as sent in to the BUDO International Martial arts Magazine
International Alliance Of Martial Arts Schools
...the true spirit of martial arts
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 USA
IAOMAS 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 over 100 schools involved, England also has over 100 meber schools by the way, Canada was closely
followed by the USA (Dave Melton) with further country sites founded in
Australia (Glen Doecke), 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.
So What is the IAOMAS?
The International Alliance Of Martial Arts Schools is a student support system,
the co-operation of Martial Arts schools worldwide to allow all martial arts
students to continue to train wherever they go (ie. On holiday, vacation, work
etc.). Its good for all students involved (through the club) & good for
instructors to be able to offer training where-ever their students are in the
world. After all, open minded martial artists can all learn from each other.
Whose Involved?
Schools from various countries around the world are joining day by day, at the
time of writing this there are nearly 300 schools involved.. There is also every
style involved, Taekwon-do, Karate, Kung Fu, Judo, Hapkido, Jun Kune Do, Ju
Jitsu, Free Style, Sombo etc
What’s the deal?
Simply (on its most basic level), it’s a list of schools in as many countries
as possible, that agree to allow any student (from schools involved) `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 rather than
Associations. You don’t have to leave your associations, there’s no fee’s,
just instructors co-operating & putting in some hard work on the sites. We
establish a single site in each country that is maintained by an instructor from
there, linking all the countries together collectively.
How do you become involved?
Just go to one of the country sites listed, IAOMAS
Canada for example. Check it out & then email your details to the site
administrator or the site that your country is situated on. (Students should get
the instructor of their clubs permission first before agreeing to be part of
this if they are the ones that can email/host their schools web sites) Of
course, it goes without saying that all IAOMAS schools should treat visiting
students with respect (no matter what the style), and students should obey the
clubs rules at all times. Keep checking the web sites as the International
Alliance Of Martial Arts Schools is growing at a tremendous rate.
International Alliance Of Martial Arts Schools....."Bringing
the World Closer Together"
...become part of something BIG, something unique, something World Wide,
something pioneering,
... open your eyes to the true spirit of martial arts