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WordPressbyBMABA

Enterprise WordPress hosting, on a club’s budget of nothing.

Fully managed, ISO 27001 certified, hourly backups, automatic updates, a global CDN and more than 190 premium plugins bundled. It is the kind of hosting agencies put on a retainer, and it is included with your membership.

£3,000+Approximate annual value, included 190+Premium plugins bundled HourlyAutomatic backups ISO 27001Certified under UKAS accreditation
01 /

Most club websites are not slow or hacked because of WordPress. They are slow or hacked because of where they are hosted.

The typical club site sits on a shared plan bought for a few pounds a month, sharing a server with hundreds of unrelated sites. Updates go unapplied because nobody owns them. Backups exist in theory. Security is a plugin somebody installed once. It works fine right up until it does not, and the recovery falls on whoever built it, who is usually a student who has since moved away.

We took a different route. Rather than reselling budget hosting, we run a single high-specification managed environment and put member clubs on it. You get infrastructure sized for large, complex, high-traffic sites, maintained by specialists, under an information security regime that is externally audited. For nothing.

02 / The Environment

Built for large and complex sites, not for a brochure page.

We host on a specialist WordPress platform, on a tier intended for sites with substantial traffic and heavy functionality. Most clubs will never come close to using it, which is precisely the point: your site is never the thing straining the server.

32 GB Memory

Enough headroom that a busy timetable page, a shop and a members area coexist without slowing each other down.

8 vCPU Processing

Dedicated processing rather than a share of somebody else’s. This is where cheap hosting quietly falls over.

640 GB Storage

Room for years of photographs, video, gradings archives and event galleries without a single upgrade prompt.

Unmetered Bandwidth

No traffic caps and no overage charges. A post that unexpectedly does well is good news rather than a bill.

Hosting of this specification, bought commercially with the plugin licences and management that come with it, would cost a club in the region of £3,000 a year. Our members pay nothing for it, because we buy the environment once and our not-for-profit status means there is no margin to add.

03 /

What “fully managed” actually means

Managed is a word every host uses. Here is precisely what we take off your hands, so you can compare it against whatever you are paying for now.

Automatic updates WordPress core, themes and plugins updated for you, with checks so an update never silently breaks your site. The single most common cause of a hacked club website is an update nobody applied.
Hourly backups Your entire site backed up every hour and retained, so the worst case is losing an hour rather than a decade. Restores are ours to run, not yours to attempt.
Security & firewall Managed firewall, malware scanning and automated threat blocking, on infrastructure covered by our ISO 27001:2022 certified information security management system.
Global CDN & caching Your site served fast wherever the visitor is, with image optimisation and caching handled rather than left as a plugin you have to configure.
Free SSL, always Issued, installed and renewed automatically. No expiry warnings frightening off a parent halfway through an enquiry form.
Staging & safe changes Significant changes tested away from your live site first, so nothing experimental ever happens in front of your students.
Uptime monitoring Watched around the clock. If something goes wrong we generally know before you do, and we are already fixing it.
Expert human support Our own developers, plus specialist hosting support behind them. Not a chatbot and a knowledge base article about clearing your cache.
04 / Included Software

More than 190 premium and expertly selected plugins, licensed and ready.

Plugin licences are where WordPress quietly gets expensive. A decent forms plugin, a booking system, an SEO suite, a backup tool and a page builder can run to several hundred pounds a year before you have built anything.

Our environment bundles a curated library of more than 190 premium and free plugins, already licensed, already vetted, and available to every club we host. Including full WooCommerce e-commerce, so a club shop, seminar tickets or online course sales are a configuration exercise rather than a purchase.

Full WooCommerceClub shop, kit sales, seminar tickets, course payments and subscriptions.
Forms & bookingsEnquiries, trials, PARQs and waivers, captured properly rather than emailed.
SEO & analyticsPremium optimisation and reporting tools, so you can see what is actually working.
Page buildersBuild visually if you want to, with licensed premium builders included.
Performance & imagesOptimisation, compression and caching handled at platform level.
Security & anti-spamProtection that would otherwise be an annual licence of its own.
05 /

Your students’ data sits under an audited information security regime

A club website is rarely just a brochure. It holds enquiry forms with children’s names, medical declarations, next of kin details and sometimes payment records. That is personal data, and under UK GDPR it is your responsibility wherever it is hosted.

