DCMS General Notice to all members

DCMS General Notice to all members 14 Jan 21
From the Chairman, British Kendo Association

Dear Member,
I am sure that you are aware of the complexity of government legislation and guidelines which affect our ability to train during the coronavirus pandemic. These are of course to try to protect the population etc.

I am writing to inform you of one particular aspect of the current rules & regulations which has a significant immediate impact on our ability to train. It is
this:

Government guidance issued on the 1st December requires all ‘organised sports’ to complete a Risk Assessment and Action Plan. Combat and Contact sports must have these documents approved by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). I have today submitted the required documents and await a response from DCMS.

UNTIL EACH PLAN IS APPROVED, THERE MUST BE NO ACTIVITY WHICH CANNOT BE CARRIED OUT AT A DISTANCE OF MORE THAN 6 FEET APART, EVEN IF TIER RESTRICTIONS WOULD OTHERWISE ALLOW THIS.

There are different requirements for “contact and combat” and “non-contact and combat” sports.

Iaido is not ‘contact and combat’ and therefore to comply with the Guidance, the Iaidobu Risk Assessment and Action Plan is published in the Members documents area of the BKA website.

Kendo and Jodo are both covered by the ‘Contact and Combat sports framework’, which can be found in full (here). The BKA has therefore submitted two Risk Assessment & Action Plans to the DCMS, one in respect of Kendo and one in respect of Jodo. I await a response from DCMS.

For the avoidance of doubt I shall repeat
UNTIL EACH PLAN IS APPROVED, THERE MUST BE NO ACTIVITY WHICH CANNOT BE CARRIED OUT AT A DISTANCE OF MORE THAN 6 FEET APART, EVEN IF TIER RESTRICTIONS WOULD OTHERWISE ALLOW THIS.

The DCMS submissions for Kendo & Jodo can be found in the private members area of our website – but remember they are NOT YET APPROVED by DCMS. When they are approved, they will be published on the ‘open’ pages of this site.

We will update you as soon as we hear from DCMS.
Ta, Errol
Errol Baboolal Blake
Chairman, British Kendo Association

PDF Copy of this announcement available Here (PDF)