Author: Bret Gordon
The purpose of the US Association of Martial Arts has always been to offer networking and training opportunities for our members. We have in the past also offered avenues of certification and rank recognition for those who needed help becoming legitimate or seeking an affiliation, but this has always been secondary to our purpose and mission. It was never our intention to become a sanctioning body.
However, due to the massive stigma in the martial arts community regarding diploma mills and multi-style organizations, we have decided to no longer offer this service. Therefore, effective immediately, the US Association of Martial Arts will no longer be offering certification of any kind. During the membership application process, upon successful induction in our organization, we will provide a welcome letter validating the rank you currently hold (provided that it can be verified to our standards) but this is not a certification issued or endorsed by us. Moving forward, we are returning to our initial mission of providing training opportunities, seminars, events, etc.
We thank you all for your understanding, and look forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming Taikai on Sunday, August 30th. Please remember due to space limitations and COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, you must be pre-registered in order to attend. No walk-ins will be allowed.
However, due to the massive stigma in the martial arts community regarding diploma mills and multi-style organizations, we have decided to no longer offer this service. Therefore, effective immediately, the US Association of Martial Arts will no longer be offering certification of any kind. During the membership application process, upon successful induction in our organization, we will provide a welcome letter validating the rank you currently hold (provided that it can be verified to our standards) but this is not a certification issued or endorsed by us. Moving forward, we are returning to our initial mission of providing training opportunities, seminars, events, etc.
We thank you all for your understanding, and look forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming Taikai on Sunday, August 30th. Please remember due to space limitations and COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, you must be pre-registered in order to attend. No walk-ins will be allowed.
EDIT (August 13, 2020) - We have received several inquiries as to what it means to have your rank "verified to our standards." When a prospective member submits their application to the USAMA, they must include a copy of their most recent rank certification from their instructor or governing body. This must be a physical certificate (scanned copy will suffice) and no digital diplomas are accepted. We then contact the issuing authority for verification, as well as look into their authority to issue such credentials in the first place. If they cannot be contacted, as often happens with an in-school certification that later shuts down or the instructor passes away, the prospective member may still join our organization but there will be no rank recognition offered. For more information about the membership process, please click here to contact our headquarters.
