In late 1930s Bratislava, Imi Lichtenfield was fighting off anti-Semitic gangs. With a background in boxing and wrestling, he was a formidable opponent, but he quickly realized that sport combat was a stylized dance compared to street fighting. To prepare people for real, life-threatening conflict, he created a more practical martial art: Krav Maga.

Performance Krav Maga continues Lichtenfield's legacy by centering their classes on the same self-defense principles he instilled in Israeli soldiers and police officers. For example, both hands should never be moved in one defensive maneuver. Instead, natural movements should blend defense and offense, a popular technique also used by basketball players to block their own shots. And as the teachers impart these fundamentals to their students, they also hone their own skillset, training continuously under Krav Maga master Alain Cohen.