Martial Arts studios and classes are a great way to keep fit and active while learning self-defense and traditional fighting techniques. If you’re looking to get back into the swing of exercise in a place that you can keep out of the winter cold, and meet new people at the same time, it’s a great activity to pick up. Running your own martial arts school is a way for you to help teach your passion to others. 

If you operate a martial arts studio, however, you’ll need to have some form of liability waiver – the fighting arts do involve fighting, after all, and fighting always poses the risk of injury. However, if you have large classes, you may have to process dozens of waivers at a time – going paperless can be a lifesaver here. Here we’ll explain what a Martial Arts Studio Waiver should look like, and how to efficiently use them to cover all your students.

The Risks of a Martial Arts School

Creating a liability release form for a Martial Arts Studio seems to be straightforward. The main risk that your students can incur is injury from, well, martial arts – right? There’s actually a bit more than you have to think about, however, when you are designing a martial arts studio waiver.

The first thing you need to consider is the kind of instruction you provide. In your liability release forms, it’s key that you specifically mention the kind of martial arts that you instruct in. Different martial arts have different levels of difficulty and can entail different levels of risk. You should specifically name every style of martial arts that you teach or could possibly teach. If you are a judo school, and students are injured while doing kickboxing, you could still end up in some hot water.

There are other less obvious risks that you should consider as well. Like any place with multiple visitors in a day, there is always the possibility of theft, and you should make sure that your waiver mentions injury and loss not just to the body, but to property as well.

Since Martial Arts tend to be an indoor activity, it is very advisable that you prepare some waivers for COVID as well. It’s vital that you get some release forms to remove your liability if some of your students or staff become infected. Of course, you should also do your best to stick by local guidelines on reducing the risk of spreading COVID.

Reduce Your Risks

Reducing the risk of COVID can take many forms, such as reducing class sizes, or a thorough cleaning schedule. However, as a martial arts studio, it’s imperative that you try to cover all your risks as well. The best liability release forms won’t protect you if you are found to be “grossly negligent”. You have to make sure that you are using all the proper safety precautions.

And that safety will start with your students and staff. This means putting in strict rules for the safety of everyone. Everyone should be wearing the appropriate clothing and equipment, fitted properly. You need to mandate warmups and never have students doing anything they aren’t ready for. It’s also vital that students express any pain or discomfort, and that you take these reports seriously. And for the worst possible cases, it’s never a bad idea to look into insurance for those things that a waiver can’t cover.

Cut Back On the Paper

Printing out martial arts studio waivers for all of your students, and making sure you get them all back, can be a real pain – especially if you have students with an irregular visiting schedule. Add onto this the need for COVID waivers, and you’re facing a horde of paper that all the martial arts skills in the world won’t help you beat.

Thankfully, with Waiver Forever, you never need to worry about small details like paper. With our template library, it’s easy to quickly whip up whatever forms you need – even for COVID. Better yet, all of these waivers can be easily handled online, removing the need for paper entirely. We even have a variety of features made for indoor gyms or sports studios. Make sure to check them out, and you can start preparing yourself for a paperless future today!