BMABA CIC is certified to ISO 27001:2022 for information security management under UKAS accreditation, assessed by the British Assessment Bureau, alongside ISO 9001:2015 and Cyber Essentials. We are also registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller. Hosting your club site with us places it inside that regime rather than beside it.

Our Certifications
ISO 27001:2022 certified under UKAS accreditation ISO 9001:2015 certified under UKAS accreditation Cyber Essentials certified Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office
Free Website Transfer

Already have a website? We will move it for you, free.

Our own in-house developers will transfer your existing club website from any platform, at no cost, as part of membership. Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Weebly, another WordPress host, or something a member of your club built years ago and no longer maintains.

And we will build it twice if you want us to. Our developers can produce a mock-up in both systems, WordPress and Flo, so you can look at the front end exactly as a prospective student would, then log into each back end and decide which one you actually prefer working in. No commitment either way, and nothing to pay whichever you choose.

Option one Like for like on WordPress

Your site rebuilt faithfully on our managed WordPress hosting, keeping your design, content, URLs and search rankings intact.

Option two A close replica in Flo

The same site recreated in our code-free builder, so you can update a class time yourself in thirty seconds without touching a plugin ever again.

Option three Something entirely refreshed

If your site is tired, say so. We will design something current around how your club actually operates, rather than reproducing a layout from 2018.

This is where membership frequently pays for itself.

Clubs coming to us are typically paying a website builder subscription, a separate hosting bill, a domain renewal, plugin licences and a designer’s hourly rate whenever something needs changing. All of that can be cancelled. For a great many clubs, the saving on those alone covers the entire cost of membership, and then some, before a single other benefit is counted.

07 /

Not sure WordPress is what you need?

It is not the right answer for every club, and we would rather say so than host something you cannot maintain.

Choose WordPress if
  • You already have a WordPress site you want kept and looked after
  • You want a shop, memberships or custom functionality
  • You want no ceiling on what the site can eventually do
  • You are comfortable with us building and maintaining it for you
Choose Flo if
  • You want a professional site live this evening
  • You would rather never touch a plugin or an update
  • You want to change a class time yourself in thirty seconds
  • A club site is all you need, done properly
Explore Flo by BMABA

Multi-Award Winning & Nationally Recognised

ICO Registered CIMSPA Training Provider Partner ISO 9001:2015 certified under UKAS accreditation ISO 27001:2022 certified under UKAS accreditation Armed Forces Covenant signatory CPD Approved UK Register of Learning Providers Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts Cyber Essentials certified Good Governance Recognition Social Enterprise UK Sport England Sport and Physical Activity Sport and Recreation Alliance Martial Arts Safeguarding Group ASPP Disability Confident Committed Ecologi climate positive workforce End Child Poverty coalition charity: water supporter Child Rescue Alliance UKRLP registered MARSC Approved Association Home Office Knife Free campaign Anti-Bullying Alliance As featured on BBC Radio 4 As featured on BBC News As featured in The Guardian As featured in The Sunday Times As featured in Men's Health World Sports Awards
Testimonials

What Do Our Members Say?

