Kavanah means focus, purpose, or mindfulness in Hebrew. It is also an acronym for Krav ve Haganah (Fight and Defend in Hebrew).

FIMA co-founder GM Naftali Yehuda founded Kavanah and like all the other modern Israeli styles, is a blended system with both Israeli and Asian components. GM Yehuda, a lifelong traditional martial artist with instructor certifications in several martial arts is a certified instructor in Krav Maga, Kapap/Lotar (with Avi Nardia and Chaim Peer) and Hisardut (with Moti Horenstein and Miki Erez).

This system has been taught to US Marines and Navy as well as in the Israeli Special Forces – Egoze unit in the IDF as well as civilians. Kavanah emphasizes appropriate responses to varying threat levels making it highly relevant for civilian use. In addition, Kavanah incorporates ten Tenets by which to live and eight critical “C” words by which the principles of Kavanah are built – the total “18” is Chai – which means “Life” in Hebrew.