Club Standards

> BMABA: Our Governing Body

BMABA, or British Martial Arts and Boxing Association, were set up as a national governing body for martial arts in 2012 by Giovanni Sofietto. They aimed to provide an alternative to governing bodies that often get bogged down by interclub and style politics while maintaining the highest standards for licensing their instructors.

They are among the few National Governing Bodies to be awarded the ‘Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts’ by Sport England and champion these high standards within the industry.

Other standards enforced by BMABA that we always adhere to include enhanced DBS check for all our instructors, advanced first aid training for instructors who lead classes, and their internal Level 1, Level 2 and Club Colours Instructor Qualifications.

For more information, visit the BMABA website.

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> Lifetime Student Grade Register (LSGR) Explained

The Lifetime Student Grade Register – or ‘LSGRʼ for short – is a revolutionary system set up by BMABA in late 2022 to create the UKʼs very first permanent record of martial arts participants. The premise is simple; to allow clubs to register a student grade at an initial grade formally and then have a record that can be easily updated throughout that student's lifetime to ensure a proper, real-time and permanent record of grade and attainment.

This record is accessible to anyone, so it isn’t just some in-house club record; it’s a public acknowledgement of your achievements.

To check someone’s grade, visit the UK Register of Martial Artists or for more information about the scheme, read about it here.

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> Club Colours

BMABA Club Colours is the UK Martial Arts’ highest level of accreditation in vetting and regulation. Accordingly, it is an accolade like none other and clubs who have attained ‘the Coloursʼ receive recognition from inside-of-industry and out-of-industry names alike.

The Colours followed more than three years of work by the team at BMABA behind the scenes. They undertook checks and balances for qualifications, governance, regulation and vetting to ensure that the BMABA Club Colours Award could be unveiled in May 2022 as part of their 10th-anniversary celebrations.

As a result of the involvement with the BMABA's Club Colours scheme, Ace Martial Arts is entitled to be awarded the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts as they meet the standards of the BMABA relating to safeguarding.

For more information about the scheme, read about it on the BMABA website.

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> Safeguarding Code

Ace Martial Arts is leading the charge in sports safeguarding, having successfully attained the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts “mark”. Achieving the Safeguarding Code demonstrates Ace Martial Arts’ commitment to upholding its duty of care to the community and young people and recognises Ace Martial Arts as a martial arts provider that has reached and effectively maintained good safeguarding standards.

The Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts has been created so that parents and carers can identify a martial arts provider that has demonstrated that they have reached and maintained good safeguarding standards and can make informed decisions when selecting a club for their child.

For more information on the code, read about it here.

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> The BMABA Syllabus Licensing Service

Our Syllabus Licensing service is a renowned and widely respected proactive vetting process for our syllabus or curriculum. It is not about rubber-stamping a style or discipline but rather recognising the way we do things in your club with a professional piece of documentation to back you up. BMABA understands that many instructors will spend years refining a syllabus or ‘way of doing thingsʼ unique to their club. This might often include relying on techniques from more than one discipline.

Many clubs will wish to offer gradings and, eventually, black belts in their system, as well as a route to forward progression for the lead instructor. The syllabus licensing service is designed to do exactly that. BMABA’s committee and executive panel will assess a curriculum's structure, intent, grading progression and techniques for integrity and professionalism. 

We have been approved through this scheme and have official documents confirming the syllabus as a named and authenticated style.

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> BMABA Grading Integrity Scheme

BMABA’s exclusive, renowned National Grading Integrity Scheme is designed to ensure the grades issued by us at the club level are recognised and ratified throughout the UK. This effectively allows us and our club to issue nationally supported grades.

It is about establishing a national framework of accepted practice for gradings across all styles. This is designed to offer stability and confidence to the wider public when being issued grades under BMABA-registered clubs.

For more information, visit the BMABA website.