DynoMartial arts clubs in the UK, 2026: what 5,097 clubs tell us
8 October 2026
Dyno Explore lists 5,097 martial arts clubs across the UK. We looked at what they teach, when they open, how members rate them and whether you can find them online, then set that against the latest official figures on who trains. The club figures are from the listings as they stood on 8 October 2026, and every other figure links to its source at the end.
The headlines
- Karate is the discipline clubs name most: 703 clubs, 14% of the total, ahead of taekwondo (480), Brazilian jiu-jitsu (373) and boxing (353).
- Martial arts is an evening activity. 68% of clubs with listed hours are open at 8pm on a weekday, and 61% don’t open before 4pm on any weekday.
- Only 30% open on a Sunday, but that rises to 50% of MMA gyms and 47% of Brazilian jiu-jitsu academies.
- Members rate their clubs very highly. The average Google rating is 4.89 stars and 87% of rated clubs score 4.8 or more, but the typical club has only 14 reviews.
- 84% of clubs list a website. For 5.5% of those, the website is a Facebook or Instagram page.
- In England, 289,900 adults do martial arts at least twice a month, up from 188,400 in 2015-16, according to Sport England.
What UK martial arts clubs teach
We counted a club under a discipline when its name says so, so a “karate and kickboxing academy” counts for both. On that basis karate leads with 703 clubs, then taekwondo with 480. Brazilian jiu-jitsu (373) and boxing (353) are close behind.
| Discipline | Clubs | Share of all clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Karate | 703 | 13.8% |
| Taekwondo | 480 | 9.4% |
| Brazilian jiu-jitsu | 373 | 7.3% |
| Boxing | 353 | 6.9% |
| Judo | 269 | 5.3% |
| Kickboxing | 266 | 5.2% |
| MMA | 200 | 3.9% |
| Krav Maga | 132 | 2.6% |
| Kung fu and Wing Chun | 119 | 2.3% |
| Muay Thai | 115 | 2.3% |
| Ju-jitsu | 91 | 1.8% |
| Aikido | 52 | 1.0% |
41% of clubs (2,104) don’t name a discipline at all: names like “[Town] Martial Arts” or “[Name] Academy”. Plenty of those teach several styles. For a parent searching for judo or taekwondo nearby, those clubs depend on their listing and website to say what they actually teach.
Two kinds of martial arts club
The timetables and reviews split clubs into two groups. Karate, taekwondo, judo and aikido clubs have a median of 4 to 7 Google reviews. 9% to 18% open on a Sunday, and 2% to 5% open before 9am on a weekday. That’s the pattern of a club that runs set evening classes in a school, church or sports hall.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu, MMA, Muay Thai and boxing gyms look different: a median of 16 to 36 reviews, 34% to 50% open on a Sunday and 22% to 31% open before 9am. That fits full-time premises, with early, lunchtime and weekend sessions on top of the evening classes.
| Discipline | Median Google reviews | Open on Sunday | Open before 9am on a weekday | Lists a website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karate | 6 | 18% | 3% | 87% |
| Taekwondo | 4 | 18% | 5% | 86% |
| Brazilian jiu-jitsu | 36 | 47% | 31% | 91% |
| Boxing | 16 | 39% | 27% | 66% |
| Judo | 7 | 9% | 4% | 81% |
| Kickboxing | 14 | 28% | 13% | 85% |
| MMA | 31.5 | 50% | 22% | 87% |
| Krav Maga | 15 | 19% | 7% | 85% |
| Kung fu and Wing Chun | 10 | 16% | 7% | 90% |
| Muay Thai | 25.5 | 34% | 26% | 77% |
| Ju-jitsu | 7 | 25% | 10% | 79% |
| Aikido | 4 | 16% | 2% | 87% |
When clubs are open
Monday to Thursday look alike, with about 69% of clubs open each day. Friday drops to 57%, Saturday to 54% and Sunday to 30%. The typical club is open 5 days a week, and the evening is when it happens: 68% are open at 8pm on a weekday, against 18% open before 9am.
| Day | Clubs open |
|---|---|
| Monday | 68.8% |
| Tuesday | 67.2% |
| Wednesday | 68.2% |
| Thursday | 69.3% |
| Friday | 56.9% |
| Saturday | 54.0% |
| Sunday | 29.9% |
These are the hours clubs list on Google. For a club that trains in someone else’s venue, they’re usually its class times, so read them as when you can train rather than when a door is open.
