A school, not a gym.
Krav Maga Institute has been teaching in New York since 2010.
Two studios, TriBeCa and the Upper West Side, and a deliberately capped membership of 250. The cap is the point. It is how the room stays full of people who turn up, work hard, and look after the person they are training with, and it is why everyone starts with an induction rather than a card swipe.
We teach reality-based self-defense: what actually happens, and what to do about it. Awareness and de-escalation first, then physical skills drilled under controlled pressure until they hold up when your heart rate is somewhere unhelpful.
Most of our members had never done a martial art before they walked in. That is the normal case here, not the exception.
Imi Lichtenfeld, and a system built to be learned fast.
Bratislava, 1930s
Imi Lichtenfeld, a boxer and wrestler, organised defence against street attacks in his own city. He learned quickly that sport technique and real violence are different problems.
Built for ordinary people
When Imi later trained the Israeli military, the requirement was blunt: teach anyone, of any build, something that works, in the least time possible. That constraint shaped everything.
Still evolving
Krav Maga has no fixed canon to preserve. It takes what works from boxing, wrestling, judo and jiu-jitsu, and drops what doesn't. That is why it keeps changing.
The people who actually teach you.
Lead instructors carry 10 to 30 years in the system, with diplomas from IKMF, KMG and Tactica KMI, and backgrounds that range from national-team Judo to Muay Thai. Every one of them passed an interview, a background check, separate skill and teaching assessments, and a two-year supervised probation before leading a class alone.
Where KMI has been covered.
Every link below was checked in September 2026 and names the school or its instructors. A few sit behind a paywall.
- The New York TimesFrom Easy Mark to Street Fighter · paywalled
- The Wall Street JournalA CEO’s Straight Line From Martial Arts to Leadership · paywalled
- NBC New YorkSelf-Defense Classes in NYC
- NBCKMI on First Look with Ashley Roberts (video)
- ABCKrav Maga Institute on ABC morning TV (video)
- Fox 5KMI on Fox 5, live interview (video)
- VicelandKMI on Viceland (video)
- New York Magazine, The CutMore Women in Self-Defense Classes
- The Daily BeastWomen Hit the Gym
- Men’s JournalHow to Win a Fight You Don’t Want to Be In
- FatherlyWhat a Krav Maga Expert Teaches His Students About Bullying
- Teen VogueLGBTQ Self-Defense Classes
- PopSugarReasons to Do Krav Maga
- LGBTQ NationLGBTQ Community Flocks to Self-Defense Classes
- Bushwick DailyDefend Yourself on the Streets of Bushwick with Krav Maga
- Tribeca CitizenThe Krav Maga Institute Is Opening a Tribeca Studio
Come and see for yourself.
The induction is 75 minutes, beginners only, $39 credited toward joining.
Book Your First Class · $39