BMABA Updates & News

Hi there,

As we wrap up 2025, it is hard to overstate just how transformative this year has been for BMABA CIC. In every sense, organisationally, operationally, culturally, and technologically; we have grown at a pace few could have predicted.

It has been a year of exponential progress driven by our team, our community, and the thousands of instructors and clubs who continue to trust, support, and shape us.

A Year of Milestones

In less than twelve months, we have:

• Completed our transition to a Community Interest Company, solidifying our mission-led identity.
• Been referenced in Parliament for the first time in our history.
• Gained long-awaited acknowledgement on the Sport England website.
• Launched major national frameworks and CPD programmes including Regulation Ready, Trauma Informed Coaching, Serious Youth Violence, and Mental Health First Aid for Martial Arts.
• Matured significantly as an organisation by strengthening and revalidating all of our governance, safeguarding, and policy frameworks.
• Achieved ISO9001:2015 certification and UKAS accreditation, alongside an extensive list of additional memberships and formal recognitions.
• Appeared across national media including BBC News, ITV News, The Times on Sunday, and several other high-profile outlets.

This year also saw the introduction of the all-new MyBMABA Club Management Platform. This was a landmark addition to our digital ecosystem. Remarkably, we are introducing our third version next week, less than a year after the first launch. The pace of development reflects our commitment to providing clubs with world-class tools at accessible costs.

Perhaps, however, one of the most meaningful achievements of 2025 has been resolving what we often referred to internally as the final gap in our operational model. Customer service response times have been transformed. We now answer 98% of enquiries the same day and, in many cases, within the hour. For an organisation of our size, this has been a huge and long awaited milestone. We want to stress that we have been aware of this shortfall for a number of years, but until now have not been able to manage a big enough internal team to effectively deal with this. The space you have given us, to get this right, has been amazing and we've been running now for a number of months with rapid, up to date support. That will remain a centre-point for BMABA as we go forwards.

Why We Have Been Quiet Since November?

You may have noticed a quieter period from us over recent weeks. This was completely intentional. Behind the scenes we have been focused on a substantial programme of improvements and new releases that will begin rolling out from January. We know for many clubs the run up to Christmas is busy (socially, and away from the club) and that many of you struggle with numbers on the mats in this quarter. To avoid overwhelming you when you are no doubt in need of a much needed break, we've decided to strategically hold back some of our major updates and releases until 2026, when we hope you'll be feeling refreshed and ready to move forward with us.

Here is a preview of some of what is coming:

• A new release of the MyBMABA Club Management Platform before Christmas.
• New CPD programmes and expanded instructor training.
• A full Event Ready suite covering refereeing, grade integrity, event guidance, and club-led competition support.
• A new Cadet Programme for junior assistant instructors.
• Updated training pathways for assistant instructors.
• Strengthened governance, oversight, and internal policy structures.
• New members joining the team to provide specialist expertise.
• A new PA style assistance option for clubs.
• Additional rounds of internal club funding and grant support.
• And much more that will be revealed throughout early 2026.

Updates will be shared across our social channels throughout January, and new features will be highlighted inside MyBMABA as they go live.

We're also going to continue to work on MyBMABA. We know for those who have used MyBMABA for a number of years, no doubt you'll agree it is lightyears ahead of where it was less than twelve months ago. In fact, this time last year, we couldn't even offer the controls around adding on or renewing students and instructors. Everything had to be done via manual links! But the innovation here will continue to make it more user friendly, faster, and more useful.

Christmas Opening Hours and a Thank You

Our office will remain open until Tuesday 23 December and will reopen on 2 January.

If we do not have the opportunity to speak with you before then, thank you. This has been our biggest and most ambitious year so far, and it would not be possible without the instructors, clubs, volunteers, parents, students, partners and supporters who believe in the work BMABA CIC is doing.

We wish you a fantastic Christmas and New Year. Enjoy some well earned rest and we look forward to working with you again in 2026.

-- Giovanni and the team.

Hi there,

We’re proud to be one of only four Governing Bodies, and the only independent, self-funded organisation, directly referenced by Sport England for meeting the governance standards required to automatically award the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts (SCiMA). 👏

More than 1,000 BMABA-affiliated clubs are now working through, or have achieved, Bronze or higher RegulationReady™ status. However, only 115 clubs have achieved and maintained the highly coveted Club Colours™ accreditation, which includes automatic recognition from the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts (SCiMA) and direct access to SCiMA certification through MyBMABA.

This recognition reflects the governance and safeguarding standards within BMABA, which are independently validated to such a level that clubs obtaining our Club Colours™ licence automatically qualify for the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts without needing to apply or undergo a separate audit.