How members rate them
4,617 clubs (91%) have a Google rating. The average is 4.89 stars, 87% score 4.8 or more, 70% have a perfect 5.0, and only 1.5% score below 4.
With nearly every club close to five stars, the rating barely separates one club from another. The number of reviews does. The median club has 14, 41% have fewer than 10, and 1,592 clubs hold a perfect 5.0 from fewer than 10 reviews. For a club owner, a steady trickle of new reviews says more to a newcomer than another tenth of a star.
| Google reviews | Share of rated clubs |
|---|---|
| Under 10 | 40.6% |
| 10 to 49 | 40.9% |
| 50 to 99 | 11.3% |
| 100 or more | 7.1% |
Finding them online
84% of clubs list a website and 87% a phone number. For 5.5% of the clubs with a website, it’s a Facebook or Instagram page. Boxing clubs are the least likely to list a website (66%), and Brazilian jiu-jitsu academies the most likely (91%).
Where they are
| Nation | Clubs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| England | 4,324 | 84.8% |
| Scotland | 397 | 7.8% |
| Northern Ireland | 216 | 4.2% |
| Wales | 160 | 3.1% |
Who trains: the official figures
Sport England’s Active Lives Adult Survey for November 2024-25 found 289,900 adults in England (0.61%) did martial arts at least twice in the previous 28 days. That’s a significant increase on 188,400 in 2015-16, and level with the year before. The wider group of combat sports, martial arts and target sports, which also covers archery and shooting, reached 941,700 adults (1.97%). Boxing, including boxing fitness classes, fell significantly in the year to 631,400 (1.32%).
Among children in school years 1 to 11, the 2024-25 Active Lives Children and Young People Survey found 508,100 (6.89%) did judo, karate, taekwondo or another martial art in the previous week, down from 7.33% in 2017-18. It measures the last week rather than the last 28 days, so it can’t be set directly against the adult figure.
Governing bodies count their own clubs and members. British Taekwondo had 15,979 members across 556 clubs at the end of March 2025. England Boxing reported 1,084 clubs and 35,831 members for the 2024-25 season. British Judo had 40,519 members in 2024-25.
How we worked it out
- The club figures cover the 5,097 UK listings in Dyno Explore’s martial arts category on 8 October 2026. Listings outside the UK are left out. Most come from clubs’ public Google Business Profiles.
- It isn’t a census. Explore lists the clubs it has found, and some clubs train in venues listed under another name. England Boxing alone has 1,084 affiliated clubs, while 353 listed clubs have boxing in their name.
- Disciplines come from club names only, so a club that teaches judo without saying so in its name isn’t counted as a judo club. Ju-jitsu means the Japanese style; jiu-jitsu counts as Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
- Ratings and review counts are the public Google figures at the time. Clubs with no reviews are left out of the rating figures.
- Opening hours are the hours listed on Google. Clubs with no listed hours, or listed as open 24 hours, are left out, leaving 4,366 clubs.
- Nations come from the postcode area.
- You’re welcome to quote any figure here with a link to this page.
Run one of these clubs? Your Dyno Explore listing is free. Claim it to keep your details, website and hours right.
Sources
- Sport England, Active Lives Adult Survey November 2024-25, Tables 6 to 8: types of activity (published April 2026)
- Sport England, Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2024-25, Tables 7 to 16: types of activity (published December 2025)
- British Taekwondo, Annual Report 2024/25
- England Boxing, Commercial Slide Deck, membership statistics 2024-25
- British Judo, Annual Report & Accounts 2024/2025
- Dyno Explore, martial arts clubs in the UK