IKMF's Head Instructor EYAL YANILOV

Eyal Yanilov (born in 1959) studied Krav Maga under the personal tutelage of its founder, Imi Sde-Or (Lichtenfeld), and has served as the Grand master's closest assistant and foremost disciple since the early 1980s. Active in this field since 1973, he is now its most senior instructor. Mr. Yanilov is the only individual who carries the highest grade ever given by Imi (Master level 3/Expert level 8) and holds the unique "Founder's Diploma of Excellence" (This diploma was given only to two persons, the other - one of Eyal's top students, Mr. Darren Levine, Expert level 6, of the United States).

Imrich ("Imi") Sde-Or*, founder of Krav Maga, was born in 1910 in Budapest, which at the time was one of the centers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He grew up in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, in a home where sports, law, and Central European education were equally respected. Samuel Lichtenfeld, Imi's father, was undoubtedly quite a unique figure. At age 13 he joined a traveling circus, and for the next 20 years engaged in wrestling, weightlifting, and various demonstrations of strength. For him the circus was also a school, where he met people involved in a wide variety of sports, including some quite unusual ones. These people taught Samuel what they knew - including various martial arts.