We've done the research so you don't have to. An honest breakdown of the seven real martial arts insurance options, including the one we built.
Insurance that gets martial arts. Most schools pay $1,100 to $1,400 a year with Gym Insurance by PushPress, with sparring, grappling, kids' classes, and competition training written into the coverage from the start, not buried in an endorsement and not hidden behind a "fitness training" workaround. Both general liability and professional liability are included as standard.
Martial arts schools have lived through two phases of getting this wrong. First, generic commercial carriers didn't know what to do with sparring and grappling, so they either declined the school outright or quietly excluded contact activities from the policy. Then specialty brokers acknowledged the category but stacked their own fees on top, sold per-student pricing that scaled the wrong way, or excluded sparring anyway. Honest pricing, with what you actually teach written into the policy, is the third option. That's the gap we built to close.
Quick disclosure before you read on: one of the providers on this list is us. We've kept the comparison below as honest as we know how, and you can decide for yourself.
We're gym owners. We've built the software thousands of martial arts schools, BJJ academies, and combat sports gyms use to run their operations, and we've heard the same insurance complaints over and over: contact activities quietly excluded, kids' programs left out, brokers who can't explain what they're selling. We needed insurance that priced martial arts schools like martial arts schools, not like a maximum-risk specialty case and not like a generic commercial business. Nobody was selling that, so we built it.
20+ years in fitness. Data from thousands of gyms. No broker fees. A-rated carriers (Everspan, Starr Indemnity). Reinsured by global names you'd recognize. Sparring, grappling, kids' classes, and competition training all written into the standard policy.
This comparison is based on what we've actually seen working with thousands of martial arts schools, not desk research.
| Provider | Best for | Typical annual cost* | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gym Insurance by PushPress Best overall | BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, kids karate | $1,100 to $1,400 | Not available outside the U.S. |
| Affiliate Guard | Gyms with medical-grade amenities (cryotherapy, IV therapy, PT) | $1,800 to $3,000 | Broker fees on top of premium. Property coverage not bundled. |
| Jiu Jitsu Insurance | BJJ gyms needing single-day event coverage | $2,200 to $3,000 | Limited to BJJ. Small brokerage, narrow carrier access, extra fees. |
| Karate Insurance | Karate and Taekwondo instructors who want agent support | $2,500 to $3,000 | Per-student pricing. Reported friction during claims. |
| Martial Arts Group Insurance | Gym owners who want to talk through options with an agent | $1,800 to $3,000 | Minimum payment requirements. Mandatory background checks for all staff. |
| Markel Insurance | Gym owners who own their building and want a name-brand carrier | $3,200 to $5,500 | Often excludes sparring and contact martial arts. Offline 2-3 week sales process. |
| K&K Insurance | One-day tournament and event coverage | $2,800 to $4,300 | Phone and email only, no online quoting. Schools program excludes contact boxing and wrestling. |
*Prices accurate as of February 2026. Coverage and pricing can change. Verify directly with the provider before making a decision.
Most gym insurance was written for fitness studios, not combat sports schools. A general fitness policy might cover a pulled hamstring during a cycling class but quietly exclude injuries from sparring, grappling, or weapons training, which are the activities that actually define what you do.
Why it's different. Our policies are designed around how martial arts schools actually operate. Sparring, submissions, takedowns, weapons training, and kids' classes are written into the coverage from the start, not buried in an endorsement. Professional liability is included on every policy, participant medical payments are standard up to $25,000 a year, and property and equipment coverage for your mats, mirrors, bags, and build-outs is a click away.
The 'what's the catch?' answer. There isn't one. No broker in the middle, no commission baked into the premium. You can get a quote in under 5 minutes, and your policy stays with the business if you add disciplines, move locations, or change affiliations.
Not ideal if you only need a single-day event or tournament policy. K&K Insurance is built for that.
Affiliate Guard (sometimes still listed as AGuard) is a broker that can accommodate gyms that have layered in services like cryotherapy, IV therapy, or physical therapy alongside their martial arts programming. The unusual combinations are where they earn their place on the list.
The structural issue. Policies are sold through brokers, which means extra fees are layered on top of your premium and you don't control what the underlying carrier writes. Business personal property coverage is typically not included, so your mats, equipment, and build-out aren't protected under the base policy. Medical expense limits also vary by carrier, so verify before you sign.
The honest take. If your gym genuinely runs medical-grade amenities and you've already got a broker relationship, Affiliate Guard can work. For a standard martial arts school without the medical add-ons, you're paying for a brokerage layer you don't need.
