Terms of Service for After The Mat

Effective Date: 2026-05-15Version 2026-05-15

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding legal agreement between you and AFTER THE MAT, a sole proprietorship registered in British Columbia, Canada ("After The Mat", "we", "our", or "us"), governing your access to and use of the website https://afterthemat.com and any related applications, APIs, or services we offer (collectively, the "Service"). Please read these Terms carefully. By creating an account, checking the "I agree" box, or otherwise accessing or using the Service, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

1. Acceptance of Terms

You accept these Terms by (a) clicking a checkbox or button indicating your agreement during account setup, (b) registering for or otherwise using the Service, or (c) continuing to use the Service after a material change to these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Service.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 16 years old to create an account and use the Service on your own behalf. If you are between 13 and 16, you may use the Service only with the verifiable consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms on your behalf. The Service is not intended for, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from, children under 13. If we become aware that a user is under 13 or is between 13 and 16 without proper parental consent, we will terminate the account and delete the associated data.

By creating an account, you represent and warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements above; you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms; and you are not prohibited from receiving the Service under the laws of the United States or any other applicable jurisdiction.

3. The Service

After The Mat is an online platform for combat sports instruction, coaching, and community. The Service may include, without limitation:

  • Asynchronous video review between students and independent coaches (each, a "Coach")
  • Coaching organizations ("Academies") that manage rosters of Coaches and students
  • Courses, training plans, technique libraries, and flowcharts
  • Communities, messaging, comments, and live streams
  • Payment processing for coaching services, courses, and subscriptions via Stripe and Stripe Connect
  • Calendar scheduling and booking of lessons

We may add, remove, or change features at any time. Some parts of the Service remain in beta and may change materially without notice. We do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free.

4. Your Account

To use most features you must create an account using an email and password or via a supported identity provider (such as Google). You agree to (a) provide accurate, current, and complete information, (b) keep your credentials confidential, and (c) be responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. You must notify us immediately at the contact address below if you suspect any unauthorized use of your account. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, that we reasonably believe pose a security or legal risk, or that have been inactive for an extended period.

5. Assumption of Risk — Combat Sports

You acknowledge and agree that combat sports, mixed martial arts, grappling, striking, weapons-based disciplines, and related physical activities (collectively, "Combat Sports") are inherently dangerous and carry a real risk of serious injury, permanent disability, or death. By using the Service, you knowingly and voluntarily assume all risks associated with Combat Sports, whether or not those risks arise from instruction, advice, demonstrations, drills, sparring, or training presented through the Service.

After The Mat is an online platform. We do not provide in-person instruction, supervise live training, perform safety inspections, or vet the qualifications of every Coach beyond standard onboarding checks. Any in-person training, lesson, or session arranged through the Service is a relationship directly between you and the Coach or Academy. After The Mat is not a party to that relationship and is not liable for any injury, damage, or loss arising from it.

You release After The Mat, its officers, employees, agents, affiliates, and licensors from any and all claims, demands, or causes of action arising out of or related to physical injury, loss, or harm sustained in connection with Combat Sports training of any kind, whether on-platform or off-platform, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Nothing in this section limits liability that cannot be limited by law (including for gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud).

Content on the Service is provided for general informational and instructional purposes only. It is not medical advice. Consult a qualified physician before beginning any training program, especially if you have a medical condition.

6. Your Content and License to Us

"Your Content" means any video, image, audio, text, comment, message, post, profile information, training plan, flowchart, or other material you upload, submit, or otherwise make available through the Service. You retain all ownership rights in Your Content.

License to After The Mat. By making Your Content available through the Service, you grant After The Mat a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, cache, reproduce, modify (for technical purposes such as transcoding), adapt, publish, translate, publicly display, publicly perform, and distribute Your Content for the purposes of (a) operating, providing, and maintaining the Service, (b) developing and improving the Service, and (c) promoting and marketing the Service, including in advertising, social media posts, case studies, and other promotional materials produced by or on behalf of After The Mat. This license continues for as long as Your Content remains on the Service. If you delete Your Content, this license ends within a reasonable time, except for (i) copies retained in routine backups, (ii) Your Content already incorporated into published marketing materials prior to deletion, and (iii) Your Content shared with other users (such as a Coach's review of your video) that those users retain access to.

Coach use of student content. Unless you grant a separate, explicit, per-upload consent at the time of upload, Coaches and Academies may use videos you submit only for the purpose of reviewing and instructing you. Coaches and Academies do not receive a marketing license to your content by default. Where the Service offers a checkbox or other affirmative consent mechanism allowing a specific Coach or Academy to use a specific piece of Your Content in their marketing, your consent through that mechanism is the sole basis on which that Coach or Academy may use the content for that purpose.