  • Matt J
    Can't Rate Them Highly Enough
    Having left my previous association in November, and being very daunted by the prospect of being responsible for all my own compliance and everything else I can honestly say BMABA have made the whole thing possible and even pleasant. The training resources are great, it's been fantastic for me to be able to quickly up skill my team, the insurance is really easy to sort out, the team are super friendly and helpful, the perks on Gold membership are also fantastic.
    Member review
  • John Tomsett
    Outstanding Club Association and Insurance Provider
    I have been a customer of BMABA for two years now, and I am extremely impressed with their services. First and foremost, the customer service provided by BMABA is exceptional. Their team is responsive, professional, and genuinely dedicated to ensuring that our needs are met. Whenever we had a query or require assistance, they responded rapidly and effectively.
    Member review
  • Georgina E
    Really impressive, 21st century MA organisation. 10/10
    Found these guys in Martial Arts Illustrated doing a piece on professionalism in martial arts and thought, as an instructor, they might be worth looking at further. Really impressed from the moment I hit their website through to now, 3 months on as a member. Great staff, Giovanni is rediculously knowledgable and our club is now growing under the banner of what has got to be the best martial arts org in the UK.
    Member review
  • Michael Willington
    Definately recommended. Unbelievable Association.
    The BMABA are unlike any other org I've come across in this industry. Their honest, professional, politics free and most importantly, they know what they're doing. Website is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest, insurance is comprehensive and their overall customer service is just unlike anything else I've had in 25 years of martial arts. Amazing through and through. Would definitely recommend.
    Member review
  • Jonathan D
    BMABA – the Martial Arts Association you NEED
    I joined the BMABA right in its infancy (I believe I was their second member!). Giovanni is the most helpful, respectful and genuine person who has turned the possibility of a non-political, highly respected and supportive Martial Arts Association into a reality. I could bang on for hours about the BMABA but don't take my word for it – go and visit the BMABA website and see for yourself.
    Member review
  • Fabian Burdett
    2020 This team deserves a Medal
    As we all know 2020 has been the year from hell for martial arts. One thing that has come out of that is BMABA have done everything in their power to keep clubs like mine up to date with what's happening and tried to push the government to notice us. Couldn't wish for a better association to be a part of. Once again big THANK YOU to you guys for all the help. 💙🐺👊
    Member review
  • Matthew Robert Cooling-Stones
    These guys are the real deal
    As i'm heading into the brave world of starting up my own small self defence club in our village, i can say with complete honesty and satisfaction that BMABA have been the most supportive and upfront association i have come across. i have seen and had first hand experience with the Mcdojo's offering you the greatest adventures of a life time. but these guys are the real deal… i hold my head high, and say with great pride "i am a BMABA member"
    Facebook
  • Anna Martensson
    Highly IMPRESSED by the BMABA
    As someone with 22 years of experience in martial arts, who saw enough big egos and leaders who only look after their own benefits… I am highly IMPRESSED by the BMABA. I wanted to make sure they don't just promise the world but actually deliver. They support us all the way and constantly look for new ways of making our whole industry better for ALL of us. THANK YOU!!
    Facebook
  • Adrian Jackson
    Always quick to respond and thoughtful
    Always quick to respond and thoughtful. Great service delivered at a very reasonable price and very supportive of the community. Been a member for a couple of years now and recommend highly
    Member review
  • Daniel Leaver
    Simply the best organisation I have ever worked with
    Simply the best organisation I have ever worked with. Everything is so stress free and I am definitely sticking with them for the rest of my career.
    Facebook
Included With Membership

Hosting worth thousands. Priced, like everything else here, at nothing.

Join free, tell us about your site, and our developers will take it from there. If you have not got a site yet, we will build you one.

Multi-Award Winning & Nationally Recognised

Best Sports Governing Body Initiative

Winners

Best Association Serving Sport

Finalists

Best COVID Response for Sports

Finalists

Sports Diversity Award

Finalists

Sports Association of the Year

Bronze

Best Sporting Association in the UK

Winners

Best Sport & Recreation Entrepreneur

Winners

Best Association Website

Winners

Association of the Year

Finalists

Executive Director of the Year Finalists

Finalists

Best Use Of Technology Award

Winners

Best Sport & Recreation Entrepreneur

Winners

UK Business Leader of the Year

Winners

Entrepreneur Of The Year

Finalists

Director Of The Year

Finalists

Young Entrepreneur Of The Year

Finalists

We’re Here When You Need Us.

Choosing the right association, or simply working out what support your club actually needs, isn’t always straightforward. That’s why we’re always happy to talk it through.

Whether you’re curious about membership, need help with something specific, or just want a no-pressure chat to see if we’re the right fit, our team is ready. No bots. No scripts. Just real people, working full-time from our UK office, who know martial arts and genuinely want to help.

THINKING OF JOINING?

Still Thinking It Over?

Choosing an association isn’t a decision to rush, and we’d never ask you to. Our team is here to offer honest, straightforward advice with no pressure and no sales scripts.

