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British Martial Arts Federation |
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Who are we? |
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Introduction to the British Martial Arts Federation |
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The British Martial Arts Federation is a Christian organisation that operates on a non-profit basis. At this point it’s worth noting that “profit-making” and “high standard of professionalism” are not the same.
You do not have to be a Christian to join us, but instructors do have to abide by a strict code of conduct and ethics that can dissuade unscrupulous instructors. You are assured of both a safe environment and a very professional instructor whether you are training in a commercial or non-profit school within our federation.
The British Martial Arts Federation was founded in 1994 as an answer to the very problems so many practising martial artists find, such as inter-club and association politics or unsafe or immoral instructors. All our UK instructors and Senior Instructors are vetted by the Chairman of the BMAF personally to establish credibility and integrity. All credentials are verified before any claim for that qualification is endorsed.
Our main concentration of schools is in Renfrewshire since that’s where the home of the Instructors’ Training Academy is and seems to attract people from nearby.
We have 2 categories of Schools and Instructors with the BMAF. The first is “Affiliate”, where a school, an instructor or group of instructors present their credentials (including safety record) and attend an interview to establish suitability of membership. If an instructor is successful, they will receive the referrals for all the enquiries to the British Martial Arts Federation for that style and a certain radius. (The better the communication links, the broader the area.) They will also receive updates on what the law says about our profession. Without this, many instructors and complete associations become detached and out-of-date with safety and legal matters. Since this often results in an insurance claim, we prefer to educate than compensate.
The second type of BMAF School is “Full Member”. This is granted to only 2 types of instructor. The first is a practitioner who has undergone a full curriculum and then instructor training programme with us, and the second is an instructor who has come from outside who has undergone the full instructor training programme. This ensures that we share responsibility for the school and the students therein, offering a consistently high standard of tuition and student support. These schools all have exceptionally high standards of safety and progress, as well as highly regarded by all associates.
The BMAF offer discounted prices on equipment to ensure the students don’t have to shop around then end up bringing unsuitable equipment to class. Safety and presentation are not the only things that depend on the right kit, but comfort for the task in hand, ease of cleaning and repairing as well as other factors are taken into consideration too. Discounted prices are only available to members, (membership costing only £45 for the first year and £30 per year thereafter) but since the Super-Heavyweight classification of uniform we use retails around £90 and members get it for around £70, Head-guards (Warrior) retail around £40 we supply at £30, those items alone justify membership. We also only sell weapons to members (again at a discounted price). As you can see, the benefits of membership extends beyond the classes.
Most BMAF schools operate on a monthly membership schedule. This means that you don’t pay for your scheduled classes. You pay a fixed rate membership and attend all you can within those times. The amount you pay can be less than £1 per hour as an adult. That’s tremendous value! |
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Updated 15th July! |