Level 1
Foundation | - Boxing stance (orthodox or southpaw)
- Boxing steps (forward, backward, lead-foot side, rear-foot side)
- Circling right and left
- Jab to the head (straight lead)
- Straight power punch to the head (cross)
- Covering up (high guard)
- Forearm block
- Shadow boxing and bag basics (non-contact)
| - Fighting stance (orthodox and southpaw)
- Stepping footwork
- Guard and cover
- Jab
- Cross
- Front kick (push kick, teep)
- Roundhouse kick
- Low kick
- Parry
- The one-two with a step (the WAKO and Finnish first grades)
| - Stance (square and staggered)
- Motion
- Level change
- Penetration step
- Sprawl
- Referee's position (top and bottom)
- Stand-up and switch (escape and reversal)
- Bridge
- Coached situations only; no open live wrestling
- Headgear issued
| - Shrimp (hip escape)
- Bridge (upa)
- Breakfall (ukemi)
- Technical stand-up
- Closed guard
- Side control
- Mount
- Tapping early
- Adult white belt with no stripes; kids white and grey-white
| - Junbi seogi (ready stance) and charyeot (attention)
- Ap seogi (walking stance) and ap kubi (front stance)
- Juchum seogi (horse stance)
- Nakbeop (breakfall)
- Ap chagi (front kick)
- Dollyeo chagi (roundhouse kick)
- Yeop chagi (side kick)
- Jireugi (straight punch)
- Arae makgi (low block)
- Momtong makgi (middle block)
- Eolgul makgi (high block)
- Guard, blocking and covering under sparring rules
- Taegeuk 1 and 2 Jang
- No-contact sparring drills
- The first ninety days (white to yellow, 10th to 7th geup)
| - MMA stance
- Footwork and pivot
- Level change
- Jab
- Cross
- High guard and blocking
- Sprawl
- Closed guard
- Mount and back escapes
- No sparring; graded on mechanics (white to yellow in the IMMAF scheme)
|
|---|
Level 2
Technique | - Side-step
- Pivot
- Circling away from the rear hand
- Jab to the body
- Straight power punch to the body
- Double jab and straight combinations
- Lead hand hook to the head
- Elbow block
- Parry
- Slip
- Duck, rotary duck, sway back and step back
- Technique sparring only, at reduced speed, on one skill
| - Pivot and angle step
- Hook
- Uppercut
- Side kick
- Combinations
- Block (arm and forearm)
- Shin check
- Slip, and bob and weave
- Attack-defense-attack chains
- First controlled light-contact rounds in full protective equipment
| - Back step
- Hand fighting and tie-ups (collar tie, wrist tie, underhook, biceps tie)
- Double leg
- Single leg
- Snap down and spin (go-behind)
- Riding and breakdowns (ankle ride, spiral ride, pop and chop, return to mat)
- Half nelson
- Cradle (near side and far side)
- First folkstyle rules
- Live goes from set positions
| - Grappling stance and grip fighting
- Double-leg takedown
- Osoto-gari (outer reap)
- Guard passing (knee slice, toreando)
- Back control
- Sweeps (scissor sweep, hip bump)
- Rear naked choke
- Cross collar choke (gi)
- Straight armbar
- Mount escape (elbow escape, bridge-and-roll)
- Posture and hand fighting in guard
- Choke defense (chin tuck, hand fighting)
- Adult white belt with stripes through new blue belt; kids grey, grey-black and the yellow group
| - Dwit kubi (back stance)
- Kyorugi stance with bounce, step and switch (ditgi stepping, pihagi dodging)
- Dwi chagi (back kick)
- Naeryeo chagi (axe kick)
- Gyeokpa (breaking)
- Sonnal makgi (knife-hand block)
- Pihagi (dodging) and lean-back evasion
- Japgi and ppaegi (grasping and releases)
- Taegeuk 3 to 6 Jang
- Step sparring and light pad sparring in full gear
- First breaking (green and blue, 6th to 3rd geup)
| - Clinch and pummeling
- Hook
- Low kick
- Front kick (teep)
- Parry and slip
- Checking the low kick
- Guard retention and framing
- Double leg takedown
- Single leg takedown
- Half guard
- Side control
- Mount
- Back control
- Rear naked choke
- Armbar
- Body roundhouse kick on pads
- Positional grappling; pads only in striking (orange to green)
|
|---|
Level 3
Conditioning | - Lead hand hook to the body
- Rear hand uppercut (head and body)
- Lead hand uppercut (head and body)
- Combinations with hooks and uppercuts
- Feints
- Counterpunching with the straight power punch
- Lead hand block against the rear uppercut
