American Self-Defense Association

ASDA POLICY

This page outlines the American Self-Defense Association policy with regard to its members and the process of obtaining post black belt rank certification. 

a. Annual Dues

Annual ASDA membership fee is $125.00/per person.  Every year members will be asked to renew the membership fee.  The annual renewal fee is $100/per person.

There will not be any processing of prospective members until fee is paid in full. Fees may be subject to change.  All members will be notified via email of any changes in the fees structure. 

All ASDA members will receive an ASDA email account and a webpage with no extra cost.

Members will be notified via email a month before annual fee is due. 

The Evaluation Committee (EC) reserve the right to deny membership, terminate membership, or refusal of renewal of membership to any member or prospect who's actions or standings are determined to be in direct antithesis to any elements in the ASDA Code of Ethics.  Annual renewal fees may be subject to change. 

 

ASDA members that are more than one (1) months behind in their dues may be subjected to a twenty-five dollar ($25.00) late charge.  ASDA Members that are over two months late membership status will automatically become "inactive".  To have status changed "Actave", will require the current annual dues payment, in addition to the $25.00/late fee, plus a $25.00/restoration fee.  

 

Members that are not in good standings with their payment of fees may be excluded from participation in some ASDA functions.

 

Members that are more than three (3) months behind in dues payments will have their ASDA email and webpage privileges revoked.

 

b. Uniformity In Certification Policy

The standard certification policy will be applied in the same way for all martial arts styles (or systems) practiced by members without regard to member's: race, creed, color, sexual orentation, martial arts style (system), physical abilities, etc.. 

 

c. The Evalution Committee
The purpose of the Evaluation Committee (EC) is to review prospective candidates for Post Black Belt Rank (PPBBR).  

Any established EC Board (ECB) that will review any candidate will  consist of three (3) members.

Two of the the EC members must be Permanent EC (PEC) members and must hold the minimum rank of Kyoshi (7th or 8th degree black belt) or equivalent. 

The remaining member will be a Temporary EC (TEC) member.  Not necessarily a members of ASDA, but must be approved by the PEC (if not an ASDA member) and must also hold the minimum rank of Renshi (5th or 6th degree black belt) or equivalent.  

Besides martial arts ability, any temporary member selected to serve on an ECB must meet the following criteria: intelligence, unshakable integrity and expertise in reality-based martial arts training methods regardless of styles or systems.  

The PEC members will be chosen for their knowledge and understanding of a wide range of martial arts systems; traditional or non-traditional.  

PEC members will have a thorough understanding of martial arts etiquette.  They are responsible for insuring that examination of candidate are conducted within the established protocols.  

PEC members will be responsible for determining which guest instructor(s) will be invited to head the seminars sponsored by ASDA.  The selection of these guest will largely depend on the scope of the seminar and sometimes on the demand of the ASDA members.

  

d. ECEB Member Qualifications

ECB member can recommend PBBR promotion to any rank up to the belt rank below that of which he or she holds. For example a 4^th Degree may recommend promotions up to and including 3^rd Degree rank.

     e. Ranks Obtained Through Other Organizations 

ASDA will recognize ranks awarded by other legitimate organizations if proof of rank is provided. A certified English translation and/or copy of the certificate are required. The rank will be recorded and registered with ASDA.  Promotion to a higher rank issued by ASDA will require examination by the ECB.

     f. Promotion Ratification and Timing

Only Post Black Belt Rank (PBBR) certifications will be ratified through the ASDA. That is, ASDA only provide certification for 1^st Degree (or 1^st Dan or equivalent) up to 10^th Degree (or (10^th Dan or equivalent).  

g. Eligibility Age

Only ASDA members above the age of eighteen will be eligible for PBBR accreditation. If the candidate is under the age of eighteen, permission from either parent or martial arts instructor (or both) will be required. 

 

h. Demonstration of Requirements (DOR)

Members, who are candidates for PBBR, must demonstrate the minimum requirements for the rank of which they are being examined for. 

     i. PBBR Promotion Fees

The Fees charged for PBBR will vary based on the level of rank under consideration. 

