{"id":86691,"date":"2026-08-19T21:10:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/?page_id=86691"},"modified":"2026-08-19T21:10:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:10:35","slug":"whats-the-catch","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/association\/whats-the-catch\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s The Catch?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\tFor the sceptical<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t

What’s The Catch?<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t

A fair question, and one we would ask too. Free software, free CPD, free website, insurance at roughly what insurance alone costs elsewhere. Below are the suspicions people actually have, in the words they actually use, and the honest answer to each. Including the ones where the answer is yes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tStart with the suspicions<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/header>\n\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t01<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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It is all free, so I am the product.<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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No, and the reason is structural rather than a promise. BMABA CIC is a Community Interest Company with a legal asset lock. That is not a badge we awarded ourselves, it is a restriction filed at Companies House: surplus cannot be extracted by shareholders, and assets cannot be sold out from under the mission. We have not declared a dividend since 2019.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

There is no advertising on our platform, and we do not sell, rent or broker member data. The money comes from memberships and from the things clubs buy through us. That is the whole model.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t02<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Fine. But how does free software actually pay for itself?<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Arithmetic, mostly. If you spend \u00a3100,000 building a platform and a hundred clubs use it, you need a thousand pounds a club to stand it up. Spend the same \u00a3100,000 across six thousand clubs and the number per club becomes small enough to stop mattering.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

That is the entire trick, and it is not a clever one. Everything we build is aimed at things every club needs, so the cost of building it spreads across as many clubs as possible. It only works at scale, which is why we would rather have a very large number of members paying a modest amount than a small number paying a lot.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

A real example. We recently bought a commercial ID card machine, the kind that produces photographic, hologrammed, secure cards, at a cost of over \u00a330,000. Across 150 clubs that is around \u00a3200 each and you would feel it in your membership fee. Across a workforce of 6,500 instructors, assistants and volunteers it is \u00a34.61, which is small enough that we can usually absorb it or find the efficiency elsewhere. Same machine, same money, completely different answer.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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So what is the free affiliate membership? A trial in disguise?<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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No. Affiliate membership is free for life and unconditional. It is not time-limited, it does not expire, and we will not turn it off later.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

It includes real CPD, the core licensing pathways, and the full club management platform capped at ten students, which is enough to run a small club properly or to test the software thoroughly before committing to anything. Club Colours and Regulation-Ready certification are open to affiliates too. If your insurance, safeguarding training and DBS checks are held elsewhere, upload the evidence and you can still certify. Nothing is held back behind a paywall out of spite.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Affiliate membership has existed since we started in 2012 and it is not going anywhere. As a not-for-profit we think we are duty bound to put the tools that make clubs safer and better regulated within reach of anyone who wants them, with as little standing in the way as we can manage.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The honest part: if every single club took affiliate membership and nothing else, we would not be viable. We know that. We offer it anyway, because a club that cannot afford us should still be able to run safely.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t04<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Which means you need me to upgrade.<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Yes. Most clubs do, and that is where we earn our keep.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

We are not going to dress that up. The bet we are making is that a reasonable membership fee is genuinely good value once you add up what is in it, and that most clubs will reach that conclusion on their own rather than being nudged there. If you look at it and decide affiliate is enough for you, that is a legitimate answer and your affiliate membership does not get worse because you gave it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t05<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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You are making your money on the insurance.<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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This is the one people are most sure about, and the mechanism is worth understanding. Members are declared monthly onto our group cover policy. Every declared member is charged for by the insurer, and that is where the premium goes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Running a scheme of that size is a cost to us rather than a margin. Monthly declarations, regulation, oversight, ongoing management and handling claims when they come. None of that is free at our end.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

What insurance genuinely is, and we will say it plainly, is an incentive. It is a strong reason to join us and a strong reason to stay, and we are not embarrassed by that. Every club needs cover, our group provision is a good one, and offering it is the same kind of draw as putting safeguarding training in an app that is actually convenient to use. The revenue comes from membership. The insurance is what brings you to the door.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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If I leave, I lose everything I have built.<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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You lose the tools. If your website is on our platform, your students are in our CRM and your policies were generated in our toolkit, leaving means moving all of it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

We are not going to pretend that is an accident. It is a retention hook and it works, and every platform business in the world has the same one. What we can tell you is what we do about it: your documents are yours to export, your data is yours to take, and we do not hold anything hostage or charge you to leave.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

How hard leaving actually is depends entirely on how much of the platform you use. If you have not adopted the tools and they were never adding much for you, leaving is seamless. There is nothing to unpick.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

If you are using most of it and you still want to go, it is worth a conversation first. Often what is behind it is a friction we can fix, and fixing it is better for both of us than losing you over something we did not know about. But if you have decided, you have decided, and we will not stand in your way.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Here is the part most platforms will not tell you. We will never stop you copying your data out, but a lot of what we run is bespoke, proprietary software we built and own, and we cannot always offer a clean automated export. Some systems are straightforward to take a copy from. Others are more entangled than that. You should know which is which before you build your club on any of it, ours included.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The version of this we would be ashamed of is building the hook and denying it exists. So: it exists, and the answer to it is that we should be good enough that you do not want to go.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Are you a governing body? Are you recognised by Sport England?<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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We are not a Sport England recognised National Governing Body, and we do not describe ourselves as one.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

