SMAA Policies: Rank and Instructor Certifications

The SMAA is here to serve legitimate martial artists who have need of our services. As such, we spend a significant portion of time with each individual to help them achieve their goals. Some of the services we provide include Registration, Examination, and Certification for martial artists in various styles and systems of training.

While the SMAA is one of the most open minded organizations with respect to the variety of options available for training in our modern world, it is important to state our commitment to quality above all. Our services are ONLY provided under the following guidelines. If you are interested in our services, please make sure you can legitimately meet these guidelines BEFORE contacting us.

Guidelines:

1. The SMAA will conduct a full evaluation prior to issuing any certifications. We hold our integrity and commitment to quality as of supreme importance. Every applicant will be held to the absolute highest levels of scrutiny imaginable to provide the legitimacy our members expect.

2. The SMAA will only work with a true martial arts system or style. Arts that are considered "sports" will not be considered for certification with the SMAA.

All applicants must consider both of these statements carefully. The Examination and Certification process is lengthy, and if you do not wish to undergo such a level of attention to detail, the SMAA is not the right organization for you.

PLEASE NOTE:

We do not wish to circumvent the traditional teacher/student relationship in any way. If an individual is currently under the guidance of an instructor, the SMAA will only work with that individual once we have the express consent and blessing of his/her instructor.

The SMAA encourages the highest level of loyalty to one's instructor and seniors. Please don't ask us to undermine this loyalty by going behind your instructor's back to explore possible rank evaluation, promotion and certification - we will never knowingly work with another instructor's students unless given permission to do so by that instructor.

If you meet these guidelines and would like to continue with the application process, please see the below links: