ITMA DOJO/ORGANIZATION RECOGNITION

The Institute of Traditional Martial Arts at the University of New Mexico is the first joint and collaborative venture in the United States between martial arts practitioners and academics. Housed in the Dept. of Health, Exercise & Sports Sciences, the Institute provides its members a wide range of benefits as well as integrity, credibility and academic legitimacy.

The purpose of providing ITMA Certification is to recognize clubs (and organizations) that are meeting the highest standards in terms of teaching, integrity and safety for their students and members. Such certification is also intended to help parents select the right dojo for their children and to guide others who may be interested in taking up a martial art.

The martial arts world can be a confusing place for newcomers. Unfortunately there are too many shady organizations out there who are selling rank and selecting a system or an organization to belong to can be a frustrating experience. There is very little regulation on licensing instructors, the completion of background checks, the setting of standards, or adherence to the highest moral principles. And there is often very little enforcement of any kind. To be sure, there are legitimate national and international organizations in existence but to the uninitiated one organization looks very much like another. How does one tell the good from the bad ones?

It is a major goal of ITMA to provide information and accord recognition to legitimate clubs and organizations to help parents (and new students) make better decisions about enrolling their children in a martial art.

Cost of Obtaining an ITMA Recognition Certificate for Your Club or Organization

< For enquiries please write to the Dr. Andrew Yiannakis, Director - ITMA, at ayiann@unm.edu