What we are is named. Sport England’s own guidance on safeguarding in martial arts names four organisations: the British Judo Association, the British Taekwondo Council, British Taekwondo and us. The other three each govern a single discipline. We are the only independent, multi-style association on that page, and the only one where the Safeguarding Code is not applied for at all: Sport England states that for a BMABA club holding Club Colours, it will be automatically issued to you.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

We also do not want NGB status, which surprises people. An NGB owns a progression from white belt to black belt in a single discipline. We work across more than two hundred styles and our work sits above that line, at instructor standards, safeguarding and governance. We would not fit the profile, and chasing it would mean becoming something less useful to you.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t08<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The price will jump once I am committed.<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Our fees are published openly in the handbook rather than quoted on request, and they have barely moved in six years. When something does change we tell members well in advance rather than on the renewal invoice.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The direction of travel has been the other way. In 2026 we negotiated free club cover and free event cover into memberships, taking more than \u00a3169.99 off club cover and \u00a3189.99 off every event a club insures. Our own costs went up over that period, as everyone’s did. Staff wages, insurance bills, operating costs, all of it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

That is the dilution principle again. We are a Living Wage employer and our team get a pay review every year. Spread that across a small number of clubs and it is a real number we have to find from somewhere. Spread it across constant new members and constant renewals and it thins out to almost nothing. Growth is what lets us hold prices while our costs rise.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

We are not going to promise this holds forever. If the arithmetic changes, prices change, and you will hear it from us in advance rather than on an invoice.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t09<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Will you still be here in five years?<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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We have been running since 2012 and have had a full-time office and staff since 2018. We are not going to pretend the road here was smooth. A model that only works at scale is fragile while you are still building the scale, and there were moments, COVID above all, where we came genuinely close. We have never hidden that: it is in our story, in our own words.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

That is not where we are now, and it is the scale itself that changed it. Past a hundred thousand members, the arithmetic that was once precarious is the thing holding us steady. The platform and the governance behind it are mature, we hold UKAS-accredited certification to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2022 along with Cyber Essentials, and our accounts are filed publicly for anyone who wants to check. We have never been stronger than we are now.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\tNamed on Sport England’s guidance<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t

Four Organisations Are Named. Three Are Single-Discipline Governing Bodies. The Fourth Is Us.<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t

Sport England’s guidance on safeguarding in martial arts names the British Judo Association, the British Taekwondo Council, British Taekwondo and the British Martial Arts & Boxing Association. The first three each govern a single discipline. BMABA is the only independent, multi-style association named alongside them.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t01<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Everyone else applies<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Judo clubs apply through the BJA. British Taekwondo clubs register and apply. British Taekwondo Council clubs can ask the BTC to apply on their behalf. Everyone outside those structures works towards the Code from scratch.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t02<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

BMABA clubs do not<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Sport England states that a BMABA club holding the free Club Colours Award does not need to apply, because it will be automatically issued to you<\/em>. No separate application, no second assessment, no waiting.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t03<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

And Club Colours is free<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Sport England describes it as the free Club Colours Award, because that is what it is. There is no fee for the accreditation and no fee for the Code certification that follows from it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tRead it on sportengland.org →<\/span><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tIf you skipped to the end<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Actual Catches, In One List<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Not the reassuring summary. The four things that are genuinely true and that you would be entitled to hold against us.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

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  1. We need most clubs to upgrade.<\/strong> Affiliate membership is free for life and we mean it, but the organisation does not survive on affiliates alone. We are openly hoping you find the paid membership worth it.<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
  2. The free tier has a ceiling.<\/strong> Ten students on the club management platform. That is enough to start or to test properly, and it is not enough to run a busy club. We would rather say so now than have you discover it in month four.<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
  3. Leaving means moving.<\/strong> Your website, your student records, your generated policies. It is all exportable and none of it is held hostage, but it is still a day of your life.<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
  4. We are not a Sport England recognised NGB.<\/strong> If your local authority or venue specifically requires one, we are not it, and you should know that before joining rather than after.<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ol>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n\n\t\t\t
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    \n\t\t\t\t\tDo not take our word for it<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t

    Everything Above Is Checkable<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

    A page that tells you it is being honest is worth very little on its own. These are the places you can go and verify it without asking us.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCompanies House<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBMABA CIC, registration 10676965. The asset lock, the filed accounts and the CIC reports are all public.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPublished pricing<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEvery membership tier and price, in the handbook, visible before you join rather than after.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCertifications and awards<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2022 under UKAS accreditation, Cyber Essentials, and the recognition we have picked up along the way.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat members say<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tReviews from clubs who are already inside, including the ones that are not glowing.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOur story, including the bad bits<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStarted in 2012 on \u00a320. The near-misses are in there too, because leaving them out would make the rest worth less.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n\n\t\t\t
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    Try The Free One And Make Us Prove It<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

    Affiliate membership costs nothing, lasts for life, and does not ask for a card. Use it, look at what is actually in there, and decide whether the paid version is worth your money. That is the only argument we have that is worth anything.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

    \n\t\t\t\t\t\tJoin free, for life<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee what the paid tiers add<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the sceptical What’s The Catch? A fair question, and one we would ask too. Free software, free CPD, free website, insurance [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2391,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-86691","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/86691\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmaba.org.uk\/clubs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}