If your club already holds Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts (SCiMA) certification, first of all, well done! If you’d like to combine that certification with your BMABA membership to simplify renewals and avoid separate SCiMA audits, contact our team and we’ll be happy to help arrange it.

Check this out for yourself, from the SportEngland website;

https://www.sportengland.org/guidance-and-support/safeguarding/safeguarding-martial-arts

Hi there,

We’re delighted to confirm that BMABA CIC will be launching both Vocational and Time-Served Grading Pathways nationally from mid-November 2025 — around a month earlier than expected. This marks the culmination of more than a year’s work developing a transparent, nationally respected, and fully quality-assured system for senior grade advancement.

The project set out to answer one of the most important questions in our sector: how can experienced instructors continue to progress through legitimate, externally validated channels — without resorting to self-issued or purchased grades, and without lowering standards?

Both new grading routes are now fully digitalised and aligned with ISO 9001:2015 standards, ensuring every award is traceable, auditable, and nationally consistent.

Vocational Gradings

The Vocational Grading Pathway is designed for instructors from 2nd Dan to 8th Dan+ who may not have access to a traditional in-person panel. It is not a shortcut — those who piloted the system over the past two years described it as more demanding and professionally scrutinised than most physical gradings.

Each application undergoes an eligibility review to assess the robustness of the syllabus and the candidate’s pedagogical foundation. From there, three independent senior examiners from BMABA’s network of over 6,500 instructors are appointed to review grading footage and materials. The process is entirely anonymous, removing bias and politics, with each examiner assessing purely on technical merit and instructional quality.

Candidates receive a detailed feedback report once grading is complete, showing examiner names, grades, and comments, all logged within a transparent audit trail. Examiners receive a £25 honorarium per grading, recognising their professional input and helping clubs offset membership and insurance costs while contributing to national standards.

Time-Served Gradings

For 5th Dan and above, the Time-Served Pathway recognises long-term contribution, leadership, and community service as the basis for advancement where technical demonstration is no longer representative. Instructors formally petition for promotion, supported by endorsements from peers, students, and senior colleagues, providing verifiable evidence of ongoing engagement and professionalism.

Every petition is reviewed under BMABA’s UKAS-accredited ISO 9001:2015 quality framework, ensuring objectivity, consistency, and accountability. High-grade awards remain rare — only 30 have been issued in the past 12 years — and that same rigour will continue under the digitalised process.

Upholding Standards, Advancing the Profession

BMABA has never pursued grades for the sake of status. These pathways are about maintaining professional integrity while giving genuine instructors a route to progress within a fair, modern, and nationally recognised framework. By formalising both Vocational and Time-Served options, we aim to remove the politics from senior grading and reinforce public confidence in the legitimacy of rank across martial arts.

The pathways open mid-November 2025. Instructors planning to apply should begin preparing their syllabus documentation, grading footage, or club endorsements now.

👉 Read the full article

Hi there,

We’re proud to share that the British Martial Arts & Boxing Association (BMABA) was recently referenced in Parliament during a debate on safeguarding in combat sports for children.

MPs highlighted BMABA’s role in setting high safeguarding standards across the independent martial arts sector. This recognition was later reinforced in a letter from Stephanie Peacock MP, Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth, who confirmed that the Government values the Association’s contribution in shaping future safeguarding frameworks for martial arts.

“I appreciate [BMABA's] ongoing efforts to make martial arts safer for children.” — Stephanie Peacock MP, Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth

At the same time, we are taking proactive steps to further strengthen protection for students at every level. This month we are rolling out a completely free Participant Advocate and Safe Adult (PASA) Award to all members — including instructors, assistant instructors, volunteers and even free affiliates.

Developed from our research into recurring failures in event supervision, the PASA initiative recognises that many serious injuries and safeguarding lapses happen because responsibility for participant welfare is not always clearly defined between instructors, organisers and parents.

The PASA CPD and framework will empower clubs to send students to third-party events knowing there is a trained safe adult present. Every PASA will be equipped to spot the signs of concussion, raise concerns where welfare may be at risk, and advocate for children and adults at risk who might otherwise be overlooked. This creates a clear, accountable link in the chain of command, ensuring no student is left without a voice.

This initiative forms part of a much broader package of support being launched this month to help clubs both navigate third-party events safely and host their own competitions with confidence. By combining national recognition of our safeguarding leadership with practical, on-the-ground tools like the PASA Award, BMABA is reinforcing its commitment to raising standards, protecting participants, and ensuring independent martial arts can continue to thrive safely.

Join the conversation in our Regulation Ready space here.

