IAOMAS

Press release sent to Budo international martial arts magazine.

On 12th of September 2002, Rayners Lane Taekwon-do Academy instructor, Stuart Anslow, put forth a realization of an idea he'd mulled around with for a long time. He put the first stone down to establish the I.A.O.M.A.S (International Alliance Of Martial Arts Schools). He contacted a few International friends involved in teaching martial arts & they came on board as well and the England IAOMAS site was establish.

First to join up & now definitely considered a co-founder was Tim Posynick from Canada who works tirelessly on IAOMAS (Canada & International items). A little while later David Melton had established a US Country Page, followed by Piotr Bernat from Poland, Ger Healy & Philip Fox from Ireland & Christian Hell from Germany.

The IAOMAS has grown from its humble beginnings, after the England site was founded, Canada followed on quickly, founded by Tim Posynick, it now has an amazing 76 schools involved, England has 38 by the way, Canada was closely followed by the USA (Dave Melton) with further country sites founded in Australia (Glen Doecke), Belgium (Peter Vermeeren), Denmark (Annie Lysebjerg), Germany (Christian Hell), Holland, Ireland (Phillip Fox & Ger Healy), New Zealand (John Burton), Nigeria (Sunday Igbinedion), Poland (Piotr Bernart), Scotland (Robert Bass), Spain, Thailand (Gabriel Chin) & Wales (Neil Muirhead), with new country sites being founded soon in, Brazil & Malta. Each 'Country Site' have numerous schools, in fact at the last count (some months ago) the IAOMAS was fast approaching 300 schools worldwide.

Schools are also aligned from Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Cyprus, Estonia, Malta, Morrocco, India, Iran, Isle Of Man, Pakistan, Phillipines, Georgia (former Russia), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa & Sri Lanka. The IAOMAS really is Worldwide!

What is even more amazing is this unity was brought forth without any costs to Instructors or students, without any political problems, because no-one has to leave their present associations. The amount of co-operation on such a vast world-wide stage I don't think has ever been realized & even if it has, never so quickly, this truly is a new era for martial arts!

Virtually every style is covered somewhere & hopefully one day every country will be covered as well.

The IAOMAS has its own forum, with instructors & students around the world discussing all manner of martial arts related subjects, from competitions to training & pattern/ kata applications to tuition billing services to self defense courses for OAP`s, all with openness & a willingness to help, such a wealth of knowledge in one place is reason alone to be part of the IAOMAS.

IAOMAS members have now got special discounts in certain stores like Sai Martial Arts, with other members freely helping with web site optimization & other issues.

All this has been achieve free, with no charge to instructors or students, which is one of the main aims of the IAOMAS.

Discussions have taken place to hold IAOMAS tournaments on national & international levels, plus very soon IAOMAS seminars are due to take place in the UK & the USA.

The International Alliance Of Martial Arts Schools is a volunteer support system with the cooperation of martial arts schools worldwide to allow all students to continue to train wherever they go (e.g. On holiday, vacation, work etc.). It is good for all those involved so training and seminars are available wherever their students may be in the world.

Who Can Be Involved?
Anyone can get involved. You must allow students from other schools to train at your school FREE so that yours are offered the same, worldwide. Joining is free - no fees or politics, just real martial artists.

What's the deal?
Simply, it is a list of schools worldwide, that agree to allow any student FREE training for at least two weeks, should they visit that country (or area). This is "NON-POLITICAL", and is based on individual school instructors. Should the visiting student be staying in that area longer, then they can negotiate further with the instructor. Please visit the country site you are intending visiting and contact the school via email / telephone and let them know you are coming (ask permission and get any other details they require)

How can my school become part of this?
Currently, you have to check your country's site and make sure you are not already a member. Soon, there will be a centralised directory located on this site which you can download and see the entire listing of IAOMAS schools worldwide. If your martial art school is not listed, you can join by going to the 'Join' page.

Rules & Guidelines
1. It goes without saying that schools should treat visiting students with respect (no matter what the style).
2. You need to prepare for and allow visiting students and instructors to practice with your school for free for up to two weeks.
3. Visiting members should follow the local school rules/code of conduct etc. at all times.
4. Students represent their school/instructors and may cause their schools to become disassociated if they cannot follow rules and guidelines herein!
5. Complaints from visiting students or from school Instructors should be directed towards the country's web site for consideration if that school should be disassociated.

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