mean to hit, hit). The basic idea is to first deal with the immediate threat (e.g. hands around one's neck), prevent the attacker from re-attacking, then neutralize the opponent, proceeding through all the steps in a very straightforward manner. An emphasis is put on taking the initiative from the attacker as soon as possible. Krav Maga generally assumes a no-quarter situation- the attacks and defenses are intended to inflict or divert the most pain possible on the opponent. Groin, eye, and other "unfair" attacks are emphasized, as are a variety of other fairly brutal attacks. It is considered acceptable to run away ( tactical withdrawal ), if the situation dictates that. Krav Maga can be used against opponents who are armed, and against multiple opponents. It is also good in closed areas, such as airplanes. It is to be noted that, although many techniques of Krav Maga are shared with either Savate / Kickboxing (for the fist- and kick-fighting techniques) or Ju-Jitsu (for the grappling and disarming techniques), the training is quite different, as it stresses practice of fighting under worst-case circumstances (against several opponents, back to the wall, when protecting someone else, with one arm unusable, when dizzy, against armed opponents...). In addition, the fact that there are no rules leads to different reflex mechanisms (protecting one's groin and one's eyes, for instance). The training emphasizes real-world practicality. There is heavy emphasis placed on stamina and concentration. Training is often undertaken while a speaker system blasts loud music, meant to train the student to ignore extraneous input and focus on causing as much damage as possible. Prior to 1985 , the experts in Krav Maga were in Israel. Few foreigners came to Israel to study Krav Maga and no highly skilled Israelis left Israel to run Krav Maga schools. The first non-Israeli known to have operated a school strictly for teaching Krav Maga is Darren Levine , who teaches Krav Maga in Los Angeles . The first non-Israeli, non-Jew who was certified as an expert and instructor was James Keenan , also from the United States . Since the death of Mr. Lichtenfeld, a number of different schools and associations of Krav Maga have developed. The name in Hebrew is usually translated as " close combat ". The word maga means "near" or "next to". The word krav means "fight" or "battle". A translation like "contact combat", though, can be misconstrued as something like " kickboxing " or " Full Contact Karate ". Krav Maga is not a sport and has no competitive aspect. As a historical note, the original name of Krav Maga was Kapap (sounds like "ka-PAP") which was an acronym for Krav Panim el Panim, face-to-face combat.¹

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The opening as it stood in 2010 32 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

"contact combat" or "close combat") is an eclectic hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel which involves wrestling, grappling and striking techniques, mostly known for its extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks, as it is also taught to elite special forces around the world. It was derived from street-fighting skills developed by Imi Lichtenfeld , who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler , as a means of defending the Jewish quarter during a period of anti-Semitic activity in Bratislava in the mid- to late 1930s. In the late 1940s, following his immigration to Israel, he began to provide hand-to-hand combat training to what was to become the IDF , developing the techniques that became known as Krav Maga. It has since been refined for both civilian and military applications. Some refinements include, but are not limited to, the incorporation of elements from traditional Asian martial arts . Krav Maga has a philosophy emphasizing threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers, and aggression. Krav Maga is used by the IDF Special Forces units and several closely related variations have been developed and adopted by law enforcement and intelligence organizations, Mossad , Shin Bet , FBI , SWAT units of the NYPD and United States special operations forces . There are several organizations teaching variations of Krav Maga internationally.

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( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Krav Maga / k r ɑː v m ə ˈ ɡ ɑː / ( , lit. "contact combat") is a self-defense system developed for the military in Israel that consists of a wide combination of techniques sourced from aikido , boxing , judo and wrestling along with realistic fight training. Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and its extremely efficient and brutal counter-attacks . It was derived from street-fighting skills developed by Hungarian-Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld , who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler as a means of defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia in the mid-to-late 1930s. In the late 1940s, following his immigration to Israel, he began to provide lessons on combat training to what was to become the IDF , who went on to develop the system that became known as Krav Maga. It has since been refined for civilian, police and military applications. Krav Maga has a philosophy emphasizing threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers, and aggression. Krav Maga has been used mainly by Israeli Defense Forces , special units and reconnaissance brigades and recently by regular infantry brigades, and several closely related variations have been developed and adopted by law enforcement and intelligence organizations, Mossad and Shin Bet .