A schedule of the PBBR fees is listed below:

 

 

Included in these fees are costs that reflect the custom made official ASDA rank belt, the certificate and venue administration overhead costs.  All belts will be made for order only. 

 

j. Seminar Program 

ASDA will provide four (4) training and knowledge based seminar a year. 

The composition of these seminars will largely depend on the demand of ASDAs members in conjunction with the martial arts material of which they require for rank advancement at any given time. 

ASDA members will be notified of the location and other information regarding seminar.

 

ASDA will maintain all records on its members participation in seminars such as: credits obtained by its members for attending seminars and official documents provided by its members. 

There will not be a grade given (i.e. A, B, C, D, E, or F) to attendees of the seminars, nor will there be a pass or fail criterion of any kind. 

The seminars are ultimately designed to increase the martial arts knowledge and technicial proficiency in executing techniques of its members.

All seminar attendees will receive ASDA certificates.  

The certificates that are given to seminar attendees are are called "Certificate of Acknowledgment" (COA).  The COA indicats that an attendee have participated in a seminar with a particular Area of Focus (AOF) in the martial arts.  All certificates will denote the AOF the seminar was intended to address.

 

All seminar participants (members and non-members) will be required to have submitted their payment for any given seminar at least a month before the scheduled seminar date.  The following policy regarding paying for seminar attendance will be enforced:

 

·        ASDA Members pay only half (1/2) price for seminars admission.

·        Seminar walk-in will not be permitted.

·        The collection of fees will not be permitted at the seminar  events.

The fee for each seminar will vary based on overhead factor associated with the venue.

   k. PBBR Transitivity between Systems 

The general policy of ASDA is that those members, who already have qualifying experience in one martial art, may well be promoted in similar martial arts to the same rank they hold. They may be promoted to a different rank from their present rank depending on their technical knowledge. This will be decided by the ECB when conducting the evaluation. 

However, a high rank in one art does not automatically qualify one for the same rank in another.  Obviously, there is a great difference in the singular sport of one art, and the sport of another, or the combat aspects of combat Karate, Jujitsu, Kenpo etc. and the art of Karate, Jujitsu, Kenpo etc. for example:  Even though Jujitsu can be described as "Judo with an attitude," Jujitsu knowledge, techniques and ability are different from Judo knowledge, techniques and ability, and employs quite a different outlook on what actions are performed.  The competition rules mindset in Judo will conflicts with the "no rules" mindset of combat Jujitsu.

 

    l. Policy on Rank Registration

The intent of ASDA is to accommodate all of its members who will be representatives of various martial art styles, in obtaining legitimate PBBR certification.  All new prospective members will be required to submit a copy of the rank certificate(s) via email to:  

                        join@asdamembership.com

or mail a copy of documents to:  ASDA c/o Dr. LeRoy Hines
                                                       3007 Panola Road,
                                                       Suite C. Box 160
                                                       Lithonia, GA 30038 

Also, every new prospective member will need to fill out the onlines application and paid the annual fee. 

 

Upon receipt of Rank documents and payment of annual fee, the applicant will be granted membership in ASDA. 

All information will be added to our ASDA member database.  

A determination of certification will be official after the ECB has reviewed the candidate.

ASDA realizes that there are instances, where a candidate have been teaching independently, or have been teaching their own system for many years, and may even be the creator of their own style (or system). Since these individuals may not have been ranked by a national organization, and no knowledge of their style and ability may be evident, the ECB requires that Evidence of Quality (EOQ) be provided in the form of a written curriculum for the various ranks, and/or an unedited videotape of the techniques that style encompas.

 

Corroborating evidence may also need to be collected through visual observation by higher-ranking members of the ECB. In other words, the ECB needs to be convinced that the described rank compares with other related standards, particularly as it relates to total time in the various ranks.

ASDA will not accept higher Degree/Dan ranks that are not within the time in grade schedule, as defined in the requirements.

ASDA will not accept rank promotions that are not deemed to conform to an acceptable standard.