Sharpening Skills.Expanding Knowledge.
Level 3 marks a turning point — techniques get harder, stress goes up, and you learn to improvise. Headbutts, throws, close-quarter fighting, and advanced ground work all start here. Two to three times a week, nine months to complete.
Improvise and Win
Things rarely go as planned. Adapt your techniques to unexpected scenarios, using the environment and whatever is available to your advantage.
Keep Calm, Keep Fighting
Fear, frustration, and anger cloud judgment. You train to stay calm under pressure, make clear decisions, and maintain focus on survival.
Close-Quarter Fighting
Techniques for tight spaces — elbows, knees, clinching, and controlling an attacker when there’s no room to maneuver.
Push / Pull Concepts
Manipulate the opponent’s balance using leverage and timing. Pull when they push, push when they pull — create openings from their momentum.
At Level 3, you stop performing techniques and start solving problems. The fight changes — and you change with it.
Combatives
- Headbutts — Forward, side, and rear
- Slap Kicks
- Heel Kicks
- Complex Combinations — Overlapping strikes, fluid transitions
- Flexibility and multi-style defense through expanded kick vocabulary
Defenses
- Inside Defense — Hands up, close to body, tight angles
- Outside Defense — Hands down, wide angles, off-axis attacks
- Headlock Defense from Behind — Sharpened for rapid response
- Choke Against Wall — Creating space and counterattacking off the pin
Falls & Rolls
- Safe Falling — Minimize injury, prevent head impact
- Forward Rolls — Advance or retreat without losing control
- Backward Rolls — Recovery and repositioning
- Quick Recovery — Minimize time on the ground
Throws & Ground Fighting
- Basic Throws — Balance disruption, not prolonged grappling
- Ground Grappling Basics — Self-defense application only
- Explosive Escapes — Create space and get to your feet
- Primary Goal: Get up quickly to avoid secondary threats
Close-Quarter Chaos
Tight space, elbows and knees only. Control distance, clinch, and counter in confined areas.
Improvisation Drill
Random attacks, unfamiliar angles. Apply principles, not choreography — find what works on the fly.
Throw & Recover
Execute a throw, follow up. Get thrown, fall safely, get back up and counter immediately.
Push-Pull Sparring
Clinch-range work. Use your partner’s momentum against them — redirect, unbalance, attack.
After completing Level 3, you’ll test into Level 4 — Blue Belt. Level 4 introduces weapon defenses against sticks, knives, and handguns, plus advanced ground fighting and the OODA Loop decision-making framework.