Before giving any thought and time to learning Krav Maga, it’s natural to wonder about the time you’ll need to put into training to become good at it. People say you can learn it relatively quickly as opposed to some of the traditional martial arts. But how much truth does that statement hold?
On average, it takes 40 hours to learn the basic principles of Krav Maga. Assuming you train for 1 hour three times a week, you’ll take 13-14 weeks to learn and execute basic strikes and defensive techniques. Becoming proficient requires 1-5 years of dedicated training. Mastery is a lifelong pursuit.
Hence, Krav Maga has a shorter learning curve, but proficiency and mastery take time. In this article, we’ll cover how much training time is required to learn and practice different Krav Maga techniques, clear levels, earn belts or certifications, and become fairly proficient. Lastly, we’ll touch upon the subject of mastery.
Expected Timeframe for Learning Krav Maga
It makes much more sense to talk about the time required to learn and become proficient in Krav Maga in the number of hours. Why?
Because the units of days, weeks, months, or years aren’t accurate estimates of how much a person trained. I mean, you could say that you’ve been training in Krav Maga for two years.
But what if you have only been attending two 1-hour classes a week? With 52 weeks in a year, you’re looking at only 104 hours of training.
Would you be better than someone who trains for 1.5 hours, six times a week? That person would have trained for a whopping 864 hours in the same timeframe!
Let’s assume you’re not a person with exceptional fitness levels.
In fact, you don’t exercise much, have put on some fat, but also have no problems while performing the basic and necessary movements like lying down, getting up, sitting, and walking.
Of course, if you have problems while performing these, you need medical intervention before embarking on your journey of Krav Maga.
Now, with 40 hours hours of training, you’ll be able to learn about almost all strikes and techniques and execute them a few times.
But would you be able to execute them flawlessly to the extent where you can save yourself in almost any real-life situation? No! Maybe in some situations, but not all.
That’s why people dedicate their whole lives to perfecting what they know. Your techniques could always be cleaner, and your strikes could always be more swift.
Remember, given below are the minimum timeframes required to clear a level. Usually, as you advance to higher levels, you’d want to continue practicing in that particular level for longer durations.
Not doing so might get you the next level certification if the grading is not strict, but in no way will you feel confident enough to execute what you know anytime, anywhere.
| Level | Corresponding Belt Color | Focus On | Minimum Training Time Required to Clear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practitioner Level 1 (P1) | Yellow | Basic principles of Krav Maga, attack, defense, and what happens in front. | 40 hours (at least 4 months with 40 hours or more of training at level P1) |
| Practitioner Level 2 (P2) | Yellow | More hand strikes and kicks, dealing with attackers from the side and the rear. | 100 hours (at least 6 months with 60 hours or more of training at level P2) |
| Practitioner Level 3 (P3) | Orange | Using hand defenses for kicks, advanced releases, and headlocks from different directions. | 145 hours (at least 4 months with 45 hours or more of training at level P3) |
| Practitioner Level 4 (P4) | Orange | Bear hugs, advanced chokes, and more defensive techniques. Introduction to defense against simple weapons. | 190 hours (at least 5 months with 45 hours or more of training at level P4) |
| Practitioner Level 5 (P5) | Green | Focus on problem solving, knife threats, advanced strikes and defense. | 250 hours (at least 6 months with 60 hours or more of training at level P5) |
| Graduate Level 1 (G1) | Green | Transition from a fighter to a warrior who’s ready for all situations. Some new techniques and repeating the old ones. | 310 hours (at least 6 months with 60 hours or more of training at level G1) |
| Graduate Level 2 (G2) | Blue | Spinning attacks and takedowns. | 370 hours (at least 6 months with 60 hours or more of training at level G2) |
| Graduate Level 3 (G3) | Blue | Defense against weapon attacks from different directions and angles. | 430 hours (at least 6 months with 60 hours or more of training at level G3) |
| Graduate Level 4 (G4) | Brown | Advanced defensive techniques against weapons, grabs, and throws. You also practice various alternative techniques for the same. | 490 hours (at least 6 months with 60 hours or more of training at level G4) |
| Graduate Level 5 (G5) | Brown | Responding to the opponent’s response. Preparing you to transition into the expert level as a warrior. | Invitation only (at least 6 months with 60 hours or more of training at level G5). |
| Expert Level 1 (E1) – 1st Dan | Black | Military level skills. Rifle and knife techniques. | Invitation only (at least 12 months with 120 hours or more of training at level E1). |
| Expert Level 2 (E2) – 2nd Dan | Black | Police level skills. Pistol, sticks, tasers, crowd control, vehicles, and controlling suspects. | Invitation only (at least 24 months with 240 hours or more of training at level E2). |
| Expert Level 3 (E3) – 3rd Dan | Black | Security Fine-tuning whatever you’ve learnt. | Invitation only (at least 36 months with 360 hours or more of training at level E3). |
| Expert Level 4 (E4) – 4th Dan | Black | VIP Protection Fine-tuning whatever you’ve learnt. | Invitation only (at least 36 months with 360 hours or more of training at level E4). |
| Expert Level 5 (E5) – 5th Dan | Black | Fighting in special settings. Fine-tuning whatever you’ve learnt. | Invitation only (at least 48 months with 480 hours or more of training at level E5). |
| Master Level 1 (E6) – 6th Dan | Black | Fine-tuning whatever you’ve learnt. | Invitation only (at least 60 months with 600 hours or more of training at level E6). |
| Master Level 2 (E7) – 7th Dan | Black | Fine-tuning whatever you’ve learnt. | Invitation only (at least 60 months with 600 hours or more of training at level E7). |
| Master Level 3 (E8) – 8th Dan | Red and White | Fine-tuning whatever you’ve learnt. | Invitation only (at least 60 months with 600 hours or more of training at level E8). Awarded by the Grandmaster |
| Master Level 4 (E9) – 9th Dan | Red and White | Fine-tuning whatever you’ve learnt. | Invitation only (at least 60 months with 600 hours or more of training at level E9). Awarded by the Grandmaster |
| Master Level 5 (E10) – Grandmaster – 10th Dan | Red | Fine-tuning whatever you’ve learnt. | – |
1. Time Required to Learn Krav Maga Basics
When talking about learning the basics of Krav Maga, we’re more or less talking about training at Practitioner Levels 1 and 2.
