Here we are again. An entire community on the edge of our seats awaiting the thumbs up or down from the Prime Minister on whether or not indoor martial arts can continue.

We have been hoping to put together an FAQ on the latest news announced today since the PM first spoke in the houses of Parliament but unfortunately here we remain, 20:15, another national address down, and the official guidance? Still not updated.

Grab yourself a tea (or better still, coffee) and hunker down for some regulation. This is going to get messy but independent martial arts clubs need to understand the legal guidance (as opposed to social media gossip) if you’re going to make an informed decision on this.

What On Earth Just Happened?

For those of you whom are already members or have been following us on Facebook and Twitter throughout Covid, you will know two things about BMABA when it comes to Government changes on regulation or guidance;

1. We are fiercely protective of UK martial arts and staunchly believe we have been failed by Sport England and the DCMS.
2. When changes occur we try and ensure we don’t add to the confusion, by only citing referenced or confirmed information.

The latter almost always needs our policy expert to refer to the in-depth Government guidance. Surely with a national address to 65,000,000 citizens on major changes to everyday life as well as a televised address to Parliament this morning you would expect the Government sources to be up to date.

Fantastic. Thanks very much.

Naturally we have written to the DCMS and tweeted them furiously, but all to no avail and no update. We think it is a national disgrace that Sport England and DCMS have failed to engage with the independent martial arts market despite us representing substantially more participants combined than the Sport England martial arts NGB framework. This is, in our opinion, a complete failure of the much advertised support the UK Government claim to provide to grassroots sports.

#martialarts has never enjoyed your support outside of the tiny, funded NGB circuit. An absolute disgrace. Weeks and weeks on and DCMS still can’t reply to an email about return to play, yet ultimate frisbee and hunting has! #notfitforpurpose #ukmartialarts #disgrace

— British Martial Arts & Boxing Association (BMABA) (@OfficialBMABA) September 22, 2020

So what now?

A very good question. We’ve written to thirteen MPs desperately seeking intervention and clarity. Right now martial arts is right back to square one – trying to ascertain between two lines what the guidance is and what the law is. You will no doubt have students and parents chasing you for answers and we know this is going to be incredibly stressful for you.

You’re not alone. There are thousands of clubs and instructors all right on the edge at the moment. As an entirely self-funded organisation, we also feel the acute pain of a complete stop-start.

As much as we hate to say it, there appears little option but to await the formal guidance when it is finally updated. In the interim, there are a few interested sources to consider for ‘background’ and to hopefully help us anticipate what comes next.

Let’s start at the top, by examining the more stringent rules in place within areas currently in lockdown.

Currently, the official guidance states;

Team sport and physical activity

You can continue to take part in organised sporting or licensed physical activity in groups of more than 6. This can be in any public place – indoors or outdoors – but not in a private outdoor space like a garden or inside a private home.

These activities either need to be organised by a national governing body, club, registered instructor/coach, business or charity, and/or involve someone who has received an official licence to use equipment relevant to the activity. In all cases, the organiser must conduct a risk assessment and ensure compliance with COVID-19 secure guidance.

You should only be playing team sports where the relevant governing body has published guidance on how to do so safely. See a list of team sports governing bodies which have developed guidance. For all other sports, guidance is available from your governing body and details on how to safely undertake this activity within an organised environment.

Organised dance and exercise classes can take place in groups of more than 6, where a risk assessment has been carried out, but you should limit your social interaction with other participants. The relevant indoor sport facilities guidance or outdoor guidance must be followed for these activities. Organised sport and physical activity events are allowed provided they follow guidance for the public on the phased return of outdoor sport and recreation in England.

Admittedly, this hasn’t been updated either since 20th September 2020.

Great, so we’re good to continue presumably? Not quite. Let’s look at news sources from Boris’ conversation with MPs this morning (which was more in-depth than his glossy televised speech).

Here’s what the BBC have to say on the matter today (22/09/2020);

Can I still go to the pub, place of worship or an exercise class?

Yes. Pubs, restaurants, shops and other venues will remain open if they follow safety rules and allow for social distancing.

However, across England from Thursday 24 September – and Scotland from Friday – all pubs, restaurants and hospitality venues will have to shut at 22:00. They will only be able to offer table service.

Each group can have no more than six people in it and venues should also allow for social distancing between groups.

In England, places of worship can have as many people in them as is safe to do so. Again, people can only attend in groups of six or less.

Group exercise classes are exempt from the rule of six, as long as they are organised under Covid-secure guidelines.

The UK government has listed 30 organised sports which are permitted with more than six participants. It says others will also be allowed if a sport’s organising body has published guidelines.

So what exactly does the Government say regarding the 30 organised sports?

