Darren R. Levine (born April 3, 1960 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States) is a martial artist, an entrepreneur, and a prosecutor for the

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

's office. He is best known for helping to popularize

Krav Maga Krav Maga ( ; , ; ) is an Israeli Hand-to-hand combat, self-defence system. Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it uses techniques derived from aikido, boxing, judo, karate and wrestling. It is known for its focus on real-world situat ...

, the official hand-to-hand combat system of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

Career

Levine, who graduated from

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

, has worked as a

Deputy District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for Los Angeles County since 1991. The same year, Levine and his detectives built a case against Gerald Mason, who had evaded arrest since 1957 for the rape of a teenage girl, the assault of three other teenagers, and the murder of two police officers. Mason was sentenced to life imprisonment, ending one of the longest unsolved cases in the United States. As of September 2007, he has a 100% conviction rate. He has been a recipient of several honors from district attorney groups and victim's rights groups.

Krav Maga

Levine is the founder of the Krav Maga Association of America and Krav Maga Worldwide. In 1981, Levine was selected as part of the first group outside of Israel to train in Krav Maga. While training in Israel, Levine was befriended by Krav Maga founder

Imi Lichtenfeld Imrich "Imi" Lichtenfeld (; ; 26 May 1910 – 9 January 1998), also known as Imi Sde-Or (), was a Hungarian-born Israeli martial artist. He is widely recognized for developing Krav Maga, now considered an Israeli martial art. Early life Lichtenf ...

. In 1982, Lichtenfeld traveled to Los Angeles to stay with Levine and continue his training. Levine is one of only two recipients of a Krav Maga Founder's Diploma awarded by Lichtenfeld before his death in 1998 (the other recipient was Eyal Yanilov, who founded Krav Maga Global). At the time, Levine was the highest ranking instructor in the United States, and had training centers in West Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and Philadelphia. Levine holds an 8th degree black belt in the Krav Maga. His wife, Marni Levine, was very influential in expanding Krav Maga Worldwide, particularly the Krav Maga Youth program, Km-X. She died on August 31, 2006, after a long fight against cancer. Darren Levine is the co-author, with John Whitman and Ryan Hoover, of ''Complete Krav Maga'', ''Black Belt Krav Maga'', and ''Krav Maga for Beginners''.

References

External links

Krav Maga WorldwideKrav Maga SoutheastThe Fighting Fit – The History of Krav Maga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Darren Living people American martial artists Martial arts writers American prosecutors Loyola Law School alumni Krav Maga practitioners 1960 births