NAKMAS

NAKMAS puts child safety at the top of the agenda with new magazine

A new magazine has been launched by the National Association of Karate and Martial Art Schools (NAKMAS) which is thought to be the first of its kind in British sport.

NAKMAS’s Stay Safe magazine focuses solely on the issue of the safety of children and vulnerable adults in martial arts and is the latest addition to the national governing body’s arsenal of measures aimed at putting safety and good practice at the top of the agenda.

Joe Ellis, Chairman of NAKMAS, says:

“Most sporting governing bodies have a newsletter or magazine, but Stay Safe’s sole purpose is to encourage a wider understanding of safety issues and correct coaching methods where children and vulnerable adults are concerned.

“Stay Safe not only provides essential guidance and best practice for coaches and instructors, it further signals how important the issue of providing a safe martial arts coaching environment is to NAKMAS. It is a central tenet of our aims.”

Allegations of abuse against martial arts instructors and other sports instructors have increased, and while one aspect of Stay Safe and the NAKMAS overall policy is to wipe out the abuse of children and vulnerable adults, the second aim of Stay Safe is to ensure all coaches and instructors avoid unnecessary allegations being made against them.

Joe Ellis says: “Sadly, there are a few cases where students have been abused. While NAKMAS has strict measures in place to prevent that happening there have been incidents of abuse. In those case NAKMAS has acted swiftly and in the interests of the victim.

“However, there are other instances whereby allegations of wrongdoing could have been easily avoided had the instructor or coach taken simple measures. Stay Safe is an educating magazine which helps to reduce those risks to instructors and coaches.”

Stay Safe, which is published twice a year, provides advice, updates and case studies relating to welfare issues within martial arts coaching. The magazine is one of many measures employed by NAKMAS aimed at making martial arts coaching safer.

Coaching awards to the standard of the NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) and UKCC (United Kingdom Coaching Certificate) are available within NAKMAS. It has an active NSPCC approved Welfare Policy, and has launched a UK-wide anti-bullying initiative called the NAKMAS Safe Kids Campaign. It also has Registered Body status via the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) and Disclosure Scotland to check against the criminal records register.

NAKMAS also provides to members automatic, compulsory professional indemnity insurance to the value of £5 million. That cover extends worldwide to all chief instructors, instructors, assistant instructors, club secretaries and club welfare officers and demonstrates NAKMAS’s ongoing commitment to protecting society’s young and vulnerable.

Joe Ellis says: “The martial arts have to be free from abuse. We are working to make that happen. Stay Safe is an excellent tool in helping to make that happen and it is yet another benefit NAKMAS provides to its members and those they teach.”
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Notes to editors:

The National Association of Karate and Martial Art Schools (NAKMAS) 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). NAKMAS has also been accredited to the Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport.

For further information, please contact:
Joe Ellis, Chair of the NAKMAS National Governing Body