What is Krav Maga?
The term Krav Maga in Hebrew is literally translated as “Contact Combat”. Krav Maga is NOT a traditional Martial Arts by any means. In an environment where the Israeli military could not spend a massive amount of hours on hand-to-hand combat training, Krav Maga was created to bring students to a high level of skill in a relatively short period of time.
Krav Maga’s philosophy is avoid if you can, but if you can not then overwhelm the attacker with violence and end a confrontation as quickly as possible, with minimal injury to self to get home safe. By emphasizing simple, aggressive, and simultaneous defensive and offensive tactics Krav Maga is one of the most battle-tested Self-Defense systems in the world.
In Krav Maga, there are no forms, no rules and no rigid forms, instead it focuses on simple, principle-based, combat proven and mentality driven tactics specifically designed for “REAL” world violence. Krav Maga is always evolving because violence is always evolving. Utilizing effective striking from numerous arts from around the globe, along with some of the most effective weapon defenses to date, Krav Maga is one of the most battle tested defense system in the world.
What is the Agoge (historically)?
The Agoge was designed to systematically strip away individual vulnerability and rebuild young boys into the ultimate elite soldiers. Far more than just a school, it was a total immersion environment that weaponized psychological conditioning, extreme deprivation, and peer competition to cultivate unmatched battlefield discipline.
By enforcing mandatory barefoot training, granting only a single cloak per year, and providing intentionally scarce rations, the program forged a high tolerance for pain and environmental endurance.
Every element of life—from choral dancing used to practice fluid phalanx movements to the ruthless Crypteia phase—was engineered to produce a soldier who was completely fearless, implicitly obedient, and devastatingly lethal.
A Spartan warrior was the ancient world’s ultimate masterpiece of martial perfection—a living weapon sculpted from iron discipline, unmatched physical majesty, and an unbreakable code of honor. They were not merely soldiers; they were an aristocratic elite of battlefield aristocrats, walking legends who treated war not as a chore, but as the highest and most beautiful art form.
Coach Jeff
As a life long martial artist and perpetual student, I have adopted the philosophy, “If it works use it, if it doesn’t lose it”. It’s has been a part of my martial art’s journey and remains part of my Self-Protection evolution. I began my journey as a youth with the ridged stances and hard-wood floors of traditional Shotokan Karate. As I progressed through the ranks, I began to question if there was more. Training with my cousin, who was a boxer, I was introduced to the world of combat sports and it started to shed light on the question I had been wondering.
Joining the military at 17 and traveling overseas, my prospective continued to change on what my martial arts ultimately would become. After the military, I began to search for something more practical and discovered Muay Thai. With devastating elbow and knee strikes, and the destructive power of a good leg kick, I was hooked. Up that point it was by far the most practical and functional system I had come across. Over the years the question I had asked earlier began to resurface.
Years later by happenstance, I was introduced to the world of Krav Maga and that was a light bulb moment. I was amazed at how simple and practical it was. It incorporated all the tools I had acquired throughout my year of training, but gave them a shiny new toolbox to put them in. This principle-based, combat proven, mentality driven system was the most comprehensive answer I had found so far. Being a perpetual student, my journey continues. I am taking all that I have learned and what I continue to learn to bring you the most proactive approach to self protection that I can. Violence is always evolving and so will Hawaii Krav Maga.