About

The British Institute of Martial Arts was established in 1993 by Grand Master Neville Pearce. It was formed after the collapse of the Martial Arts Commission (MAC). It was reported that Richard Thomas kept it running for a while but after it lost its status as being the only UK MA governing body recognised by the Sports Council but it eventually collapsed.

GM Pearce found that the martial arts business is mostly unregulated with no database for checking clubs or instructors credentials.

We (BIMA) are open to independent clubs or schools looking for a home. We are not focused on competitions or team sports, what we do is work with schools and communities to try to get a more professional, safer standard in martial arts. We supply licences and certification tailor made to suit your ranking system.

We don’t allow just anyone to be registered as a black belt or instructor with us or use our logos. There are guidelines to join our black belt register. The black belt must first provide proof of entitlement of grade, or certificate to teach. We like to ensure the highest standards of excellence among our members. All our Instructors are DBS checked and first aid trained.

GM Pearce was the founder of the original Kyu Shin Ryu. The school run for 3 decades, and had such a high standard that it was the only school to be recognised by Japan outside of Japan. 

The multi award winning Grand Master Plant was a student of GM Pearce and he is also the founder of Cobham CKD and Chertsey CKD.