Japanese Martial Arts Association (JMAA)

The Japanese Martial Arts Association organizes all national tournaments, professional and amateur Dojos, and professional and amateur fighters in Japan. It is among the most influential Martial Arts Associations in the world along with the CMAA, USMAA, and BMAA. Like other martial arts associations, the JMAA organizes and fund national tournaments, professional Dojos, and professional fighters.

The types of professional individual tournaments that the JMAA run are divided into two age categories: Senior and Junior.  Senior tournaments are tournaments that are open to all professional fighters over the age 15. Senior tournaments are approved competitions that can give monetary awards and can change the ranking of Japanese professional fighters. Junior Tournaments are competitions that only accept fighters 18 and under. They tend to have more safety rules and regulations.

The JMAA monitors the official JMAA National Rankings and the JMAA Hall of Fighters, which are the rankings for the top 200 professional martial artists. There are currently over 1 million national and international PMAs from Japan.

## Hierarchy

### JMAA Chairman (Gin Yukihira)

The JMAA Chairman is the head of operations for all tournaments, individual and team. They answer directly to the Emperor. The Chairman helps discuss national competitive regulations. They can choose to amend certain regulations and change tournament rules, so long they are approved by the Emperor. The Chairman distributes the work to Tournament Organizers and the Ten Titans. A Chairman is voted through a majority vote by the current Ten Titans and by the Sensei Guild.

### Tournament Organizers (TOs)

TOs help run tournaments. They enforce regulations and can also request meetings for changes from the Master. The bigger the tournament, the more influence a TO has. TOs can also request funding to set new professional tournaments in new locations. Amateur TOs cannot get funding unless they are recognized by the Senior Dan TOs. During tournaments, TOs are expected to maintain security and safety in the tournaments. They can also host multiple side events in tournaments. TOs are usually retired and active fighters who want to make more money and spread their influence.

### Ten Titans

The Ten Titans are the top ten ranked fighters in Japan.

## JMAA Mansion

The JMAA Mansion serves as the administrative building for the JMAA, located in Tokyo, Japan. The Chairmen and the Titans have living quarters and a full staff. The Mansion is the base of operations, where meetings and events are hosted. The Mansion has its own training area for the ten.

## Dojos

Japanese Professional Dojos, like Panda Dojo, can register for professional status to get benefits and access to many resources the JMAA provides. This includes real estate space, equipment, and budget expansion.

Professional Dojos also participate during the League season. The League season is the popular fighting season in Japan. Dojos compete in a round robin by traveling to other Dojos and hosting their own tournament. Chairman Takumi Sugonu instituted the league season to be split between two divisions: North and South. This was to cope with huge increase in Dojos opening up and make the Dojo League playoffs more balanced, as the South was constantly being favored due to the plethora of high level Dojos. To be professionally registered a Japanese Dojo must:

* Have at least 12 active members who can compete
* Pay yearly dues to the JMAA
* Have the legal space to operate a Dojo, which meets the health and size regulations
* Managed by a Sensei who has passed the Dojo management exam and is at least 6th Degree Black according to the Belt Ranking System.
* Register as part of the North or South division

Dojos don't always have to be professionally register, even if they meet the requirements. These are Amateur Dojos, which don't operate as professional ones. They cannot use the benefits of the JMAA, nor can they compete during the League season. However, they do not have to pay dues and can have a many or as little members as possible.

## Dojo Championship

The Dojo Grand Tournament is a Dojo team bracket tournament. The Dojo Grand Tournament is held after the Dojo League season ends. The League season is when all Dojos in Japan will compete in a round robin by traveling to Dojos and hosting their own. The League season is only open to Professional Dojos. The League Season gets many viewers since it is the easiest way to see new fighters shine. The Dojos enter base on their performance during the season and are put in brackets that are split between the north and south divisions of Japan. It is considered the most prestigious title in Japan, despite not affecting individual rankings. This is due to the amount of publicity the Dojo receives internationally, increasing awareness and attracting new martial artists. Dojo Championship winners receive a huge monetary prize at the end from the JMAA.

## Tournaments

### Senior Dan

The Senior Dan Tournaments are four very prestigious annual individual Mixed Martial Arts tournaments. They are the four biggest individual fighting tournaments in Japan. The four are held in different major Japanese cities, each named after the host city: Kyoto Dan, Tokyo Dan, Osaka Dan, and Sapporo Dan. There are three ways to qualify for the limited space: The 75% ranked fighters automatically make it, but they can cancel at least a week before the tournament; the bottom 25% fight in a mini-tournament with non-ranked professional fighters and the top 16 make it; the last way is too be recommended by the Emperor or the Sensei Guild.

The Senior Dan Tournaments have a huge impact on national rankings. The top 16 in the tournament are eligible for a rank change. While all tournaments have equal weight in awards, rank change, and rules, the Kyoto Dan is the unofficial most prestige belt due to it being the oldest of the Senior Dan tournaments and generally having the largest amount of competition.

Only Tokyo and Sapporo Senior Dans serve as A-Tier events for international tournaments in the Association of Martial Arts. Initially all four gave international points, but the Emperor at the time changed this to incentivize international Japanese PMAs to leave the country more. All Senior Dans are considered competitive at the A-Tier level. However, nationally ranked fighters in Japan must register as AMA International fighters to receive points for international ranking.

### Regional

Regional Tournaments are small tournaments that open in small cities or big cities. There are at least 40 regional tournaments in Japan. The top 3 winners have a chance in getting a rank change but this usually applies to lower ranked fighters. Thus, the top 30 fighters rarely do these fights since Regional tournaments don't really affect their rankings. Regional tournaments are open to all fighters to register. Some Regional tournaments serve as B-Tiers in the AMA tournament list.

### Under Black

Under Black tournaments are competitions that only accept under Black Belt Fighters, according to the official Belt Ranking System. The purpose of these tournaments is to help spur up competition at the early stages of a fighter. They also attempt to balance the fighting level by having non-Black Belts compete only. Under Black are open to all fighters of any age so long as they are not Black Belts. These tournaments do not affect rankings.

### Junior Tournaments

In the Junior Division, there is a Junior Dojo Championship that is held every year. All Dojos that have a Junior team compete with randomized bracket rounds. A Dojo cannot have a team compete in the League season and the Junior team tournament.