Hi there. This is question for the UK. Obviously I'm not trying to cause an argument over opinions but I'm trying to find out about GBMAA. My kickboxing instructor is looking to get their club affiliated to it as a favor to me as I need my kickboxing qualifications to be affiliated to this organisation. But when I google GBMAA, I'm struggling to find an official site and noticed their official sites in the past have been disconnected. I also read an article about them that didn't fill me with confidence. So what I'm hoping is that someone (not belonging to GBMAA) will be able to say "They are official and as fine an affiliation as many others to join." and also explain how to go about affiliating a club to them. http://the-bkc.com/associations/86-2/ Is this the page my instructor needs to go through? A quick google throws up loads of different sites. If anyone could help, that'd be greatly appreciated!
I have friends in the industry and quite a few haven't gone through that "governing body" iirc and it's been a while since I last glanced at the register. Was this suggested by Equity?
This was suggested by one of the coordinators on the committee. I know it seems like there's loads of governing bodies you can go through for kickboxing but it's not clear what's officially allowed so I asked and this was the answer. I'm sure I could go through another governing body but to play it safe, I don't want to get to applying and being rejected on a simple technicality and have to redo my martial art. So hopefully someone can tell me if GBMAA are a as fine as any body to be associated under
http://www.fca.org.uk/news/warnings/great-britain-martial-arts-association This says to me, do not get involved. And this is the FCA, not just someone's opinion on the internet.
This was the article I found which caused me concern. But it's from 2012 and I still hear about people training under GBMAA so I wondered whether they sorted their issues and are now "fine". But yeah, it cause me hesitation
I wouldn't knowingly give money to a group that commits fraud. Especially when there are alternatives.
My guess is that GBMAA were 'selling' (?) event insurance to fight promoters/martial arts clubs whilst not being authorised by the Financial Services Authority. I have used GBMAA for insurance for one of my kickboxing events - in short, they're doing what most sanctioning bodies do, they're selling 'sanctioning' for the insurance, but stupidly advertised it as selling event insurance... That is what i believe anyway. End of the day though, why choose GBMAA? There's loads of alternatives, and more credible; ISKA, IMASA (low cost), BMABA, WUMA, etc, etc. The largest is probably the AMA, and reasonably priced. There's also the likes of Cobra and NAKMAS, but i believe they're more costly. I am a UK representative for the lesser known, US-based, WKL - World Kickboxing League - and can also provide various memberships, licensing (that entitles you to our free insurance), grade ratification, etc.
Thanks for the insight. You're right, there's loads of other bodies to chose from. But there's a particular amount that count for the UK Stunt Register.