Marketing for Martial Arts Schools & Dojos.
The child trains, the parent decides. The adult does both.

Myth: An assistant the head coach supervises is outside regulated activity. Fact: in England and Wales, since 1 September 2026, supervision no longer takes them out.

In England and Wales, the law on regulated activity with children changed on 1 September 2026. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) notice says that someone who teaches, trains, instructs, cares for or supervises children often enough is in regulated activity even when another person supervises them, names assistant coaches supervised by a head coach among those affected, and adds that it is against the law to allow a barred person to do regulated activity. Northern Ireland is changing too.

Being in regulated activity and being checked are separate questions. The DBS sport leaflet says a coach or instructor of children's sports is eligible for an enhanced check with a children's barred list check when they teach often enough, whether paid or unpaid. "Often enough" is more than 3 days in any period of 30, or once overnight between 02:00 and 06:00 with the chance of face-to-face contact with children. For open-age sessions, eligibility depends on how likely it is that children would be present. The leaflet covers England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; Scotland uses Disclosure Scotland and Northern Ireland uses AccessNI. It sets out who can be checked, not who must be.

So "all our instructors are DBS checked" is a sentence to write only after you have listed every assistant, junior helper and senior student who teaches children and tested each against those rules. The safeguarding page we build for a school says what was done instead: who is checked, at which level, and where a parent can read the full policy. It is built as part of the SEO work, so it can be found by the questions parents type.

Myth: Parents trust the instructor, so safeguarding is a footnote. Fact: it is what they worry about and want more information on.

In March 2026 the NSPCC Sport team surveyed 213 UK parents and carers whose children do martial arts and combat sports, mostly taekwondo, boxing and karate. 68% said they were very confident in their club's ability to keep children safe. The same survey found that the biggest concerns were injury, head injury and concussion, weight management, bullying and inappropriate adult behaviour, and that open communication, clear boundaries and a strong safeguarding culture were among the most important factors. It is a sample of 213, so read it as what parents raise, not a count of all UK parents.

Those are enquiry questions, so the enquiry is the place to answer them. The lead generation form asks the parent for the child's age, any experience and the class they want, then the confirmation answers the concerns in that list in plain words: what happens when a child is hurt or knocked on the head, who a parent speaks to about bullying, and what the code of conduct says for children, coaches and parents. Give the instructor who takes the trial class the same answers, in case a parent asks in person.

Myth: My association badge is the register parents check. Fact: martial arts has no single governing body.

Unlike football or gymnastics, martial arts has many styles, associations and governing systems, so a parent has no one list to look you up on. Sport England's Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts exists to help parents and carers make informed decisions when selecting a club. It can be achieved by clubs, and by instructors outside a club structure, and applying is not mandatory for British Taekwondo clubs, though that body strongly advises it.

Belonging to an association and holding the Code are different signals, and a parent can only compare them if your page says which you have, next to a link to your safeguarding policy. Ask the Code's administrators what use of the Code is allowed before it goes in a header or an ad.

Myth: SafeSport and background checks work the same in every US dojo. Fact: a federation's requirements apply to the clubs that join it.

In the US, a federation sets requirements for the martial arts schools and dojos that join it, and your state's law is a separate question to check. USA Karate requires the owner of a member club to complete SafeSport training every year and pass a background check every 2 years, with an automatic annual recheck. All staff, board members and anyone involved in training athletes or in a position of authority over them must also be identified to the federation and complete a background check and SafeSport training, and training includes instructors and class leaders, not the occasional student who leads a drill. Another federation's rules may differ, so check your own.

A US parent comparing dojos sees only what the page says. Name the body you belong to, state only the checks you carry out, and ask that body what it allows you to display.

Myth: Kids' class ads should speak to the kids. Fact: in the UK the code bars a direct appeal, and covers pictures too.

The CAP Code, the UK advertising code for non-broadcast ads, defines a child as anyone under the age of 16. Rule 5.4.2 bars ads from a direct appeal to children to buy a product, or to persuade their parents or other adults to buy it for them. A line such as "ask Mum to book you in" sits close to what that rule describes, so the ad speaks to the parent: the age band, the class time, who teaches and how to book a trial.

For ads addressed to, targeted directly at or featuring children, rule 5.1.2 says children must not be shown in hazardous situations or behaving dangerously except to promote safety, so a photo of children sparring or breaking boards is checked against it before it runs as an ad.

Photos follow a separate consent point. NSPCC Sport guidance says that for a child under 16, consent must be obtained from a parent or carer before taking any photos or videos. Photo consent becomes its own tick at enrolment, naming the website, social media and ads, so the paid media creative only uses children whose parents said yes to ads.

Myth: A kids' sign-up form is just a form. Fact: in the US, COPPA can apply once a child under 13 fills it in.

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) applies to operators of commercial websites and online services directed to children under 13 that collect personal information from children, and to general-audience sites that know they are collecting personal information from a child under 13. The FTC's guidance adds that COPPA does not apply to teenagers.

An enquiry form addressed to a parent is a different design from a kids' sign-up page where a ten-year-old types in their own details. Build the first, and take advice before building the second. The form, the ad and the follow-up all speak to the adult who books and pays, and that holds for a teens' class too.

Myth: "Free trial" just means no charge on day one. Fact: in the US, the terms behind a free offer belong at the outset.

The FTC's Guide on the word "Free" says the terms and conditions on which a free item depends should be set out clearly and conspicuously at the outset. In the UK, CAP Code rule 3.23 limits when an offer may be called free at all.

The parent is weighing the whole commitment, not the first class. A free trial followed by an enrolment fee, a uniform and a 12-month agreement is the case to check, so the offer page says what a parent commits to after the trial class, what the uniform and any joining fee cost, and when the first payment is taken. Then the trial itself has to happen: email sends the reminder before the class and the follow-up after it, and the report shows how many trial students turn up and how many enrol.

Myth: Children have to reach a set age before they can join. Fact: in the UK there is no legal minimum age for joining a martial arts class.

The NSPCC says that in the UK, there is no legal minimum age for joining a martial arts class, so the age bands are the school's decision, which the NSPCC ties to a child's readiness and the club's safeguards and insurance. We recommend running each band as its own programme with its own buyer: under-7s, older children and teens are booked by a parent, while adults book for themselves, so their page says what a beginner's first month looks like. The NSPCC also says competition should never be a requirement for taking part in a club, which is worth saying on the children's pages.

So the ads, pages and trial offers run per programme, and so do the numbers: enquiries, trial classes booked, trial attendance, enrolments, students who leave each month, months a student stays, and how many reach the next grading (belt testing in the US). Gradings show whether students are progressing, so a programme where few reach one is the first place to look when students start leaving.

We take on martial arts schools and clubs in the UK and the US, work across both countries' time zones, and quote in GBP or USD. Tell us about your school and we'll send a real quote within 48 hours.