Martial Arts Regulations in your area?

[SulsaPR]

Greetings,

I want to know if you people know about any situation where's the goverment try to regulate the martial arts in your area. I mean schools, instructors, seminars, tournaments etc. What happend and what the martial arts community do to stop this? Any links? Thanks

 

[Blindside]

None that I know of, and if the guv'mint ever did get that silly, my little club would go underground.

 

[ChingChuan]

Well, the only 'regulation' that I know of, is that they prohibited the possession of nunchakus because apparently, someone told them that it was possible to strangle someone with it... (they're even called 'strangulation sticks' (wurgstokken) in the text of that law).

http://www.justitie.nl/onderwerpen/criminaliteit/wapens/categorieen/#paragraph12

 

[Xue Sheng]

They apparently were going to attempt legislation/regulation of some sort in NYS but it never really went anywhere.

 

[Bruno@MT]

There is no regulation, other than the things that all clubs / organizations have to abide by (bookkeeping and things like that).

I think that regulation of sports events only comes into play as soon as competitions / games are organized and there is money being made off of it.

 

[Cirdan]

Well, the only 'regulation' that I know of, is that they prohibited the possession of nunchakus because apparently, someone told them that it was possible to strangle someone with it... (they're even called 'strangulation sticks' (wurgstokken) in the text of that law).

Yea, banned in public here too, but the law calls them "karate sticks"

 

[terryl965]

Absolutely nothing, but they wanted to consider us a daycare at one time if a student was here more than two hours. It really almost killed our summer training for those wishing to go to National because they train about four to six hours everyday.

 

[Carol]

In my state, Martial Arts schools are regulated as health clubs. The law primarily covers matters of consumer protection. If the school issues contracts, they have to pay a $50,000 surety bond to the state.

A school can get away with not paying the surety bond if they simply operate without membership contracts. Which....most schools do, except for this guy. It doesn't help that he was convicted of felony credit card fraud in the process.


http://doj.nh.gov/publications/nreleases2009/062309.htmlI

 

[David43515]

Some states (New Jersey comes to mind) have considered trying to set up liscencing boards before who would decide what kind of teaching credentials would be nessesary in order to open a school. But it never went anywhere thankfully. (Who would decide if you were accredited to teach your style? Presumibly a board of other accredited MA teachers.....but what if none of them knows anything about your style? And everyone knows there`s no political backbiting or petty revenge in MA circles. *snort*)

As was mentioned above, Texas tried to lump MA schools in with daycare centers if the students spend more than 2 hour a week there, but it didn`t pass. That would mean you would have to have a certain ratio of teachers to students and might have to do crimminal background checks on them as well.

Certain locales have laws regarding MA weapons that say they must be kept at/ used at the schools or at public demos. So using them for an outdoor class could get you in trouble with the police.

Under British rule, Hong Kong had a law that said all martial arts schools/clubs had to belong to an orgaization for thier style, and that organization had to register with the govt. (I have no idea how or if it was enforced)I think it`s because so many of the schools there were considered fronts and recruiting grounds for organized crime.

Most MA schools are really just effected by the tax and commerce laws that effect all small businesses. So the best thing you can do is be a member of, and work with, your local chamber of commerce. And like everyone else, be aware of what your legislature is doing and make your voice heard. Vote and be involved.

 

[David43515]

In my state, Martial Arts schools are regulated as health clubs. The law primarily covers matters of consumer protection. If the school issues contracts, they have to pay a $50,000 surety bond to the state.

A school can get away with not paying the surety bond if they simply operate without membership contracts. Which....most schools do, except for this guy. It doesn't help that he was convicted of felony credit card fraud in the process.


http://doj.nh.gov/publications/nreleases2009/062309.htmlI

I couldn`t pull up your link. Does the law also include anything under the health code? Like what kind of changing facilities are required for instance?

 

[Carol]

I couldn`t pull up your link. Does the law also include anything under the health code? Like what kind of changing facilities are required for instance?

