The need for the IKMF originally arose in the early 1990's, when the teaching of Krav Maga (KM) was starting to spread beyond the borders of Israel. At that time the initial KM Association was divided and not functioning efficiently due to dissension amongst the higher graded instructors. As a result, Imi (the founder of Krav Maga) asked his top instructors- of the Krav-Maga, among them Avi Moyal, to assist him in forming a new international KM federation. The formation of this new organisation was delayed till after the initial Association broke apart in 1995.