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Israeli martial art Krav Maga ( / k r ɑː v m ə ˈ ɡ ɑː / ; , lit. "contact combat") is a military self-defence and fighting system developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli security forces derived from a combination of techniques sourced from Aikido , Boxing , Wrestling , Judo , and Karate . Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and its extreme efficiency. It was derived from the street-fighting experience of Hungarian-Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld , who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler , while defending the Jewish quarter against fascist groups in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia , during the mid-to-late 1930s. In the late 1940s, following his migration to Palestine, he began to provide lessons on combat training to what was to become the IDF. From the outset, the original concept of Krav Maga was to take the most simple and practical techniques of other fighting styles (originally European boxing, wrestling, and street fighting) and to make them rapidly teachable to military conscripts. Krav Maga has a philosophy emphasizing aggression, and simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers. Krav Maga has been used by the Israel Defense Forces' special forces units , security forces and by regular infantry units. Closely related variations have been developed and adopted by Israeli law enforcement and intelligence organizations. There are several organizations teaching variations of Krav Maga internationally. In addition, there are two types of this martial art; one type is used in the Israeli security forces and one type is in civilian use. Most of the security forces use of Krav Maga is classified, and Israeli military veterans who want to teach Krav Maga in the civilian market are under the supervision of the Israeli Ministry of Defense . Martial Arts of the World: En Encyclopedia .

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The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Israeli martial art Krav Maga ( / ˌ k r ɑː v m ə ˈ ɡ ɑː / KRAHV mə- GAH ; , IPA: [ˈkʁav maˈɡa] ; lit. ' contact combat ' ) is an Israeli martial art . Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it is derived from a combination of techniques used in aikido , judo , karate , boxing , and wrestling . It is known for its focus on real-world situations and its extreme efficiency. Hungarian-born Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld , who made use of his training as a boxer and wrestler to defend Jews in Bratislava against fascist groups in the mid-to-late 1930s, developed Krav Maga through his experiences in street fighting . After his immigration to Mandatory Palestine in the late 1940s, he began to provide lessons on combat training to Jewish paramilitary groups that would later form the IDF during the Israeli War of Independence . From the outset, the original concept of Krav Maga was to take the most effective and practical techniques of other fighting styles (originally European boxing, wrestling, and street fighting ) and make them rapidly teachable to conscripted soldiers. It has a philosophy emphasizing aggression and simultaneous defensive and offensive manoeuvres. It has been used by Israeli special forces and regular infantry units alike. Closely related variations have been developed and adopted by Israeli law enforcement and intelligence organizations, and there are several organizations teaching variations of Krav Maga internationally. There are two forms of Krav Maga, with one type adapted for Israeli security forces and the other type adapted for civilian use. Martial Arts of the World: En Encyclopedia .

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Israeli self-defense system Krav Maga ( / ˌ k r ɑː v m ə ˈ ɡ ɑː / KRAHV mə- GAH ; Hebrew : קְרַב מַגָּע , IPA: [ˈkʁav maˈɡa] ; lit. ' contact combat ' ) is an Israeli self-defence system . Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it uses techniques derived from aikido , boxing , judo , karate and wrestling . It is known for its focus on real-world situations. Krav Maga was originally developed by Hungarian-born Israeli martial artist Imi Lichtenfeld . Having grown up in Bratislava during a time of antisemitic unrest, Lichtenfeld used his training as a boxer and wrestler to defend Jewish neighborhoods against attackers in the mid-to-late 1930s, becoming an experienced street fighter . After his immigration to Mandatory Palestine in the late 1940s, he began to provide lessons on combat training to Jewish paramilitary groups that would later form the IDF during the 1948 Palestine war . As an instructor, he compiled his knowledge and experience into the combat system that would later become known as Krav Maga. This system would continue to be taught long after he left the IDF. From the outset, the original concept of Krav Maga was to take the most effective and practical techniques of other fighting styles (originally European boxing, wrestling, and street fighting ) and make them rapidly teachable to conscripted soldiers. It has a philosophy emphasizing aggression and simultaneous defensive and offensive manoeuvres. It has been used by Israeli special forces and regular infantry units alike. Closely related variations have been developed and adopted by Israeli law enforcement and intelligence organizations, and there are several organizations teaching variations of Krav Maga internationally. There are two forms of Krav Maga, with one type adapted for Israeli security forces and the other type adapted for civilian use. Martial Arts of the World: En Encyclopedia .

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