** 07/09/08 - Officiating Seminar Update **

Big John traveled to Montreal, Quebec, Canada last week to speak at the A.B.C. (Association of Boxing Commissions) annual convention. The ABC is an association for a athletic commissions in the United States and Canada. For the past five months John has been working with Dale Kliparchuk, Chair of the mma division along with Tim Lueckenoff, President of the ABC on updating the professional unified rules for mma. In addition to the professional set of rules, a set of amateur ruleswas established. Both sets of rules were discussed, voted on and unanimously approved by all of the athletic commission members present at the convention.

In addition to the rules, John spent two days teaching the athletic commissioners an updated, abbreviated version of his judging and referee courses. The abc has adopted John’s seminars as the only certified seminars approved by the abc. Once the courses are officially launched, anyone who takes them and passes will be placed on an official list that all athletic commissions will refer to for certified officials in their area.

REFEREE COURSE:

Because of the logistics, currently, the three-day referee course will only be taught at John’s facility in Valencia, CA. The course has a maximum number of 20 slots available. Attendees are taken on a first registered/paid first served basis. The cost of the three-day course is still to be determined.

We are looking to hold our first abc certified referee course sometime in the fall. We are working closely with the abc to finalize all of the details and will post updates on this site as they become available.

JUDGING COURSE:

We are expecting to take the two day judging course nationwide in the fall and plan to hold four seminars a year, one in each quadrant of the U.S. the cost of the two-day course is still to be determined.

We are working closely with the abc to finalize all of the details and will post updates on this site as they become available.

MISC:

No official will be “grandfathered in.” You must take the courses and pass to be placed on the abc’s approved list.

If you pass, there is no guarantee that your local athletic commission will utilize you. Although each athletic commission is advised to use only abc certified officials, the abc cannot force any athletic commission to adhere to these rules.

Once registration/payment has been received, an informational cd will be mailed out to all participants. The cd will contain an introduction to the course along with basic study guide materials.


** 04/22/08 - Officiating Seminar Update **

Big John just got back from Montreal, Quebec, Canada where he met with the one of the heads of the ABC (Association of Boxing Commissions). The ABC is the governing body that all of the State Athletic Commissions belong to. During this meeting, they discussed his officiating seminar along with several other topics including John working on a standardized set of rules for both pro and amateur MMA shows.

This years ABC convention is being held July 1st-6th in Montreal. John will be hosting an abbreviated version of his seminar for all of the state athletic commissioners who attend the event. During this week long convention, John's course will become the only certified MMA officiating course through the ABC. In addition, it is the ABC's position that all state commissions have their officials certified through this course. A data base that all state commissions can access will be created that will have the names of everyone who has been certified through John's course.

This is a huge step towards getting qualified officials in our sport. While we were hoping to host a seminar in the Spring, because of this new development, we are looking at having our next course this summer. Please check our site from time to time to get the latest developments and if you have not signed up for our e-mail list yet, please send an e-mail to: info@bjmuta.com

Thank you,
Elaine McCarthy


* Update - April 8th, 2008 *

Hello to everyone patiently waiting for our next referee seminar. Some very exciting things are getting ready to take place and within the next month or so, we should be ready to announce our next seminar. Here's whats been going on:
John met with the two of the heads of the ABC (Association of Boxing Commissions) in March (they came out to our gym) to show them an outline of his course and get their feedback. They were both extremely satisfied with the product being put out and have given John's course an enthusiastic thumbs up. Very soon John's seminar will be the only course for MMA officials that will be sanctioned through the ABC. In addition, the ABC is working to require all of the athletic commissions worldwide to have their officials certified through this course. Once we can finalize everything and get the final stamp of approval, the wait will be well worth it because only those certified through John will be recognized by the ABC, which is the regulating body for all of the athletic commissions world wide.

We are hoping to have everything finalized in the next month or so and then we will be able to officially set a date. Thank you to all of you for being so patient with us and I promise to continue keeping all of you updated as things progress.

Sincerely,
Elaine McCarthy



We know how difficult it is to get in with the local athletic commissions. Because of the large interest in officiating, Big John has decided to start putting on seminars to help teach people what it takes to officiate in MMA.

In December 2007 Big John held a basic referee certification seminar. Big John's next basic certification seminar will be sometime in April or May of 2008. An advanced certification course will follow the week after the basic certification for those people interested in continuing their education. The exact will not be set until John meets with the ABC (Association of Boxing Commissions) about a standardized course that all of the commissions around the world will adhere to for their officials. The ABC is coming to meet with John on March 3rd about his course and heading up their certification program. They will be attending the next scheduled seminar in April/May and that is why we need to meet and confirm a date with them before a date is set.

The referee courses take place at Big John McCarthy’s Ultimate Training Academy in Valencia, California. The last referee class held had people from all over the world attend including Australia, Canada, Florida and Montana. The basic certification is a three-day course and is very hands on with only 20 spots available. The cost of the seminar is $500.00 for the three days (this does not include your travel arrangements). The testing is very hard and has a passing rate of approximately 25% of the class. The basic certification is both classroom and practical training which covers all of the Unified Rules in addition to all of the positions that you have to know to become certified. The testing is all written.
If you pass the Basic certification, you can move on to the Advanced Certification which is an additional three-day course (that will follow the basic certification) at a cost of $500.00. This course is only for those who pass the basic certification. For referees, this course spends all three days teaching in the octagon and ring. You will learn how to move, position yourself and assess the fighters condition, fouls being committed and everything else that goes along with being a MMA referee. For those only interested in judging, you will be observing the action taking place in the ring and judge based on what you have learned. This course is all practical application and the final testing is done by John who will grade your performance as you referee/judge a mock MMA fight.

Because of John's strict guidelines to pass his certifications in addition to his affiliation with the ABC and teaching to all of the top athletic commissions around the world, most of the State Athletic Commissions recognize these courses. Once the ABC finalizes the details, this course will more than likely be the standard for MMA officials. John provides each commission a list of those who passed the advanced certification in their state. While we can make no guarantees that you will be licensed in your state after the advanced certification, it is something that will definitely separate you from the pack and show that you know what you are looking at and doing.

Everyone who has taken the course has walked away with a much broader knowledge of what it takes to become a MMA ref. In fact, of those who did not pass the first time around, many are more than anxious to come back and take the course again as they can't believe how much they learned and need to continue to learn.



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