Coloured belts

Coloured belts are ways of highlighting the progress made by learners. They make it easier to group learners by level of preparation. However, in our school we encourage learners to focus their attention on their own progress and not just on getting belts. Coloured belts may look good, but one's own knowledge and skills are the only ones that matter in a real confrontation.

The belts we use in Krav-Maga are:  YELLOW,  ORANGE,  GREEN,  BLUE,  BROWN  and  BLACK.

The material taught in these belts and the expected level of preparation of the learners are detailed in the Principles and Techniques page.

The average time to obtain belts depends on the type of course, with a minimum number of hours of training and a minimum time between belts. These allow learning new elements, deepening previous ones and training the correct reflexes.

With weekend courses of 7 hours x 2 days/month each belt lasts 7 months. With weekly courses of 1.5 hours x 2 days/week, each belt lasts 6-12 months. Thus, obtaining a black belt requires approximately 4-5 years of continuous training.

The intervals represent the number of months of courses required to assimilate correctly and at a minimum level the knowledge and skills for the new belt. These are indicative and do not bind the instructor in any way. The periods may be shortened or extended depending on the student's capabilities, frequency of attendance and other organisational considerations.

Intervalele reprezinta numărul de luni de cursuri necesare pentru a asimila corect și la un nivel minim cunoștințele și deprinderile pentru noua centură. Acestea sunt orientative și nu obligă instructorul în nici un fel. Perioadele pot fi scurtate sau prelungite în funcție de capacitățile studentului, de frecvența participării la cursuri și de alte considerente organizatorice.

Unlimited continuation of training after the black belt is possible by:

• Deepening the subjects - Every attendance at less experienced or peer courses is an opportunity to learn something new, make new connections, form new skills, practice with new partners, and develop physically, mentally and emotionally.
• Teaching your own classes - Those who choose to train as instructors and teach develop much faster and much better than those who just attend other instructors' classes.

The only way to receive an additional degree after receiving a black belt is to train as an instructor and teach new generations of learners. We have dropped the DAN 1-10 system because it is too subjective and implemented a system that directly reflects the developing experience and easily quantifiable results of instructors.

Levels of Instructors

Instructor levels are uniquely designed to reflect the experience and effectiveness of instructors in the teaching process. Of course, as an instructor increases in level they will accumulate more and more hours of training and experience, which will be reflected in their increasing knowledge, understanding and implementation of Krav-Maga principles and techniques.

In our school we have the following levels of instructors:

ASSISTANT Instructor - Holds green, blue, brown or black belt. Has completed a special instructor training course. May teach courses up to the belt he holds. Cannot award belts. Cannot train other instructors.

Yellow / orange / green / blue / brown / black BELT instructor - Holds a black belt. Has completed a special instructor training course. Can teach courses of any level. Can give belts to own students up to the level at which he is accredited. Can train other instructors but cannot accredit them.

INSTRUCTORS Instructor - Holds a black belt. Has completed a special course for instructor training. Can teach courses at any level. Can award all belts, to all students of the school. Can train and accredit other instructors.

Belts that ASSISTANT Instructors and BELT Instructors are not entitled to award to their own students will be awarded by an INSTRUCTORS Instructor following a 7-14 hour examination with those students.

The ASSISTANT Instructor level is awarded by an INSTRUCTORS Instructor only after personal verification of how the candidate teaches a group of learners. The following are looked at: the candidate's self-control, coherence and fluency; teaching methodology; correctness of principles and techniques taught; rapport with the learners and the atmosphere during the course, etc.

*** BELT Instructor levels are awarded by an INSTRUCTORS Instructor only after he/she takes 2-3 examinations for the *** belt with the candidate's students. The candidate must demonstrate that they assess their students well by accepting only those who are sufficiently well prepared into the exam. The knowledge of the students will reflect the correctness of the principles and techniques taught by the candidate, who will have the opportunity to make up any shortcomings by the time they receive the level.

The INSTRUCTORS Instructor level can be obtained after the Black BELT Instructor level. The candidate must have a perfect knowledge of Krav-Maga, have a rich teaching experience at all belts, receive positive feedback from his students, collaborate harmoniously with other instructors and make a significant contribution to the development of our school.

The development of instructors is long lasting (with a minimum of 2 years between levels) and offers a lot of advantages: it allows a continuous training of instructors, ensures a continuous quality control of the teaching process, produces a lot of Krav-Maga practitioners and graduates, is easy to implement and quantify, provides an objective and accurate picture of the experience and teaching ability of instructors.

Belt examinations

Belts are awarded following an examination in which the knowledge and skills of the learner are thoroughly tested. They must demonstrate that they possess the necessary theoretical knowledge and can perform correctly and fluently all the techniques laid down for the belt for which they are being examined.

The examination may be conducted by the instructor who trained the student - if he/she has the degree required to award the belt in question, or by an INSTRUCTOR Instructor from our school.

If the trainee does not pass the exam he/she will keep the belt he/she already holds and will be able to resume training for the exam. From our point of view it is more important how long someone trains than the level at which they train.

Belts are awarded for life. Since some skills demonstrated in the exam may degrade over time, the instructor decides to re-class students who have missed a lot into training groups according to their actual level.

Recognition

There are many schools of Krav-Maga in the world, each with different rules of operation, training and evaluation systems.

Thus, the belts and instructor status offered by a school are recognised exclusively by that school.

If you have trained in other schools and wish to participate in our courses, you will be assessed individually by our instructors to determine the level at which you can continue your training. This may match or be significantly different from the belt you received elsewhere.

Similarly, belts and qualifications offered by our school will probably not be recognised by other schools either. Thus, we recommend that you initially evaluate the schools and instructors to which you have access and then deepen your long-term training in the context that best suits you.