Imi Lichtenfeld; Created Self-Defense System

Imi Lichtenfeld, 87, creator of a self-defense technique known as Krav Maga. He fled Nazi-controlled Europe in 1940 for Palestine and joined the Haganah, the Jewish paramilitary organization, where he trained soldiers in self-defense. Later, he served 20 years as chief instructor for the Israeli Defense Forces, where he developed Krav Maga, a system of hand-to-hand combat based on a person’s instinctive reactions to attacks. Krav Maga is now used in many countries and there is a training center in West Los Angeles. On Friday in Israel of cancer and a blood infection.