NAKMAS gives "stranded" British National Martial Arts Association clubs a lifeline

The National Association of Karate and Martial Art Schools (NAKMAS) is giving members of the now defunct British National Martial Arts Association a lifeline after the BNMAA chairman was jailed for three years for conning people out of more than £180,000 in a insurance scam.

NAKMAS is already seeing former members of BNMAA sign up after Paul Griffin, a 7th Dan black belt, who ran BNMAA from his home, was jailed for pocketing insurance money paid by members of the Derby-based Amateur Martial Association.

The scam is a reminder that instructors are vulnerable without a worldwide professional indemnity insurance providing coverage for £5 million. NAKMAS offers this type of insurance to all NAKMAS instructors, assistant instructors, club secretaries and club welfare officers for free.

The NAKMAS professional insurance package is seen as one of the best packages offered by a national governing body and is available for all martial arts, including MMA (mixed martial arts).

NAKMAS has already advised, help and assisted ex-BNMAA members to provide effective governance, insurance and legal protection for their members. BNMAA past clubs and groups are being encouraged by NAKMAS to make contact and benefit from free advice and assistance to ensure they are protected.

NAKMAS chair Joe Ellis said:

"Thousands of martial arts enthusiasts who paid their insurance were uninsured under the BNMAA. If they had been injured during classes or in competition, they would not have been covered. Now they have been left stranded by the collapse of BNMAA.

"At NAKMAS we can guarantee that all member clubs are covered by insurance, which has been arranged by NAKMAS, which is why we are offering former member clubs of BNMAA the chance to join a reliable and transparent governing body.

NAKMAS is an approved insurance provider via Zurich. It is professionally run, is a member of is a member of CCPR (the Central Council of Physical Recreation), has a head office and holds a National and International Quality Standard Certificate via the BSI (British Standards Institute).

Joe Ellis says: "The point is we are a professionally, efficiently run governing body that people keen on martial arts can rely on. We don't operate out of a backroom of someone's home.

"NAKMAS affiliation would bring to those affected clubs a modern environment where they can become involved in NAKMAS' present and future development."

NAKMAS has applied business standards to its governance model despite being a not-for-profit organisation. Last year it became one of the few national governing bodies in the UK to achieve the coveted Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport Preliminary Level, a charter mark for commitment to equality.

Joe Ellis added: "I hope that the former BNMAA members will be able to see, via NAKMAS affiliates, that a martial arts governing body can be run properly with their interests as its central aim.

"Martial arts are unregulated, so anyone can set up a club. NAKMAS, however, has imposed high standards and signed up to a range of external quality standards to ensure we meet requirements paying members of clubs should expect. We have an ongoing development programme which we believe is a model for other sports bodies to follow."

Ends

Notes to editors:

Find out more about Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport at www.equalitystandard.org

Find out more about the International Quality Management System at
http://www.press.nakmas.org.uk/iso-video

The National Association of Karate and Martial Art Schools (NAKMAS) National Governing Body is a non-funded national governing body and is a member of CCPR (the Central Council of Physical Recreation). With its Head Office based in Kent, NAKMAS governs all forms of traditional and modern martial arts and has over 73,000 members within the UK.

NAKMAS is an approved insurance provider via Zurich and holds a National and International Quality Standard Certificate via the BSI (British Standards Institute).

For further information, please contact:
Joe Ellis, Chair of the NAKMAS National Governing Body
Tel: 01227 370055 / 07976 736404
Fax: 01227 370056
Email: joe.ellis@nakmas.org.uk
Site: www.nakmas.org.uk