We Set Standards, Best Practice & Regulate Instructors

We’ve been working proactively to address safety and regulatory failings in the martial arts industry since 2012.

We do this by enforcing the best possible eligibility criteria for BMABA instructors, developing some of the most stringent industry best practice guidelines, enforcing our association’s comprehensive regulatory policy and effectively record-keeping active, problematic and expired instructor records.

It may shock you to know that there’s currently no singular governing body that an instructor in the UK must register with.

We know; shocking.

This effectively allows anyone to deem themselves capable of instructing, to purchase a uniform and then run a class. Add to the problem the many hundreds of different governing bodies and associations all with different focuses, standards, disciplines and governance and you’ll be in a better place to understand why we’re so keen to address this.

Since 2012 we’ve been tirelessly and fiercely to produce some of the toughest standards in the UK for martial arts instructors. This means more competent, professional, accountable coaches and senseis with a better grasp on key issues – such as Safeguarding, Insurance, First Aid, Risk Management and more.

We’ve developed a comprehensive set of regulations and guidelines, including specific guidance on best practice, which is now operational across all of the 150 disciplines and sub-styles we work with.

We’ve also been collating huge amounts of professional data to produce a fully-working, live-time checkable instructor database designed to enable the public the chance to evaluate an instructor’s credentials in person, ‘on the spot’ using just a smartphone.

Furthermore, we’re engaging parents, participants, schools and councils with guidance and advice on martial arts, safety, safeguarding and the wider topics from our industry to try and build an effective, well governed industry.

We’re also open to working with other governing bodies and associations and we actively work to produce and maintain a collective standard through our MARSC program.