First of all, a hearty welcome to BMABA - British Martial Arts & Boxing Association. We're the result of more than a decade long journey, embarked upon by our CEO Giovanni Soffietto, who founded the organisation aged 20 with £20 of capital.

Since that point, we've grown to become a renowned and highly regarded association, with more than 100,000 members and a huge number of accolades to our name.

You're a part of this journey, and we're immensely grateful to you for joining the community and helping us helping us grow. We'll do everything in our power to repay that gesture by remaining politics free, community led and a social enterprise through and through.

We use a few platforms to help you make the most of your membership.

There are primarily three key platforms most instructors will interact with;

MyBMABA

This is our flagship member's area. Through MyBMABA, you can access documentation, news, our shop, qualifications and training, our community, resources, tools - and so much more. Every instructor will have their own unique login (if the lead instructor has permitted this, for larger clubs). It's essential everyone can access MyBMABA, to ensure you can access member's only content and benefits.

Instructor Portal

Our standalone instructor portal is only for instructors. It provides real-time access to account data, student information, insurances, other instructor information, documentation and everything there and in-between. Typically, only one instructor per club will use the portal but everybody should receive a separate email invite shortly after joining.

Handbook

There's no login required - you're in the handbook now! We refer back to the handbook all the time, and our A.I assistant (FIN) on chat uses it too. Via this handbook you should find simple to refer to, easy to digest tutorials and guides on everything BMABA - from our safeguarding and insurance guidelines, through to FAQs, system tutorials and more.

There are also some additional systems you may come into contact with - such as our VIP Billing Platform (for bespoke invoices or subscriptions etc), and when activating specific services (such as SEObyBMABA, and so on). In all these cases, you'll receive confirmation emails containing any login details, if separate to those used in MyBMABA.

We strongly recommend pouring a cup of something warm and taking the time to really explore MyBMABA and the various accompanying platforms and services, to make sure you get the most from your membership.

We know if you're new this can be a bit overwhelming, so we'd suggest initially working through the below points to help you get orientated;

One of the reasons that likely attracted you to BMABA was our industry-leading expertise on all things insurance related. It's not always a black and white topic - it carries nuances in most cases.

Please ensure you take the time to read the handbook section on insurance here before teaching under any form of cover. The article on managing your instructor cover, if relevant, is especially important!

Another area BMABA excel in is Safeguarding. We have a zero-tolerance approach to poor safeguarding culture within clubs, and we will and do take action against instructors and volunteers who don't prioritise the welfare of children.

If you're not sure whether or not your safeguarding is up to speed, or if you have absolutely no idea what this means; don't worry! We're here to help, and we have comprehensive guides, courses and resources to take you from first-time instructor through to the recipient of the BMABA Club Colours Award and SCiMA Sport England certification - all without having to leave the BMABA membership.

It's important every instructor, assistant and volunteer takes the time to understand their safeguarding obligations as well as BMABA's safeguarding policy and responses.

Our clubs feeling supported and well looked after is absolutely essential. Please remember, we're a professional trade body, not an ego-driven boy's club based on grades!

Our customer services team are on hand to help via webchat, email or Facebook Messenger. We also have some availability by phone.

There's never not a good reason to get in touch with us. No matter how small or how complex, we'll be happy to help.

Here's how to reach us;

Chat:
The fastest way to get help is via the chatbox icon at the bottom of your screen. It's everywhere throughout MyBMABA. Fin, our AI Chatbot, can answer 60% of questions brilliantly. He'll only try once (so no constantly going around in circles!) before passing you onto one of the team based here in West Sussex. You'll usually get replies same day during office hours, or within 24 hours outside of this.

If we can't answer whilst you're online please don't worry - our replies, and your follow up replies - will automatically transfer over to email.

Facebook Messenger:

Facebook Messenger is plugged into our chat system, so whilst it's not quite the same experience, you're welcome to contact us via Facebook, if preferred.

E-Mail:
Please email [email protected]. We'll aim to reply within 48 hours but it can take up to 10 working days, so please bear with us.

Phone:

If preferred, you can call us on 01798 306546. We're only available between 9.30am to 2.30pm Monday to Thursday, but you can request a callback via chat if you'd like to speak. We sometimes receive a crazy volume of calls, almost all of which require follow up via web chat or email so at times it can be hard to reach us. If you need a call back, you can request this on web chat.

For many, membership to BMABA can seem a bit daunting. For the avoidance of doubt, you're in control, and you're our customer (not the other way around!). You can use as much or as little of our system and services as you wish, without penalty.

Some clubs get knee-deep in every service and resource; that's fine. Others we only hear from once or twice a year by email and need extra support manually doing things like renewing; and that's fine too.

With exception of key regulatory or safeguarding conditions (which are legally required) it's your club, and you remain in total control with us by your side as much or as little as needed.

It seems silly, but we'll say it for the avoidance of doubt! The best way to explore everything BMABA has to offer is to head to MyBMABA, and to explore!

Click through the various menu items, check out the side-panel menu, setup your community profile, and enjoy the ridiculous level of services and tools now available to you.

We have some handy guides aimed at specific areas (such as finances, entrepreneurship, and so on) which can be super helpful too. You may also want to do some digging on social media, exploring past posts to see if we've mentioned anything of particular interest;

Facebook | Facebook Instructor Group | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn |

Please don't forget to head to https://mybmaba.org.uk/redeem to access any membership extras included with your membership - such as printed documents, ID cards, club websites, courses, and so on.