- Bout-tempo bag and pad rounds (3 x 2 or 3 x 3 minutes)
- Conditioned sparring under a registered coach
- USA Boxing athlete registration, passbook and annual physical
| - Spinning back kick
- Axe kick
- Hook kick
- Knee strike
- Foot sweep
- Three 2-minute rounds at competition pace
- Supervised sparring in full protective equipment
| - Lifting and the back arch
- Duck under
- Arm drag
- High crotch and ankle pick
- Head-and-arm throw and arm spin (back-step offense)
- Whizzer and front headlock
- Back-step defense
- Arm bar and tilt
- Freestyle and Greco-Roman introduction (step-outs, exposure, par terre, throws on the crash pad)
- Full-length live wrestling at the age division's period lengths
- Milestone: the Wisconsin Beginner's Freestyle and Greco State
| - Single-leg takedown
- Guard pull
- Knee on belly
- Half guard (bottom)
- Kimura
- Triangle choke
- Guillotine
- Guard retention
- Adult blue belt; kids orange group (10 to 15)
- Positional sparring with conditioning targets
| - Huryeo chagi (hook kick) and dwi huryeo chagi (spinning hook kick)
- Bituro chagi (twist kick) and mireo chagi (push or cut kick)
- Nare chagi and double or combination kicking
- Ttwigi (jumping kicks)
- Bada chagi (counter kick)
- Clinch handling within the rules
- Kkeokgi (joint-locks)
- Neomgigi (take downs)
- Taegeuk 7 and 8 Jang
- Round-based sparring from one-minute rounds toward three rounds of two minutes (red, 2nd and 1st geup)
| - Roundhouse kick (body and head)
- Knee strike
- Clinch defense
- Body lock takedown and trips
- Hip throw (o-goshi)
- Guillotine choke
- Triangle choke
- Kimura (double wristlock)
- Clinch striking to the body
- Head kicks on pads
- Rounds-based conditioning
- Light supervised sparring with headgear, mouthpiece, 16 ounce gloves and shin guards (blue)
|
|---|
Level 4
Competitor | - Diversionary (blind) jab
- Open sparring and ring tactics
- Developmental bouts (fewer than five judged bouts, unscored, headgear)
- Novice or inexperienced division bouts under USA Boxing sanction
| - Spinning back fist
- Clinch control (K1 rules)
- Sanctioned amateur bouts under USA Kickboxing / WAKO or an ABC-recognized commission, tatami disciplines first
- The WAKO beginner window: under one year of training, up to five cup starts
| - Body lock and gut wrench (Greco-Roman)
- Leg rides and turks
- USA Wrestling membership, the state series and national qualifiers
- Weight management under the AAP and NFHS 1.5 percent-per-week rules
- Bronze-certified coaching for 13 and up
| - Straight ankle lock
- IBJJF registration and competition at blue and purple; kids green group and juveniles under Teen and Juvenile rules
- Strategy under the IBJJF point system
- Weight management
| - Poom or 1st dan grading
- USAT or AAU sanctioned events under the modified head-contact chart for age and belt
- Kukkiwon certificate for black-belt divisions
| - Ground and pound
- Straight ankle lock
- Fight camps
- At 18 or older, the ABC novice amateur division (fewer than three bouts), then the advanced division (purple to brown)
- Under 18: the Competitor level is earned in the component arts
|
|---|
Level 5
Fighter | - Open division bouts
- Advancing tournaments (Golden Gloves, USA Boxing national events)
- Elite format, 3 x 3 minutes
- Amateur MMA or kickboxing for adults 18 and over (optional)
| - K1 Style and low kick ring bouts
- A ring record and the APFC fight team
| - Wrestling for fighters (cage wrestling, takedowns off strikes, getting up)
- Chain wrestling against strikes and the fence
- Greco upper-body control
- Scrambling
| - Kneebar, toe hold, heel hook
- Purple belt and above, 18 and over
- Jiu-jitsu under MMA rules
- The no-gi brown-belt curriculum
| - Dan holders who carry the kicking game into the Fight Team under the ABC Unified Rules
- Amateur MMA at 18 and over only
| - Elbow strike
- Knees to the head (professional rules only)
- Heel hooks and twisting leg locks (professional rules only)
- Five recorded amateur bouts before turning professional in Wisconsin, waivable by the commissioner (brown to black, black at 18 or older)
|
|---|