Within the International Krav Maga Federation, (civilian) Krav Maga is divided into four major categories. The first three are Practitioner, Graduate and Expert. Each of these is further divided to 5 levels, each with a specific curriculum and requirements.
Grading tests to pass from one rank to the next contain technical, theoretical and tactical subjects covering self-defense and fighting skills. The highest category of grades are the Master levels of which there are three.
Anyone wishing to test for any Expert level must generally do this in Israel as it requires a minimum of two members of the Grading Committee (Eyal Yanilov or any of the other Expert Level 5 members of the Israeli Global Instructor Team) to be present at the grading.
In addition to the civilian system, the IKMF also operates Military, Law Enforcement, Security and VIP/Close Personal Protection syllabi.
Each syllabus has its own grading criteria and is generally only taught to people with employment in the relevant fields.
Instead of Practitioner and Graduate levels, the Military and Law Enforcement Systems have Fighter, Warrior and Operator levels, whereas the Close Personal Protection Syllabus grades are Bronze Shield, Silver Shield, Gold Shield and Platinum Shield.
Rank patches: Examples of rank patches which are worn on the training pants uniform, upper left thigh are shown below. The black bars on the rank patches denote the level. Three black bars on the Graduate patch denote Graduate level 3 etc.
Israeli and American governing bodies:
Within the Israeli Krav Maga Association and the two major North and South American bodies, there are five levels prior to Black Belt, each known by a number and a color. From lowest to highest, these are: 1) Yellow, 2) Orange, 3) Green, 4) Blue, and 5) Brown. the Black Belt comes in various Dans, as with many other martial arts.
Under the Israeli Association rules, only Haim Gidon may grant Black Belt
status, and a belt test must be conducted by two instructors ranked two belt levels higher than the student being tested
Level /
color
Standard
required
(Israeli KM Association)
Standard
required
(KM Association of America and South
American Federation of KM)
Level 1 (Yellow)
Key concepts for
surviving physical confrontations:
instinctive response, simple,
aggressive counters, basic combatives
(punches, kicks, elbows and knees),
defenses against chokes, combat
rolling, and combat groundwork
fundamentals and retzev (continuous
combat motion).
Key concepts for
surviving physical confrontations:
instinctive response, simple,
aggressive counters, basic combatives
(punches, kicks, elbows and knees),
defenses against chokes.
Level 2 (Orange)
Additional combatives
and wider array of self-defense
scenarios including choke and grab
variations, takedown defenses ;
combative feints, and additional
combat groundwork. Basic weapon theory
and defenses are introduced. More
advanced retzev.
Additional combatives
and wider array of self-defense
scenarios ; increased intensity.
Level 3 (Green)
Additional combatives
including throws and more difficult
self-defense scenarios such as
multiple attacks, defending against
grapplers and takedown specialists; a
greater number of surprise attacks ;
increased frequency and intensity of
sparring and the basics of edged
weapon work. More advanced retzev.
Additional combatives
and more difficult self-defense
scenarios (such as escaping from
chokes or headlocks on the ground);
greater number of surprise attacks ;
increased frequency and intensity of
sparring.
Level 4 (Blue)
Advanced punch and kick
combinations and countermeasures
against these attacks including being
drowned; gun, edged weapon and blunt
weapon defenses; advanced ground
fighting; more regular sparring and
advanced retzev including ground
retzev.
Advanced punch and kick
combinations and defenses against
these attacks; gun, knife and stick
weapon defenses; advanced ground
fighting ; more regular sparring.
Level 5 (Brown)
Advanced weapon defenses
including firearms, advanced throws
and groundwork, multiple attacker
scenarios (both with and without
weapons) and sparring against multiple
opponents.
Greater stress and
tension are introduced; multiple
attacker scenarios (both with and
without weapons) and sparring against
multiple opponents.
Black Belt
Training consists mostly
of specialized military, law
enforcement, and security applications
such as defenses against carjackings
and hijackings, hand grenade or long
rifle counters, third-party
protection, sentry removal, and other
applications of terminal force along
with teaching.
Training consists mostly
of specialized military and security
applications of Krav Maga, such as
defense against a hand grenade or long
rifle, third-party protection, sentry
removal, and so forth.
