After completing his service and taking some time off to tour the world, Dany and his longtime friend and business partner Izhac moved to the US in 1992, intending to open a Krav Maga school. However, familial obligations in Israel prevented them from starting the school, so Dany took a break from the business of Krav Maga to focus on other interests and personal training.
Over 20 years of Krav Maga Schools
Dany's history and legacy of sharing the exceptional Krav Maga training is truly unique. He began his own business in 2006, and grew it year over year into a globally recognized entity. This page shares a peek into that legacy, offering some memories and friendly faces.
Before Berkeley
Founding of Berkeley Krav Maga
In 2000, Dany resumed teaching Krav Maga classes in San Francisco, and in 2006 opened his own school, Berkeley Krav Maga, the first school to provide authentic Israeli Krav Maga training to Berkeley and the surrounding area. The school shared the space with the Ralph Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy at Sacramento and Ashby in Berkeley, CA. During this time, Dany began developing programs such as Combat Cardio, which incorporated Krav Maga techniques with boxing and military basic training drills into a dynamic heavy bag program that is more than just your regular kickboxing class.
Expanding Berkeley Krav Maga
In late 2008, Berkeley Krav Maga moved to a larger dedicated space on 10th Street in Berkeley, with one of Dany's students stepping up to a new role as business partner. In 2010, BKM expanded into the neighboring retail space and, with the new space added a larger fitness program. Dany designed the entire 7,000 sq ft facility, including a unique “Situation Room” that enabled advanced situational self-defense training. He also created several new programs with complete curricula, including a Kids Krav Maga program and Full Combat, which is a brand new Krav Maga based fighting system.
The gym that Dany designed at 10th Street was used as a model of an ideal Krav Maga gym by top global Krav Maga instructors including Tamir Gilad and Eyal Yanilov, and was frequently used as a US base for instructor training camps.
Becoming Krav Maga Institute
In 2011, Berkeley Krav Maga was renamed to Krav Maga Institute, and with the new logo and new name, the business grew beyond just Berkeley, California.Â
In addition to official KMI locations, Krav Maga Institute also started small Krav Maga programs in Walnut Creek, CA (2008-2009) and San Rafael, CA (2012-2013). In 2012, Krav Maga Institute began its Affiliate program, adding affiliates in Sunnyvale, CA; Fort Collins, CO; and Manhattan, NY.
New KMI Locations
In January 2012, KMI San Francisco opened in a new facility custom tailored for Krav Maga training. In April 2013, Dany and his business partner at the 10th St location decided to separate in order to focus on different business directions. KMI ceased operations in Berkeley, CA and relocated the company’s headquarters to San Francisco. In June 2013, KMI Haifa opened with a team of Israeli experts, including Dany’s original business partner Izhac. Krav Maga Institute returned to the SF East Bay in October 2013 with a new center right on the waterfront in Oakland. KMI moved its headquarters to Santa Clara in November 2013 into a 12,000+ sq ft facility, with a dedicated tactical training facility, likely the largest and most advanced Krav Maga training center in the US.
Krav Maga Instructor Certification
In 2014, we began certifying new Krav Maga instructors directly as Krav Maga Institute. Our Krav Maga Instructor Certification program is one of a kind and a step above the rest. Our 20 day intensive instructor certification program combines excellent techniques and fundamentals, along with pedagogy (the art of teaching), Krav Maga history and philosophy, first aid training, tactical training, and modules for teaching courses specifically for women and kids/youth.
Forward into Tactica
In 2016, we acknowledged that our business wasn't just about Krav Maga, and we did another rebrand into Tactica. Tactica continued to be the globally recognized Krav Maga Institute, but it also provided so much more with our professional instructor team covering Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, tactical training through the Professional Training Division, and beyond. Every year, we certified more instructors through our Tactica Krav Maga Instructor Certification program, where each year, dedicated practitioners focused 18 days on nothing but advancing their own personal training and teaching skills.
Hello 2016, Hello Tactica!
It’s hard for us to even begin describing 2015. In addition to our three main locations going strong with classes 7 days a week, we had over 50 seminars and workshops. Over fifty! And our reputation for providing the best in self defense attracted private security companies from across the US to get trained at our HQ, brought us into many local companies and community goodwill events, including several fundraisers and self defense lectures.
We added to our stellar instructor team the now three-time World Champion Flavio Meier, who brings his expertise as a coach and professor of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the mats in Santa Clara. We graduated a new class of certified Krav Maga instructors through our Krav Maga Instructor Certification program, which stands heads above the rest with its material and quality with over 180 hours of training. We stood proudly as our Practitioner, Graduate, and Expert students from across the world kept pushing through, breaking their limits, and graduated a level or more this year!
So what’s to come in 2016?
To begin, you might have noticed a new name showing up around the school. Well, it’s official! We are now: TACTICA
What does this mean? It means you still get the same high quality training as you have always received from us, but now as Tactica we are formally focusing on more disciplines and systems than just Krav Maga.
With this change, we are forming a new Tactica BJJ Team from the already successful BJJ competitive group led by Flavio Meier. We’re moving our advanced Tactical Firearms, Law Enforcement, Military, and Security Industry training to the Tactica Professional Training Division. Our functional fitness programs are now under Tactica Fitness. And last but not least, we’re moving all civilian self defense including Krav Maga and civilian firearms training to the Tactica Krav Maga Institute.
On top of all of these changes, we are also adding to our elite instructor team the IBA Super Flyweight Champion Bruno Escalante, who now teaches adult and youth Boxing out of our Santa Clara HQ!
Whew! So in summary, we are still Krav Maga Institute and your memberships remain unchanged -- but under our new Tactica name, we honor all of the other non-Krav Maga disciplines you have grown to know and love over the last few years. And with that out of the way, let’s get started on making everything bigger and better in 2016!
