The International Federations Split (1996–2010)

By the late 1990s Krav Maga had outgrown a single organization. After Imi's death in 1998, technical disputes and personal disagreements between senior students led to a series of splits that produced today's main federations.

IKMF (1996)

The International Krav Maga Federation was founded by Eyal Yanilov, Imi's most senior student, with Imi's blessing. It became the largest international body and the source — directly or indirectly — of most subsequent federations.

KMG (2010)

Yanilov left IKMF in 2010 and founded Krav Maga Global, which most of his senior instructors followed. KMG is widely considered the technical heir of the original IKMF curriculum.

Krav Maga Worldwide (1997)

Darren Levine, who brought Krav Maga to Los Angeles in 1981, founded Krav Maga Worldwide as the dominant US federation, with a major focus on law-enforcement contracts and franchised civilian gyms.

KMF / Bukan Krav Maga

Haim Gidon leads what is generally considered the most direct lineage to Imi's original Israeli school, certified by Imi himself as his successor. The federation is smaller but technically conservative.

How much actually differs?

Less than the marketing suggests. All four teach the same core defenses against the same attacks, in roughly the same order. Differences are in grading systems, naming, drilling preferences, and second- and third-tier techniques. A KMG blue belt and a KMW Level 3 student can typically train together without much friction.