A German University Now Offers a Certificate in Martial Arts Pedagogy for School Owners

In November 2026 the first cohort began a university certificate in martial arts pedagogy aimed squarely at owners of private schools that teach children and teenagers. It is one of the few academic credentials anywhere built for the school-owner role rather than for competitive coaching.

What is the program?

The certificate was developed by Prof. Dr. Yvonne Thorhauer, head of research at accadis Hochschule Bad Homburg and a kickboxer, and Klaus Nonnemacher, president of the World Kickboxing and Karate Union (WKUWORLD). It sits within accadis’s education department. According to WKUWORLD’s announcement of November 9, which cites an accadis release of October 23, it covers:

• Legal foundations: supervision duties and liability for private schools.
• Neurobiology and developmental psychology: how children learn movement and what they can learn at each age.
• Values teaching: respect, self-regulation and frustration tolerance, taught in an age-appropriate way.
• Training culture: building a respectful, relationship-based environment.

The announcement does not state the format, length, price or credit value, and the source material is in German.

Why does it matter outside Germany?

Because it treats the children’s martial arts school as what it is: an education business with legal duties of supervision, not a sports club with a kids’ class attached. North American owners face the same questions, increasingly in statute. New York’s background-check bill and New Jersey’s proposed safeguarding-training requirement both name martial arts schools explicitly. A school owner who can show formal training in child development, supervision and safeguarding is better placed with parents, insurers and regulators alike. NAPMA’s Safe Training Environment standard covers the safeguarding side for U.S. schools.