UAE karate schools face the chop...

All karate clubs and karate schools operating in the UAE have been asked to register with the UAE Karate Federation or have their licenses cancelled.

As part of a long-term plan to regulate and monitor the operations of the 200-odd karate clubs and schools operating in the UAE, Mohammed Abbas Ahmed, managing director of the UAE Karate Federation, said the federation has already informed the karate clubs to register before March 31 or have their licenses cancelled by the Sports Council of the UAE.

“All karate clubs and schools and their instructors have to be registered with the UAE Karate Federation. The aim is to bring all karate training facilities under one roof to make it easy for the authorities to monitor their operations,” he said. 

Some karate schools are running without properly trained karate masters and they conduct classes in the open, Ahmed said.

According to karate experts, currently there are more than 200 karate clubs and centres in the UAE, each with 50 to 100 students.

Nearly 100 karate clubs or schools giving training to Indian expatriate students have a combined strength of 6,000 students.

By registering with the UAE Karate Federation, their operations and training programmes will be scrutinised by the federation. By joining the federation, members of these clubs will get a chance to participate in national and international programmes conducted by the federation.

“Currently, karate clubs are working with a trade licence,” said.

Karate clubs give fitness training and teach self-defence. Clubs have differing fee structures depending on location and rent. Average fee is Dh200 per student per month.

“We are already under the Karate Federation of the UAE. In some cases, instructors do not have sufficient training to teach students. All the new clubs are under the Karate Federation. The registration renewal fee is Dh700 every year. Students from these clubs can participate in the federation’s tournaments. Earlier, participation was restricted to certain nationalities,” Shafin Ramakrishnan, director, JKS Karate Centre.

“A minimum ten students of each club is to be registered with the UAE Karate Federation. All the instructors will also get uniform training. There will be courses to train referees,” he added.
 

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