Not ideal if you want property coverage bundled in or you want to avoid brokerage fees.
Jiu Jitsu Insurance is a niche brokerage focused almost entirely on the BJJ market. If you're hosting a tournament and need a one-day event policy, they're worth a call.
The structural issue. As a smaller brokerage, their access to competitive pricing across carriers is more limited than larger providers. Coverage is narrowly focused on BJJ, so if your school teaches Muay Thai, Judo, or MMA alongside BJJ, you'll likely find gaps. Event-specific endorsements may also be required for off-site competitions.
The honest take. Jiu Jitsu Insurance works for a single use case: one-day BJJ event coverage for an academy that already has primary coverage elsewhere. As your school's main policy, the discipline lock-in and the broker fees stack up fast.
Not ideal if you teach disciplines beyond BJJ, or you want a single policy that covers your whole operation.
Karate Insurance caters to traditional martial arts instructors, particularly Karate and Taekwondo, who prefer working with an agent rather than buying online. The model is friendly to instructors who like a human in the loop.
The structural issue. Pricing is per-student, which makes costs unpredictable as enrollment fluctuates. Per-student models also get expensive quickly for schools with high trial flow or seasonal membership turnover. Customer reviews mention friction during the claims process, which is worth researching before committing.
The honest take. Karate Insurance can work for a small, steady-enrollment Karate or Taekwondo program where the instructor genuinely values the agent relationship. For schools with kids' programs, summer trials, or any kind of enrollment swing, the per-student pricing turns into a math problem you'll regret.
Not ideal if you run a kids' program with variable enrollment, or you want straightforward flat-rate pricing.
Martial Arts Group Insurance (MAGI) offers agent-supported purchasing for gym owners who want a more guided experience before buying. If you're insuring a complex operation or have specific coverage questions, a human in the loop can be valuable.
The structural issue. Policies carry minimum payment requirements, so even if your school is small or seasonal, you're locked into paying roughly $500 to $700 a year regardless of actual coverage usage. All W2 employees and 1099 instructors are required to pass background checks, which adds administrative overhead for schools with large or rotating coaching staff. Per-student pricing applies on top of that.
The honest take. MAGI fits a small subset of operators: stable staff, no 1099 contractors, owner who wants an agent and is happy to pay for it. Outside that profile, the minimums and the background-check requirement turn a $500 program into real friction.
Not ideal if you use a lot of 1099 instructors, or you want the flexibility to scale coverage up and down with your membership.
Markel is a large, well-capitalized carrier with property ownership coverage and umbrella policies available. If you own your gym building and want a recognized brand name on the policy, they're an option.
The structural issue. Markel's policies are sold through local brokers who often lack martial arts industry expertise, so expect to do some educating. Many of their policies exclude sparring, striking, and contact martial arts for day-to-day operations, which makes Markel better suited as commercial building coverage than as a school's primary policy. The offline sales process typically takes two to three weeks, which is not great if you need coverage quickly.
The honest take. Markel can be a fit for a building-owning operator who needs commercial property coverage and runs a low-intensity school (no sparring, no contact). For a working martial arts school where contact is the point, the exclusions are where you'll get burned.
Not ideal if you rent your gym space and run a standard BJJ, Muay Thai, or Karate school.
K&K is one of the largest specialty program managers for sports and event coverage. For one-day tournaments, multi-day competitions, and standalone event policies, they're often the right call.
The structural issue. The schools program is narrower than their event program. Their published martial arts schools coverage excludes contact boxing and wrestling, which rules out a lot of the operators who think K&K is their answer. The buying experience is also entirely offline. No online quoting, no self-service policy management, everything is handled by phone or email. Response times can be slower than digital-first providers.
The honest take. K&K's value is at the event layer. For your school's annual tournament, a regional in-house competition, or a multi-day seminar with outside athletes, they have the right product. For your day-to-day school coverage, especially if you teach contact sports, you'll be reading more exclusion language than coverage language.
Not ideal if you want a fast online experience, or you run a contact-sports school looking for primary coverage.
Covers you if a member or visitor is injured at your school and sues. Slip-and-falls, mat injuries, equipment accidents, property damage to a member's belongings. Baseline coverage. Check the per-occurrence and aggregate limits.
Learn more →Covers you if a student claims your coaching, programming, or technique instruction caused their injury. The coverage that often gets quietly excluded by general carriers. For a martial arts school, this is not optional.
