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.

The name in Hebrew can be translated as "contact combat". The three letter root of the first word is k-r-v (קרב‎). The verb means "to come near/approach"; the noun derived from the same root can be translated as "combat" or "battle". Maga is a participle form derived from the verb root "n-g-'a" (נגע‎) which means "to contact, touch or strike".

From the outset, the original concept of Krav Maga was to take the most effective and practical techniques of other fighting styles and to make them rapidly teachable to military conscripts.

Krav Maga has a philosophy emphasizing aggression, and simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers. Head of Potatoes, The Internet