At Level P1, we learn about different stances, de-escalation, basic attacks, straight strikes, elbows, hammer, kicks, simple combos, ground fighting, basic chokes, falls, releases, 360-degree attacks, using common objects as weapons, tactical awareness, prevention, and developing basic reflexes.
Level P2 is all about circular strikes like hooks, roundhouse, and uppercut. It also includes defending yourself against a series of attacks, body defense, defense from multiple angles, knife threats, variations of punches, elbow strikes, hammers, and kicks.
Level P1 and P2 get your muscle memory and reflexes working.
You would now know the bare essentials of simple Krav Maga techniques but still aren’t proficient enough to use and execute these confidently in tough real-life situations.
However, you should be able to prevent minor harm to yourself, deal with one unarmed attacker fairly confidently, or escape simple accidents.
Clearing practitioner levels 1 and 2 requires at least 100 hours or at least 10 months of dedicated training. Practitioner level 1 teaches you the bare essentials and requires 40 hours of training from you.
2. Time Required to Become Proficient in Krav Maga Techniques
Your proficiency in Krav Maga begins at practitioner level 3 and goes up to graduate level 5.
By training from P3 to P5, you learn defense against stabs, hand defense against kicks, escaping headlocks, defense against multiple attackers through stress drills, rolls, break-falls, bear hugs, grabs, defense against knife attacks and threats, sticks, guns, and protecting a third person.
Level G1 to G5 teaches takedowns, throws, continuous attacks, spinning attacks, switch kicks, slides, two-hand grabs, full nelson, knife slashes, handguns, pistols, decision making, real-life simulation and drills, stones, rifles, rhythm, and pacing.
By training from P3 to G5, you not only learn a ton of new things but also prepare yourself to transition into a warrior rather than a simple fighter.
Gradually, you start feeling more confident about your techniques and will be able to successfully execute many in stressful real-life situations. You’ll also be able to deal with multiple attackers and weapons.
However, that level of finesse requires extreme dedication and training from your end. Still, for the sake of argument, you’ll be able to protect yourself in common situations in around 2-3 years.
But expect to train for at least 550 hours or devote at least 4-5 years of your life to move towards the expert level.
3. Time Required To Become a Krav Maga Expert
Becoming a Krav Maga Expert (KME) requires devoting more than 5 years of your life (usually 7-8 years) to Krav Maga with a dedicated and rigorous training routine.
KMEs are your black belt equivalents of any martial art, and it denotes that they have an extremely strong grasp on the principles of Krav Maga.
As a result, they can successfully execute various attacks and defensive techniques in real-life, close combat situations and escape with minimal harm.
You can have a detailed look into the world of Krav Maga experts through our article on: How Long Does It Take to be a Black Belt in Krav Maga?
4. Time Required to Become a Krav Maga Master
Remember, even the actual Krav Maga Masters (KMMs) do not make the grave mistake of calling themselves a master.
Even the grandmaster, Imi Lichtenfeld, frequently emphasized how there is so much left for him to learn. You can learn the principles of Krav Maga in 40 hours but refining your techniques is a lifelong process.
There will always be something new to learn and something old to fine-tune and perfect as you move forward.
Time required: Your whole life.
Conclusion
You can say that you’ve ‘learnt’ Krav Maga as soon as you know about fight de-escalation or throwing a straight punch. Technically, you would have learnt two very important parts of it.
You might even go on and learn to disarm your enemy and acquire their weapon. But the question is, are you sure you’ll be able to escape unharmed from any situation possible?
As soon as you think of self-defense and Krav Maga from this perspective, you’ll never be able to put a definite number next to your question.