About GAMAO
About GAMAO
The Global Association of Martial Arts Organizations (GAMAO) is an independent standards and certification body for the martial arts. We unite instructors, schools, and combat systems under one mission: to make competence verifiable and to give serious practitioners the recognition they have earned.
Our Mission
GAMAO exists to be the trust layer the martial arts world has always lacked. We set standards, validate competence through evidence-based testing, and certify instructors and practitioners whose skill is real. We protect the integrity of rank, the reputation of honest instructors, and the safety of students.
Where Tradition Meets Protection
Our philosophy lives in five words: Where Tradition Meets Protection. GAMAO honors the depth, discipline, and lineage of traditional martial arts — and unites it with the hard, tested reality of modern protection and self-defense. We are scholars and we are practitioners. We respect the old masters and we demand that technique work under pressure. This is the Sage-Warrior balance at the heart of everything we certify.
Our Approach
GAMAO operates through three divisions — GAMAO Tactical (government and corporate security), the Professional Alliance (instructors and schools), and the Global Training Platform (practitioners worldwide) — and four specialized sub-organizations. Across all of them, one rule never bends: we only certify what we can test.
Governance
GAMAO is governed by a published constitution and an executive structure with defined roles, ethics standards, and a credentialing committee. Standards are set centrally; testing is conducted by qualified, accountable examiners. Our governance documents are available to affiliated members. This transparency is deliberate: a body that certifies others must itself be accountable.
Registration & Legal Status
GAMAO is registered as a Non-Commercial Legal Entity with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Georgia (registered 2020), as the successor to the International Combatives & Self-Defense Association founded in 2007. This legal foundation is what allows GAMAO to issue recognized credentials and operate as a legitimate international body. (Note: this is the country of Georgia, not the U.S. state.)