Classic Krav Maga · Defendo
Certify to teach the core
The lineage discipline. Authority to run the foundational curriculum under the Saario standard.
Where serious practitioners become instructors
PROVE IT
PROVE IT
UNDER
PRESSURE.
You already compete. Saario Academy turns demonstrated capability into the authority to teach it — a credential that traces back, unbroken, to Imi Lichtenfeld.
50+
Cities
6
Countries
1
Unbroken lineage
How we train, what we transmit
Four operating principles
01
Intuition
Trained instinct. You can only surprise someone once — so you teach the read, not the trick.
02
Reality over myth
Scientific and street truth. If it doesn't hold under pressure, it doesn't enter the curriculum.
03
Less is more
Three techniques, a thousand reps. Depth over inventory — that's what an instructor transmits.
04
Be first
Initiative, decisive action. The instructor sets the tempo before the room knows there is one.
Capability
Capability, not spectacle
The proven competitor who can teach under pressure
Apex is built for the practitioner who already wins — and now wants the standing to forge others. We don't pitch the career. We demonstrate what the credential unlocks, then let your record do the rest.
Peer-to-peerNo hand-holdingMastery on the surface
The investment thesis, shown as evidence
Lineage
Not nostalgia — provenance. The credential you earn has a documented chain of custody.
1980s–2023
Master Jyrki Saario
Creator of Defendo. One of few Europeans granted a Krav Maga black belt by founder Imi Lichtenfeld. Brought Classic Krav Maga to the Nordics.
The handoff · 2024
Continuity, on the record
Leadership passed deliberately — standards and certification authority transferred intact, not retired.
→ verified succession2024–present
Master Instructor István Nagy
Carries the standard across six countries. Your credential traces back, unbroken, to Imi.
50+
Cities
6
Countries
5
Tracks
1
Unbroken lineage
Certify to teach
Tracks you can carry
These are mandates an instructor offers or builds — not classes to enrol in. Switch the track accent up top; the feature header below re-skins live.
Classic Krav Maga · Defendo
The mandate you carry
The accent you see is the track you certify in. The room reads the colour; you carry the responsibility behind it.
Ironman Kickboxing
Build a striking programme
Conditioning and stand-up under your name — certify in it, then run it as your own.
Safe Kid
Offer it at your club
A structured youth offering you add once certified — reach without diluting the standard.
The spine — progression with unlocks
BECOME AN INSTRUCTOR
Chalk to champion gold. Click a rung — each one names exactly what it lets you do. This is the path shown as a record, not an account.
Fighter record
RUNG 3 / 5
Bronze
Certified Instructor3–6 yr
On the mat teaching
1
Clubs you can run
1
Camps led / yr
3
Cities reachable
This rung unlocks
Straight answers
For the practitioner deciding
No. The ascent recognises an existing record — a proven competitor is assessed on capability and placed where their demonstrated standard puts them. The rungs map mandate, not seniority.
Each rung unlocks a specific mandate — teach the core, certify your own classes, open a Certified Club, run camps, and at the top, carry the Saario Academy logo and certify new instructors.
Documented and continuous: Imi Lichtenfeld → Jyrki Saario → István Nagy. The 2024 handoff transferred standards and certification authority intact. Your credential traces back, unbroken.
The decision