Whether you’re comparing support, questioning the value of your current membership, or just want to talk things through, we’re happy to help, even if the answer is that we’re not the right fit for you.

We’re a full-time, professional team with nationally certified standards behind everything we do. You’ll feel the difference the moment you get in touch.

Trusted by more than 6,500 instructors and clubs.

A National, Regulated, Award-Winning Not-For-Profit - Built From The Ground Up

BMABA CIC is a regulated, independently audited, multi-award-winning social enterprise, and one of the UK’s leading professional homes for independent martial arts.

We hold ISO 9001:2015 and 27001:2022 certification under UKAS accreditation, the same gold standard used to assess hospitals, universities and major corporations. We’re overseen by the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies, with a legal asset lock that means our income is reinvested into grassroots martial arts, never distributed as profit. We’re also a CIMSPA (Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity) Educational Partner.

We haven’t been propped up by corporate sponsors or legacy funding. We’ve grown organically, one instructor at a time, by doing what we said we’d do. Since 2012 we’ve supported clubs through hardship, driven national reforms, and built a respected, professional home for independent martial arts.

Today we’re trusted by more than 6,500 instructors and clubs, supporting over 100,000 members across 200+ disciplines. Along the way we’ve earned national recognition, from awards in governance and inclusion to features across the BBC, ITV and The Guardian.

We didn’t inherit status. We earned it, by raising the bar and never compromising on our values.

HOW MUCH COULD YOUR CLUB SAVE?

Cut costs. Simplify your club. Invest back into what matters.

Our membership model is simple. By consolidating essential services and tools they already need, many clubs save more than the cost of their membership alone. No hidden upgrades, no shareholder profit, just practical support delivered by a regulated, audited social enterprise.

Empower Your Club With A Platform That Works For You

Run your martial arts club smarter with our full-featured, professionally built Club Management Platform, included free with your membership. Because it’s funded by our not-for-profit mission rather than investors, there are no upsells, no hidden costs, and no per-student fees creeping in later. Just powerful, intuitive tools that stay free.

Built to save you time, money and stress, and trusted by clubs nationwide.

Why Do Thousands Choose BMABA?

What makes us different becomes clear the moment you look closely, from our award-winning governance to the depth of support we offer clubs of every size.

Whether it’s our industry-leading safeguarding standards, our not-for-profit mission, or powerful club technology funded purely by membership, there’s a reason more than 6,500 instructors and thousands of clubs across the UK put their trust in us.

— Stephanie Peacock MP, House of Commons Debate on Combat Sport Safety

"Organisations such as the British Martial Arts and Boxing Association support unaffiliated martial arts providers to adopt the safeguarding code… Providers with recognition under the code can display a logo on their promotional materials to show participants that their safety measures have been vetted.”

A VOICE FOR INDEPENDENT MARTIAL ARTS

Ministerial Commendation and Parliamentary Recognition

BMABA CIC has been formally recognised in the House of Commons as a leading voice on martial arts safety. During a Parliamentary debate on combat sport safeguarding, the Minister for Sport, Stephanie Peacock MP, highlighted the Association by name for our role in supporting independent and unaffiliated martial arts clubs to adopt the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts, helping to set consistent standards across the sector.

Following that debate, BMABA received a direct letter of commendation from the Minister, acknowledging our efforts to improve safeguarding and recognising the importance of our work in protecting children and young people in martial arts. This recognition at the highest levels of Government demonstrates the influence of our grassroots movement, and underlines the trust placed in BMABA to help shape the future of safe martial arts practice in the UK.

Stephanie Peacock MP © UK Parliament (Open Parliament Licence v3.0)

“I appreciate your ongoing efforts to make martial arts safer for children.”

— Stephanie Peacock MP, Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth

In her official response to BMABA, the Minister for Sport praised our work in raising safeguarding standards across the independent martial arts sector. She acknowledged our role in supporting unaffiliated clubs, described our input as “extremely useful” for Government policy development, and confirmed that our work will help inform the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s next steps in strengthening child safety in martial arts.

Built For The Sector - Not For Shareholders

BMABA wasn’t inherited or bought. It was built. And in 2025, we made the decision to give it away.

