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The British Martial Arts & Boxing Association
Find Out More About Our Association -
The British Martial Arts & Boxing Association (BMABA) is a leading UK association for multi-style martial arts bodies, schools, instructors and students across the UK.
We’re proud to be community ran & completely politics free.
Because of these values most of our profits go straight back into helping us improve our Association. As such, there is nobody in our office who draws a full time wage. Instead all of our team are part of our community & volunteer their time, expertise and experience for free to help build a stronger, united combat community.
Fancy Joining Us?
Our Team Have More Than
+ Years
Combined Experience In The Industry
Our team dedicates hours upon hours every week to drive our Association forwards.
Nobody receives a penny in wages for their hard work and instead all time is volunteered selflessly around current family commitments and working routines. Our volunteers now head-up one of the UK’s leading bodies without politics, payments, red tape or nonsense; all for the love of what they do.
On behalf of the thousands upon thousands of members, students, instructors & followers of the BMABA from around the world – a massive thank you to the below for their continued dedication and sacrifice. Their commitment is a shining example of our industry at it’s best and the below named constitute some of the greatest minds & figures in the 21st Century UK Martial Arts Industry and profession.
Meet Our Team
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Giovanni Soffietto
Founder & Managing Director
“My name is Giovanni Soffietto and I’m the founding Director of the BMABA. I’ve been a passionate advocate of martial arts my entire life, starting my career & passion for the arts at the age of 4.”
I have experience in a range of styles covering 6 disciplines & I also have more than 14 years of ungraded experience in Muay Thai, Self Defence, Mixed Martial Arts & Boxing.
In my personal life I enjoy being in business, running the BMABA & a couple of other I.T based businesses of my own. I founded the BMABA in 2011/2012 to form a collective body of like-minded individuals whom wish to pull the standard of UK martial arts up and preserve the beautiful arts we all know and love.
I’ve been teaching for more than 8 years and also competing in an array of competitions for more than 4. Martial Arts, Boxing & Self Defence is a lifetimes passion of mine and I’m very proud to be a part of a body of really fantastic martial artists & boxers. This Association is not my own – it’s ours, as an industry and a community. I’m very pleased to share it with everybody who can call the BMABA home and help us improve what we do on a daily basis to protect our beautiful sports, arts and disciplines for the future.
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Kirsty Hawkins
Association Secretary
Kirsty has been an integral part of the team since it’s earliest origins in 2012. Officially standing as the Association Secretary Kirsty’s role has developed into that of general management, assisting in the management and dispatch of licensing, certification & resources to members.
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Darren Langston
Senior Committee Member
“My name is Darren Langston and I run a Martial Arts Academy in the Wolverhampton area of the West Midlands. I teach Jeet Kune Do Kickboxing, Karate Jutsu, Freestyle Kung Fu and Dacayana Eskrima. I have been studying Martial Arts for over 25 years.”
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Andrew Chesworth
Senior Committee Member
Andrew has been training in the art of Taekwondo since 1988. Andrew is also a black belt in Judo, Karate and Kung Fu and has also trained extensively in the arts of Aikido and Krav Maga. He is a 5th Dan international Taekwondo instructor with 30 years training in the art. Andrew is also a black belt in Judo, Karate and Lar Gar Kung Fu. He also practice Aikido and Krav Maga.
Andrew is also a Self Defence trainer for Police.
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Craig Sanderson
Senior Committee Member
“I have been studying martial arts since I was five years old and it has helped me develop as a confident, respectful and disciplined individual. I would genuinely not be the person I am today without this training as it is more than a self defense system. Martial arts teaches you about life and builds you physically and mentally to be able to cope with all of life’s challenges.”
I run my club as a non-profit organisation because I enjoy training and teaching and wish to pass my knowledge on to others to help them on their own life path. My training includes avoidance and awareness, understanding the victim state and attackers rituals, psychologically defeating an opponent without physical conflict, Training with weapons, traditional Shotokan Karate-Do and how to use Karate in a way that works in modern society through Karate-Jutsu.I am a dedicated Martial Artist and I am extremely honored to be part of the British Martial Arts and Boxing Association Committee.
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Colin Hardman
Senior Committee Member
“I was born in 1969 and I started practising Martial Arts in 1978. Martial Arts been a wonderful journey for me, and my proudest moment was living in Japan and having the opportunity to study Martial Arts there. It is a never ending Journey and I look forward to improving my knowledge and learning new things.”
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Mark Heggs
Senior Committee Member
“I originally started Martial Arts at school, left but always kept coming back. My Wife is also a black belt in Shotokan Karate and both enjoy the sport as a family. “
Our Association also has a strong team of non-executive and non-committee based volunteers that help make us what we are today whom are unfortunately not shown above.
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We have vacancies!
If you’d like to be considered for a place on our committee and feel you’re able to volunteer atleast 3 hours a week to help steer the UK’s most exclusive community ran martial arts association forwards then we’d love to hear from you.
Applications are open only to BMABA Members, so you’ll need to join us first to be considered.
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The British Martial Arts & Boxing Association is blessed to have nearly two centuries of experience behind our governance & leadership.
