Truly Accessible Training with Gina & Chris Hopkins of Adaptive Martial Arts
The Good Gym Guide Podcast • Series 1, Episode 5
This episode is with Gina and Chris Hopkins from Adaptive Martial Arts. AMA provide martial arts training for all abilities. Rather than coaching in a particular lineage or tradition, they take an innovative mixed approach, drawing from multiple disciplines to best suit the specific people they are working with in their classes.
They give some examples of how they assess a potential training venue as being truly, naturally accessible rather than just tokenistic, and get really specific about the journey they take new, possibly anxious trainees on, from the moment they make contact with AMA through to becoming a regular class member, and maybe even on to grading and competition.
Gina and Chris spoke about all aspects of their training environment, from regulation and governance, business and finances, considering all stakeholders, marketing, communications, coaching, layout of the space, design of clothing and equipment.... It is clear that they had already put so much thought into every aspect of what they do, and I learned so much from hearing them talk about it.
It was so helpful to hear more direct, formal advice about making sure a venue is accessible. At the co-op gym, we have started talking more seriously about the possibility of having our own permanent space, and we must hold these ideas about the unchangeable aspects of a building at the front of our mind, making sure that it serves all of the people we want to train with as a shell, even before we start making the changes we can to it.
I hadn’t paid much attention to making sure that the venue is on major bus routes and that there is ample parking before. This is probably because I cycle of walk everywhere. It’s a typical example of not thinking about something just because it doesn’t directly affect me, and as a result excluding a bunch of people. It just emphasizes the importance of cooperation, and of having as diverse a range of directors and stakeholders as possible, and having good systems for consultation. This is clearly something that AMA do well, and you can see that in how proudly they display their board of directors on their website.
This leads to talking about what they said about approaches to business. Finding sponsors and grants has enabled their classes to be more affordable and subsidised other forms of access, such as flexible payment systems. It’s also created links with other local small businesses and acts as a form of marketing.
Being incorporated as a Community Interest Company - a CIC - is a solid foundation for their ability to be resilient while being innovative, and it gives an added layer of trust for the user. This is a relatively new form of company, having only been introduced in 2005. On the CIC34 end-of-year report, social enterprises must show that their activities have been for the broader good, that their stakeholders have been properly consulted, and that no one’s been paid in a way that’s not in the interest of the public.
It makes sense to me that gyms and sports clubs, which, at least nominally, have the main purpose of improving the health and wellbeing of their users, should be registered as a CIC or some other form of social enterprise, like a community-benefit society or even a charity. It could be a great symbol of difference from the more profit-driven models.
Anyway, back to the classes. I loved the rejection of aspects of traditional martial arts lineages, like the strict hierarchy, the dogmatic approach to coaching, but the retention of others, like, in a piece that I actually ended up cutting out, how they use the gi - the traditional clothing - as a sort of comfortable barrier when introducing new trainees to the amount of physical contact required in grappling.
I loved hearing about Gina’s experience as an elite athlete, training under different coaches, and how that has translated into what she looks for in her own team at AMA.
Last thing I will say is about how exciting I found the idea of setting up a system of disability-inclusive accreditation and grading for martial arts gyms. This could be a fantastic opportunity to take what AMA are pioneering in the UK to other Mixed martial arts gyms. MMA is one of the fastest-growing sports in this country, but it is still very young. The idea of having that sort of influence at this stage of its development, while most MMA gyms are independent and perhaps open and malleable, is really exciting. It could really alter the wider culture of those spaces, making them more inclusive and spreading self-defence skills among some of the most potentially-vulnerable people in our society, while also creating communities that reduce isolation and improve physical and mental health. Also, of course, it opens up a whole new group of customers, so it works for the gyms in that sense too!
Adaptive Martial Arts’ work
They have some nice examples of their workshops and classes and also some instructional videos on their YouTube channel
Episode links
Grappler’s Heart tournament
If you’re interested in the history of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, The Hero with a Thousand Holds has some incredible maps about its early days (plus, I just want to link to that incredible project…)
Credits
The above photos are from Adaptive Martial Arts
Most other photographs on this website were taken by Paul Samuel White
Production support by Yas Clarke
Graphic design by Steph Weise