Learn more →Pays for a student's medical bills after an injury without requiring them to sue you first. Faster resolution, fewer lawsuits. Usually $5,000 to $25,000 per incident. Important when sparring and grappling are part of the curriculum.
Covers your mats, bags, pads, weapons, mirrors, and build-out. Fire, flood, theft, or storm damage gets paid out. Replacement cost vs. actual cash value matters here, so ask for replacement cost.
Learn more →Required in most states if you have employees. Covers staff injuries on the job. Non-negotiable if your coaches and instructors are on payroll.
Learn more →How each provider stacks up on what's actually in the policy. The at-a-glance table above is the headline. This is the fine print.
| Attribute | Gym Insurance by PushPress | Affiliate Guard | Jiu Jitsu Insurance | Karate Insurance | Martial Arts Group Insurance | Markel Insurance | K&K Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General liability | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Professional liability | ✓ | Through broker | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on | Through broker | Through broker |
| Participant medical payments | $10K standard / $25K optional | Varies by carrier | Add-on | Varies | Varies | Varies | Event-only |
| Sparring covered | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ BJJ only | Limited | ✓ | Often excluded | Schools program excludes contact |
| Kids' classes covered | ✓ | Varies | Limited | Per-student | ✓ | Varies | Limited |
| Business personal property | Replacement cost | Not included | Add-on | Varies | Add-on | ✓ if owner | Varies |
| Workers' comp options | Easily added | Through broker | Through broker | Through broker | Through broker | Through broker | Through broker |
| Pricing model | Flat rate | Quote-based + broker fee | Per-event + broker fee | Per-student | Per-student + minimums | Quote-based | Quote-based |
| Online quoting | Under 5 minutes | Through broker | Through broker | Through agent | Through agent | Through broker | Phone / email only |
| Instant COI | ✓ | 1-3 business days | Event-specific | Varies | Varies | Varies | Phone request |
| Admitted carrier | ✓ Everspan / Starr Indemnity | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
General fitness policies often exclude contact sports activities like sparring, grappling, and takedowns, which are central to martial arts training. A general policy might look fine on paper but leave you exposed in a real claim. Always confirm in writing that your specific training activities are explicitly covered. Learn more about martial arts gym insurance →
Most martial arts schools pay between $1,100 and $3,000 per year, depending on school size, disciplines taught, and coverage limits. Gym Insurance by PushPress typically comes in at the lower end of that range, between $1,100 and $1,400, because policies are priced specifically for the martial arts risk profile rather than as a modified general fitness policy. See the full martial arts insurance cost breakdown →
It should, but not all policies include it automatically. Gym Insurance by PushPress explicitly covers kids' programs, including sparring and grappling instruction for minors. Always confirm with any provider before assuming youth classes are covered under a standard policy. See what's covered →
If Open Mat runs during normal business hours with staff present, your standard policy covers it. If Open Mat runs outside business hours without staff on-site, you'll need to add 24-hour gym coverage to your policy. Learn more about 24-hour gym coverage →
Yes. They serve different purposes. A waiver sets expectations and can limit certain claims. Insurance pays for your legal defense, covers medical costs, and satisfies your landlord's requirements. One doesn't replace the other. Learn more about gym waivers →
Yes. Gym Insurance by PushPress policies are built to grow with your business. If you add a new discipline, hire more coaches, expand to a second location, or take on more equipment, you can update your policy without starting over. See what we cover →
Most commercial landlords require $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate in general liability coverage, plus the right to be named as an additional insured. Many also ask for 30-day notice of cancellation language on the certificate of insurance. Gym Insurance by PushPress offers $1M/$3M as standard, which exceeds what most leases ask for. If your lease requires higher limits than that, get in touch and we can talk through your options. You can download your certificate of insurance the moment your policy is active.
Yes. Adding a landlord, franchise (like CrossFit, LLC), charter school, SBA lender, or any other interested party as an additional insured is standard on every Gym Insurance by PushPress policy. No extra fee. The endorsement and the updated certificate of insurance issue instantly through your policy dashboard, so you don't have to wait for a broker to process the request.
For most martial arts schools, including BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Karate, and hybrid programs, Gym Insurance by PushPress is the best combination of coverage, price, and simplicity. Policies are built for combat sports from the ground up, include professional liability and participant medical coverage as standard, and adjust as your school grows.
If you run a high-risk one-day event or a tournament, K&K is worth a call alongside us. For your school's day-to-day coverage, the choice is straightforward.
Don't let high costs or inadequate coverage hold your gym back. Protect your business and your students with insurance built for you.