Our founder, who grew up in poverty and built BMABA from scratch with just £20, voluntarily converted the organisation into a regulated not-for-profit Community Interest Company, surrendering nearly £2 million in private value to protect its mission for the long term. That means no shareholders, no dividends and no profiteering, just a legal, permanent commitment to community impact.

We’re a registered social enterprise, governed by the CIC Regulator, certified to ISO 9001:2015 and 27001:2022 under UKAS accreditation, and led by a multi-award winning social entrepreneur who believes martial arts should serve the many, not the few.

This isn’t a badge of convenience or a business dressed up as a cause. It’s a movement, built for clubs, by clubs.

INCLUDED WITH MEMBERSHIP

Build or Transfer Your Club Website - For Free

Whether you already have a website or are starting from scratch, we can take care of it for you. Our team can migrate your existing site or build a clean, professional new one designed around how your club actually operates, fully aligned with BMABA systems and standards.

Your website is built to do more than just look good. It can support online payments, club shops, enquiries and member journeys, while connecting seamlessly with club management, business tools and secure email. You also get direct one to one support from our developers to make sure everything is set up properly and works the way you need it to. All of this is included as part of your membership, with no extra charges.

Nationally Recognised Standards

Our Club Colours and RegulationReady awards go far beyond branding or badges. They represent some of the most robust safeguarding and compliance standards available anywhere in UK martial arts.

Mapped directly against the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts (SCiMA) and formally approved by Sport England, our frameworks allow clubs to earn full SCiMA recognition directly through the MyBMABA platform, automatically and at no cost. We are the only independent martial arts body, and one of just two organisations nationwide alongside Sport England’s own NGBs, granted the authority to issue SCiMA certification in this way.

No waiting. No third-party submissions. No extra cost. Every BMABA member has access to this, included as part of our not-for-profit mission to raise standards from the ground up.

Others talk about safeguarding. We built a national infrastructure to deliver it.

Not Entirely Sure?

We offer a genuine 12 months of free membership, with no catches, no obligations and no hidden clauses.

Why? Because we believe you deserve to see first-hand what it feels like to be supported by an organisation that genuinely has your back. We know plenty of clubs have been let down before by associations that overpromised and underdelivered, so we’d rather show you than sell you.

Whether you’re looking for insurance, safeguarding help, student tools, guidance, structure, or simply a community that understands your club’s challenges, free membership gives you access to the same resources, platform and support we provide to thousands of instructors and clubs across the UK.

Take the full year. Explore everything. Then decide for yourself.

Raising Standards, Protecting Clubs

With RegulationReady and Club Colours, every BMABA club gains free access to the most advanced governance framework in martial arts: a gold-standard system built in-house, operated under our ISO 9001:2015 and 27001:2022 certified processes, and recognised nationally through SCiMA.

This isn’t a policy pack gathering dust. Your safeguarding, leadership and compliance are checked dynamically against live data, giving you instant certification, public recognition and complete transparency. No other martial arts body offers anything this comprehensive, and with BMABA CIC it’s included free for every member, because raising standards and protecting grassroots clubs is what we do.

The UK's Leading and Largest Multi-Style Governing Body For Martial Arts

BMABA CIC T/A British Martial Arts & Boxing Association
Registered Address: The Old Bakery. Golden Square, Petworth. GU28 0AP
Phone: 01798306546  | EMail: info@bmaba.org.uk

BMABA CIC. Reg. 10676965.
ICO Registration Number: ZA241917
Social Enterprise License No: 11677
VAT Registration Number: 373018216

Emergency Services, Armed Forces, RNLI and NHS front line staff are all entitled to 10% discounts across all of our memberships for life. This applies to all ex-serving armed forces and emergency workers too.

We are a proud signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, with active support for serving and veteran regular and reserve force members.

BMABA CIC is proud to hold the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management certification and 27001:2022 for Information Security Management Systems, issued under UKAS accreditation – the highest level of independent validation for quality management in the UK.

BMABA CIC is an Introducer Approved Representative (IAR) under FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) Registration 308626.

© 2012-2026 BMABA CIC. All Rights Reserved. Use of our site or any of our services signifies agreement to our legal policy and privacy policy, available here.