3.16 Can I still participate in sport and physical activity in groups of more than 6?

You can continue to take part in organised sporting or licensed physical activity in groups of more than 6. This can be in any public place – indoors or outdoors – or a private outdoor space like a garden; but not inside a private home.

These activities either need to be organised by a national governing body, club, registered instructor/coach, business or charity; and/or involve someone who has received an official license to use equipment relevant to the activity. In all cases, the organiser must conduct a risk assessment and ensure compliance with COVID-19 Secure guidance.

You should only be playing team sports where the relevant governing body has published guidance on how to do so safely. See a list of team sports governing bodies which have developed guidance. For all other sports, guidance is available from your governing body and details on how to safely undertake this activity within an organised environment.

Organised dance and exercise classes can take place in groups of more than six, where a risk assessment has been carried out, but you should limit your social interaction with other participants. The relevant indoor sport facilities guidance or outdoor guidance must be followed for these activities. Organised Sport and Physical Activity events are allowed provided they follow guidance for the public on the phased return of outdoor sport and recreation in England.

This means that there is a broad list of organised sport, fitness activity or licensed outdoor physical activity that you can safely and lawfully do in groups of more than six. This includes, but is not limited to:

• • • American football
    • Angling
    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Canoeing / Kayaking
    • Caving
    • Climbing
    • Curling
    • Cricket
    • Cycling
    • Dodgeball
    • Dragon Boat Racing
    • Equestrian
    • Floorball
    • Football
    • Futsal
    • Gaelic Sports
    • Goalball
    • Gymnastics
    • Handball
    • Hockey
    • Hunting – some forms
    • Ice Hockey
    • Lacrosse
    • Netball
    • Octopush
    • Polo
    • Roller Sports
    • Rowing
    • Rugby League
    • Rugby Union
    • Rounders
    • Sailing/Yachting
    • Shooting (including hunting and paintball that requires a shotgun or firearms certificate license)
    • Softball
    • Ultimate Frisbee
    • Volleyball
    • Water polo

Other sports or licensed outdoor physical activities may also be permitted if this is formally organised by a sports club or similar organisation and following sports-governing body guidance.

All supervised activities for children, including sports and exercise groups, are permitted where a risk assessment has been carried out. This should follow guidance on out of school settings.

When participating in organised sport or licensed physical activity, you must not mingle in groups of more than 6 before and after the activity. You should also ensure you socially distance from people you do not live with (or have formed a support bubble with) wherever possible.

When playing sports informally (where not organised in line with the rules above) with people you don’t live with, you must limit the size of your group to 6. It is illegal to do so in a larger group and you may be fined.

Let’s not even go down the rabbit hole of how Rugby, Ultimate Frisbee, Hunting and Ice Hockey – among many others – is safer than socially distanced martial arts!

(Just to be clear, we’re pleased other sports can resume and hold no resentment against the NGBs themselves, but we’re absolutely apoplectic at DCMS and Sport England for failing to engage our community in discussions, despite huge amounts of communication from us on the matter.)

So what am I supposed to tell parents and students?

For now, it’s going to have to be a ‘wait and see’. There is a really strong argument that backs martial arts continuing based on the above, and teaching martial arts to children looks to have the green light.

Ultimately all of the best planning and research in the world might well be blown out of the water with a lazy, clumsy and damn right disgraceful ruling along the lines of “clubs must be registered with the Sport England NGB”. This would automatically rule out 96% of UK martial arts who don’t have a representative NGB from Sport England.

We’re hopeful clubs will be able continue children’s classes without interruption and that fitness may provide the key to adult classes remaining indoor.

As It Stands

• We’re hopeful classes with children can continue indoors without interruption. It appears to be supported by the revised guidance issued today as schools and nursery settings are not closing.
• Unfortunately it seems likely we will be forced to reduce class sizes for adults to no more than six, although this is not a ‘dead-cert’ just yet.
• There is the provision that fitness classes can continue without the new limit in numbers for adults, so we would strongly recommend clubs examine whether or not you can make a suitable, safe change to a martial arts based fitness set up for now if the guidelines are as feared. This is not as straight forward as it sounds – you will need to follow some fairly careful guidance to ensure you don’t breach insurance and qualification based boundaries. We have full support for this in our member’s area, MyBMABA. There is also rumours of dance being permitted without hindrance. If this is the case there is a serious argument for martial arts to continue.
• The best thing you can do right now is get in touch with your local authority and your venues immediately to ask what their understanding of the new guidance is, and to ask if you can continue teaching. Incredibly there is still little clarity again as martial arts (despite representing one of the biggest participatory sports in the country) has been completely left out of the discussion.
• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest updates to this guidance as and when it becomes available.

We are providing additional guidance and support exclusively for our members in MyBMABA. You can join us for free for 6 months if you would like to access our resources and COVID support.