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Web Alert
The battle lines have been drawn in Texas—and the fight is likely to come to your state and your front door—so now’s the time to act. In fact, Charles Dudley, NAPMA Inner Circle Member and owner of Kung Jung Mu Sul in San Antonio, Texas, has been leading the fight against the Texas legislature and various state regulatory bodies, since 2000. NAPMA is actively supporting Master Dudley and all Texas martial arts schools in this specific fight, and is leading the industry and its members to stop unwarranted attempts by various state legislatures to over-regulate martial arts. An important part of NAPMA’s mission is to represent not only its members, but also all martial arts school owners. That’s why NAPMA has successfully mobilized hundreds of New Jersey school owners to fight the bill in that state’s legislature, which would require an expensive and complicated certification process for all instructors. It’s time all NAPMA members and school owners throughout the industry rally around Master Dudley and his many local supporters, and tell Texas state legislators and administrators to support Texas State House Bill 1393 and Senate Bill 68…because your state and your school could be next! Please follow the instructions below to send a letter in support of Texas martial arts schools via email to Texas state officials. For more information, read the feature story in the May 2009 issue of Martial Arts Professional magazine and at MartialArtsProfessional.com.
Compose Your Message Please take a few minutes to add your name to letter below. If you are a martial arts school owners in Texas, you may want to personalize the letter because its’ very important for legislators to know how this bill affects you, your business and your clients. The more you personalize the letter, the more impact it will have. For example, include information about any certifications your hold, your years of experience in the industry, the number of people who are students at your school, how many instructors your studio employs, and what impact this bill would have on you, personally and professionally. The more personalized you make the letter, the more impact it will have. For example, include information about any certifications your hold, your years of experience in the industry, the number of people who are members of your club, how many trainers your club employees, and what impact this bill would have on your personally and professionally.
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I am a member of the National Association of Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA), the largest professional trade association for the industry in the world. NAPMA represents many martial arts schools in Texas, and has members throughout the United States and 22 countries. I am writing to express my support for Texas State House Bill 1393 and Senate Bill 68. With the recent changes and amendments to these bills, martial arts schools would not be categorized as child-care facilities and placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Family Protective Services, allowing schools throughout Texas to remain open. These bills now reflect a better understanding of how martial arts schools operate and the many benefits they provide children and adults throughout their communities. With all due respect to the many excellent daycare facilities in Texas, their daily activities and programs are unable to change lives in such a positive, and often dramatic, manner as martial arts. As a legislator who genuinely cares about the safety and security of all Texas children, you should want as many of those Texas children as possible to experience the outstanding character development and leadership lessons that they can learn at any martial arts school. I urge you to support HB 1393 and SB 68, and their new and more specific language to protect the interests of martial arts schools, gymnastics centers, dance studios, cheerleading programs and the many other “skills-training” activities for children that otherwise would be adversely affected. These amended bills not only protect the many children who benefit from the martial arts experience, but also the many parents who have witnessed amazing changes and growth in their children because of that experience. Frankly, that is a constituency that is likely to be quite unhappy if their children’s progress in character development and leadership is suddenly stopped because of new laws based on a misunderstanding of martial arts schools’ special role in their communities. In my opinion and those of my fellow martial arts school owners around the world and the National Association of Professional Martial Artists, this issue, at its core, is about allowing parents to be free to choose the activities in which they want their children to participate—and that’s a right on which we can all agree. In closing, I want to emphasize NAPMA’s deep commitment to promote consumer safety at its member schools in Texas and around the world. We believe the martial arts industry has a responsibility to protect members from harm; and, to that end, we support every industry effort to educate consumers about the importance of researching martial arts instructors and schools’ qualifications before joining a program. Sincerely
Select Message Recipients Representative Patrick Rose (Chairman of the Human Services Committee in the House). Speaker of the House Joe Straus Representative David Leibowitz The author of our HB 1393). Representative Abel Herrero (Vice-Chair of the Human Services Committee & co-author of HB 1393). Senator Jane Nelson (Author of SB 68 and Chair of the Health & Human Services Committee). Representative Drew Darby (Member of the Health Services Committee in the House and sponsor of SB 68 in the House of Representatives). Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw Senator Wendy Davis: District 10 Senator Rodney Ellis: District 13 Senator Judith Zaffirini: District 21 Senator Kel Seliger: District 31
Send to:	All recipients listed above Representative Patrick Rose Speaker of the House Joe Straus Representative David Leibowitz Representative Abel Herrero Senator Jane Nelson Representative Drew Darby Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw Senator Wendy Davis: District 10 Senator Rodney Ellis: District 13 Senator Judith Zaffirini: District 21 Senator Kel Seliger: District 31
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