Hi there,

On this day back in 2012, a 20-year-old Giovanni registered the very first BMABA domain name — armed with £20 of 'start-up capital', a refurbished laptop, and a second-hand BlackBerry. Thirteen years later, what began as a small idea has grown into a community of more than 6,500 instructors, clubs, assistants and volunteers, and a student body of over 94,000 across 100 disciplines, and £2,450,000 self-generated revenue reinvested back into UK martial arts.

From the earliest members who’ve stood with us through every milestone, to those who’ve joined just recently — thank you. Every single club has helped make BMABA CIC what it is today. Together we’ve navigated COVID, heartbreak, triumph and growth — and we’ve done it without letting politics get in the way of what matters most: martial arts.

Instead of celebrating in the office, we wanted to do something meaningful. On behalf of our team and our members, today we’re proud to make a donation to Sophie's Legacy, a beautiful charity set up in memory of Sophie, who tragically passed away from cancer aged 10. Tonight, our contribution will fund a pizza night for parents staying with their children on the NICU and Howard Ward at Chichester Hospital. Too often these parents go unfed while they remain by their child’s side, and Sophie’s Legacy ensures they are cared for at such a difficult time. We’re committed to making this a regular monthly contribution going forward.

We’re humbled, grateful, and excited for what the next 13 years will bring — and we couldn’t do any of it without you.

Hi there,

We’re delighted to confirm that Version 2 of the MyBMABA Club Management Platform has landed — and it brings one of the most important upgrades yet: Payments.

Clubs can now manage everything from subscriptions and invoicing to online and offline payments directly within MyBMABA. Whether you prefer to use Stripe for seamless online billing or stick with cash, bank transfer, or other providers, the platform now supports it all.

This update means you can:

• Create and track invoices with ease
• Offer automated subscriptions and billing through Stripe
• Provide instructions and record payments for offline methods
• Manage everything in one place — fully integrated with your club’s membership records

The system has been fully tested and is live right now. We recommend clubs test-drive the feature before rolling out, but you’re free to start using it today.

And this is just the start — we’ll be opening the roadmap for Club Manager V3 very soon, with even more tools to help clubs thrive.

👉 Read The Full Update

👉 Switch On Payments

Hi there,

We’re excited to announce a major upgrade to our Club Colours framework, made possible through close collaboration with the Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts (SCiMA).

For the first time ever, clubs achieving BMABA Club Colours will soon be able to download their official SCiMA certificate and brand assets directly from their BMABA dashboard — with no duplicate systems or additional steps.

Seamless, Smarter Integration

Previously, earning Club Colours meant you were eligible for SCiMA recognition — but the certification itself was managed separately. Now, thanks to our partnership with SCiMA and our UKAS-accredited ISO 9001:2015 governance framework, that process is being streamlined into a single, smart platform.

Once live, clubs will be able to:

• ✅ Instantly access their BMABA Club Colours certificate, School of Excellence badge, and national register status
• ✅ Download their SCiMA certificate and brand kit (once approved by the SCiMA team)
• ✅ Track live status updates on the SCiMA public map — directly from their dashboard

This is the first time a national safeguarding scheme has been integrated directly into a martial arts governance system — making it easier than ever to demonstrate compliance and credibility in one trusted place.

Smarter Licencing, Less Admin

Club Colours is now fully powered by our intelligent Regulation Ready framework — meaning eligibility is determined automatically, based on live data and compliance across your entire club team.

Key features include:

• Real-time verification with no manual re-entry
• Role-based vetting options including:

This gives clubs of all sizes more flexibility to manage their team — without ever compromising on safety or governance.

One Unified Trustmark

The updated Club Colours programme now combines:

• ✅ Whole-club safeguarding and compliance (powered by IVY & Regulation Ready)
• ✅ BMABA licensing, recognition, and awards
• ✅ SCiMA certification (when approved)
• ✅ Centralised access to everything — fully digital, fully free

Whether you're a solo instructor or managing a large team, Club Colours provides a transparent, professional way to demonstrate you meet some of the highest standards in grassroots sport.

Already Approved by SCiMA?

If your club already holds Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts approval, it’s quick and free to link your SCiMA status with your BMABA Club Colours licence.

All you need to do is ensure your Club Colours registration is active before your next SCiMA renewal. SCiMA will then automatically connect your safeguarding certification to your Colours record — so you can manage everything from one place, with no duplication.

When Is It Going Live?

The infrastructure on our side is already up and running. We're now just awaiting final testing from the SCiMA team — and we're aiming for full rollout by 1st August 2025, if not sooner.