Actually the link was just the story about the conviction. The text of the law is here, the actual citation is RSA 358-S, which is a consumer protection statute. This is what applies to a martial arts school.


http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XXXI/358-S/358-S-mrg.htm


There are other laws that apply...health codes, building codes, weapons laws, but these are laws that would not just apply to martial arts schols and health clubs, they would apply to other businesses as well. I actually don't know what those are.

 

[jks9199]

Absolutely nothing, but they wanted to consider us a daycare at one time if a student was here more than two hours. It really almost killed our summer training for those wishing to go to National because they train about four to six hours everyday.

Sorry, Terry, but I'm in favor of something along those lines. For the schools with after-school and summer camp (and a few even have BEFORE school) programs that are thinly disguised day care programs -- they should meet the standards of a daycare program. (And that applies even if it's gymnastics club or dance school or whatever...) If the time spent is clearly oriented around sports/athletic/dance training -- not housing the kid for several hours until the parents come home -- it's a different issue, and some of the standards should be different.

On topic -- Virginia has recently decided something to the effect that yoga schools that train instructors must meet the professional/trade-school licensing requirements. I figure it's not long before someone notices that a lot of martial arts schools do pretty much the same thing with Black Belt Clubs and the like... The yoga schools are fighting it. Smart martial arts programs would probably be wise to lend their voices...

 

[celtic_crippler]

Nothing specific. Schools are subject to the same regulations as any business.

Weapons law applies to everyone, so martial artists are not necessarily singled out there.

Really...nothing I can think of that's specifically targeted towards martial arts.

Why do you ask?

 

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Sorry, Terry, but I'm in favor of something along those lines. For the schools with after-school and summer camp (and a few even have BEFORE school) programs that are thinly disguised day care programs -- they should meet the standards of a daycare program. (And that applies even if it's gymnastics club or dance school or whatever...) If the time spent is clearly oriented around sports/athletic/dance training -- not housing the kid for several hours until the parents come home -- it's a different issue, and some of the standards should be different.

On topic -- Virginia has recently decided something to the effect that yoga schools that train instructors must meet the professional/trade-school licensing requirements. I figure it's not long before someone notices that a lot of martial arts schools do pretty much the same thing with Black Belt Clubs and the like... The yoga schools are fighting it. Smart martial arts programs would probably be wise to lend their voices...

Yes that needs to be fought and fought hard. I'd say because it's an art, the goverment needs to back off for the most part.

I'll be damnd if some Aikidoka, TKD instructor or anyone no mater how good they are in their art, is going to sit on some Govt. board and tell me what I am doing is valid.

 

[jks9199]

Yes that needs to be fought and fought hard. I'd say because it's an art, the goverment needs to back off for the most part.

I'll be damnd if some Aikidoka, TKD instructor or anyone no mater how good they are in their art, is going to sit on some Govt. board and tell me what I am doing is valid.

Here is an article about it. Some key quotes:

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, a regulatory body, had planned to impose licensure requirements on yoga teacher-training programs by the end of the year, but has agreed to wait a few months at the request of state legislators.
The council does not want to regulate all yoga teaching, but says it has a duty to regulate the training of teachers
...
She said state law requires the council to regulate vocational education programs, and that includes programs that train yoga teachers. And she emphasized that the state has no interest in regulating yoga classes themselves, only programs that train people to become an instructor.
The state council says it is required by law to regulate any vocational training: as a result, bartending schools, massage therapy schools and even programs on how to shoe horses have received state licenses in recent years, as have several yoga studios.
...
In Virginia, Leitner-Wise says the licensure program requires a $2,500 application fee, annual renewals of at least $500 and loads of paperwork, none of which is necessary.
...
Nelson said the licensure requirements mostly involve mundane, content-neutral issues revolving around development of a solid business model and posting a bond that enables students to be reimbursed if a program goes defunct.
For issues concerning the quality of the yoga instruction, SCHEV relies on standards developed by an industry body, the Yoga Alliance
​

The extension to martial arts is easy to see, I think. But I have no clue how the issues of quality could reasonably be addressed in martial arts! Hell -- I'm skeptical of it in yoga...