Background: A Successful Beginning
In 2023, we proudly introduced ClubManager by BMABA—our organisation’s first dedicated club management tool, designed specifically for martial arts instructors and clubs. Built as a WordPress plugin, it quickly became one of the most widely adopted features within our membership. Since its launch, we’ve released four successful versions, each improving functionality, design, and usability based on real-world usage and club feedback.
Today, the WordPress version of ClubManager is powering hundreds of club websites and supporting the administration of thousands of students and memberships every single week. It has offered capabilities far beyond basic payment tracking, including first-of-its-kind tools like built-in bookkeeping, safeguarding support, and concussion incident reporting.
This platform has played a critical role in BMABA’s digital growth, and it has allowed our team to mature processes around design, development, version control, release scheduling, and platform-wide support.
Why We’ve Forked the Project
As demand has grown, so too has the complexity of trying to maintain and support ClubManager across numerous individual websites, each running different WordPress configurations, plugins, hosting environments, and themes.
To ensure long-term sustainability, innovation, and security, we’ve made the decision to fork the project—creating a new, standalone platform that centralises club management into MyBMABA Club Manager, our dedicated cloud-based environment.
This shift allows us to:
Centralise support and eliminate the need for clubs to manage their own hosting or updates
Deliver faster updates without dependency on third-party themes or plugin compatibility
Ensure greater security, as the platform no longer needs to run within potentially outdated or misconfigured WordPress environments
Offer improved features and design, with a single, unified deployment environment allowing deeper development innovation
Offer a zero-tech-skill and zero-setup experience, ensuring everyone can jump straight in without any need to setup a Wordpress website or infastructure.
Continued Support for WordPress Users
It’s important to be absolutely clear: we are not discontinuing our WordPress version.
The WordPress ClubManager by BMABA plugin will continue to be fully supported for as long as needed and as long as viable.
We will not consider sunsetting this product until MyBMABA Club Manager has passed all three planned release phases, as outlined in our published roadmap
Support remains active for all current WordPress users, with no pressure or obligation to migrate
Membership includes access to either solution—WordPress or MyBMABA—at no extra cost
The WordPress platform has been a major part of our success story, and we remain fully committed to its continued stability, support, and development throughout this transition period.
The Vision for MyBMABA Club Manager
MyBMABA Club Manager—also referred to as our Club Management Platform—is the evolution of everything we’ve learned. By moving club management into a cloud-based environment fully integrated within the MyBMABA ecosystem, we can offer:
A zero-setup platform—no installation or technical skills needed
Faster innovation cycles and new features deployed seamlessly
A modern user interface with mobile-first performance
Secure, scalable infrastructure with the ability to grow as clubs grow
Support that doesn’t require specialist WordPress knowledge
We believe this approach future-proofs our club management provision while remaining inclusive and flexible.
What Should Clubs Do Now?
If you’re currently using the WordPress version of ClubManager and it’s working well for you, there is no need to change anything. We will continue to support you fully.
If you’re curious about what MyBMABA Club Manager has to offer and want to explore a cleaner, faster, and centralised club admin experience, you're welcome to start trialling it immediately. You can migrate gradually or test features at your own pace—with full confidence that both systems remain supported.
For clubs just getting started, we recommend considering MyBMABA Club Manager first, as it requires no installation and offers immediate access from any device.
In Summary
Forking ClubManager into our own hosted platform represents a major investment in the future of club management for the martial arts sector. By learning from the strengths of our WordPress tool, we’re now building something even more powerful—simpler to use, faster to maintain, and better equipped to scale with the needs of modern martial arts clubs.
Whether you choose to remain on WordPress or move into the new MyBMABA environment, you remain fully supported, with access to world-class tools built specifically for the martial arts community.