Once live:

• SCiMA will align all existing Club Colours holders
• New clubs will be eligible for rapid SCiMA approval
• Everything will be handled inside your BMABA dashboard

Want to get your club ready for Club Colours and SCiMA approval?
Learn more about the award, how to qualify, and how to apply:
🔗 https://mybmaba.org.uk/club-colours-just-got-smarter-now-with-scima-certification-built-in/

Hi there,

Over the past few months, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to completely transform the way we manage support for our community.

As part of this, we’ve undertaken and passed the ISO9001:2015 quality standard — a process that involved retraining our entire team, implementing clearer procedures, and setting out structured processes for dealing with concerns, technical matters, and more complex support cases. It’s been a challenging process, but one that has helped us build the sort of infrastructure our members deserve.

We’ve also welcomed Bella to the team, who now leads much of our front-line membership support. With her help, we’ve been able to ensure there’s a properly trained colleague available to help across live chat, phone, and email right through to 5pm every weekday — even when the wider team are focused on compliance, safeguarding, systems, and development work. This has in turn allowed our senior team to deal with more complex and time-consuming matters, and for the rest of our customer services team to move at pace through lower level or less complex communication.

We know that many of you have wanted more timely, responsive support from us over the past few months. Your patience during this growth has not gone unnoticed, and we’re hugely grateful for the trust and space you’ve given us to get it right.

For the past three weeks, we’ve maintained no more than 25 outstanding support queries at any one time — and on three separate occasions, we’ve cleared the inbox entirely. For comparison, this use to be well beyond 400 at any one point. Our average longest waiting query since June 14th has been 3 days, not 3 weeks.

To give a sense of scale, each week we’ve been handling more than 1,000 live chat replies, over 450 web chat conversations, 350+ emails, 100+ phone calls, and 50+ cases via tickets, WhatsApp, and Facebook. These have ranged from simple password resets and routine queries to safeguarding concerns and highly technical grade or web based issues.

We want to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible work from our internal team in getting us to this point — and to thank our community for helping us reach this new standard.

From this point forward, we won’t allow any slipping back. With programmes like Club Colours and RegulationReady maturing, the successful relaunch of MyBMABA, and our club management platform now live, we’re excited about what comes next. With support now running as it should, we believe the next six months will be some of the most impactful yet for our community.

If you've been in touch over the past couple of weeks, we really hope you've noticed the difference in response rates.

Thank you for being part of it. 🙌

Hi there,

Earlier today, BMABA CIC held a high-level meeting with officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to discuss governance, risk management, and safeguarding across the UK’s martial arts landscape.

The conversation focused on the need for effective national oversight—without placing disproportionate pressure on grassroots clubs. We shared our vision for a system where credible governing bodies and associations take responsibility for regulatory standards, enabling community clubs to focus on safe, high-quality delivery.

We also explored the complexities of regulating a diverse sector, including clubs teaching multiple styles, operating for self-defence rather than competition, or working with at-risk communities. These nuances were well received, and we strongly advocated for the enormous value and professionalism present across the independent community.

Our role within the Martial Arts Safeguarding Group (MASG), which is supported by Sport England and DCMS, continues to ensure the voice of the independent sector is heard at the highest level.

We’re also sharing evidence of our national frameworks—such as Club Colours, Regulation Ready, Suitability Vetting, and more—to help shape future policy.

This marks an important step forward for recognition of the independent martial arts community, and we’ll continue to represent our clubs in ongoing DCMS, MASG, and SCiMA discussions.

Click here to read the full update >>

Hi there,

We’ve just released a major update to help clubs better manage instructor compliance: Suitability Vetting is now live in your Account Verification dashboard inside MyBMABA.

While we’ve tracked suitability internally since 2021, this is the first time it’s been fully visible, editable, and centralised—giving you complete control.

It now affects:

• ✅ Regulation Ready completion scores
• ✅ The National Coaching Register (public-facing profiles)
• ✅ All account verification checks
• ✅ Account completion percentages
• 🔜 Club Colours (coming soon)

You can now clearly define for each team member:

• Who’s actively teaching
• Who isn’t currently teaching
• Who is working with adults only

Your compliance requirements will automatically adapt. That means no more penalties for instructors or volunteers who aren’t in regulated roles.

This is especially important for clubs previously blocked by child-specific safeguarding rules. With Suitability Vetting, you can now:

• Mark team members as Not Currently Teaching
• Exclude adult-only roles from child-related compliance
• Phase in checks and training without damaging your club’s standing

This also lays the groundwork for a major change to Club Colours, which will soon be more accessible and representative of real-world teaching roles.

We have huge news coming for Club Colours – our biggest step forward in national recognition since 2020. Stay tuned!

Read the full update here →