Your representations. By submitting Your Content, you represent and warrant that (a) you own or have all rights necessary to submit it and to grant the licenses above, (b) Your Content does not infringe any third party's intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or other rights, (c) if Your Content depicts any other identifiable person, you have obtained any necessary releases or consents from that person (and from their parent or legal guardian if they are a minor), and (d) Your Content does not violate these Terms or applicable law.

Removal. We may remove or restrict Your Content at any time, with or without notice, if we believe it violates these Terms, applicable law, or the rights of others.

7. Coach (Instructor) Terms

If you register as a Coach, the following additional terms apply to you:

  • You are an independent contractor, not an employee, agent, partner, or joint venturer of After The Mat. Nothing in these Terms creates an employment relationship.
  • You are solely responsible for the content, accuracy, safety, and legality of any instruction, review, or advice you provide.
  • You must connect a Stripe account through Stripe Connect to receive payments. The Stripe Connected Account Agreement applies to you and is incorporated by reference.
  • You are solely responsible for all taxes, withholdings, certifications, insurance, and licenses required by the jurisdictions in which you operate.
  • You agree not to solicit students you meet through the Service to transact for similar coaching services off-platform with the purpose of avoiding our fees. You may, of course, maintain ordinary off-platform relationships with students you met through other means.
  • After The Mat charges a platform fee on each transaction. The current fee schedule is displayed in your Coach dashboard and may change on prior notice.
  • You must comply with all applicable laws, including those governing minors, consumer protection, and advertising.

8. Academy (Organization) Terms

If you create or administer an Academy, you represent and warrant that you have authority to bind that Academy to these Terms. The Academy is responsible for the actions of its administrators, Coaches, and students using the Academy account. Academy plans, seats, billing, and roster controls are described in the Service and may change on prior notice. The Academy owner is responsible for paying all Academy fees and for any taxes associated with payments routed through the Academy.

9. Payments and Refunds

Payments on the Service are processed by Stripe, Inc. and (where applicable) Stripe Connect. By making or receiving a payment, you agree to Stripe's terms of service and acknowledge that we are not responsible for Stripe's processing, holds, reserves, or chargebacks.

  • Fees and pricing are displayed at the point of purchase. Amounts may be displayed in Canadian dollars (CAD) or United States dollars (USD) as shown at checkout. Applicable taxes (including GST, PST/HST where applicable) may be added.
  • Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period until cancelled. You can cancel renewal at any time from your account settings; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
  • Refunds for one-off coaching services and video reviews are governed by our then-current refund policy and the Coach's stated policy. Unless required by law, subscription fees and digital course purchases are non-refundable once the relevant period or content has been accessed.
  • Chargebacks for fraudulent or invalid reasons may result in account suspension and additional fees.
  • We may credit, refund, or reverse a transaction in our reasonable discretion to resolve a dispute or correct an error.

10. Acceptable Use

You agree that you will not, and will not attempt to:

  • Use the Service to violate any law, regulation, or third-party right
  • Harass, threaten, intimidate, dox, stalk, or harm any other user
  • Upload content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, sexually explicit, exploitative of minors, infringing, or hateful
  • Impersonate any person or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity
  • Send unsolicited promotional messages or spam through the Service's messaging features
  • Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system, or breach any security or authentication measure
  • Scrape, crawl, or use automated tools to extract data from the Service without our express written permission
  • Reverse engineer, decompile, or otherwise attempt to derive source code from any part of the Service, except to the extent this restriction is prohibited by law
  • Circumvent, disable, or interfere with security or rate-limit features of the Service
  • Use the Service to develop a competing product or service
  • Use the Service to give or solicit medical, legal, or other professional advice as if from a licensed professional

11. Intellectual Property and DMCA

The Service, including its software, design, text, graphics, logos, and other materials (other than Your Content and content owned by third parties), is owned by After The Mat or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted by these Terms, you may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, or create derivative works of any part of the Service.

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe content on the Service infringes your copyright, please send a notice to the contact address below identifying the allegedly infringing content, your contact information, and a statement of your good-faith belief and authority to act. We will respond to valid notices in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada (including the “notice and notice” regime) and, for U.S. claimants, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512). We may terminate the accounts of repeat infringers.

12. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on third-party providers including, without limitation, Stripe (payments), Mux (video hosting and streaming), Amazon Web Services (hosting, email), Resend (marketing email), Google (authentication, analytics, advertising), Cloudflare (security), and others. Your use of those services is subject to their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of third-party providers.

13. Termination

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, in whole or in part, at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including any breach of these Terms. On termination, (a) your right to use the Service ends, (b) we may delete Your Content and account data subject to our retention practices and applicable law, and (c) sections that by their nature should survive (including Sections 5, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18) will survive.

14. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITH ALL FAULTS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, AFTER THE MAT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, OR THAT ANY CONTENT, ADVICE, OR INSTRUCTION ON THE SERVICE WILL ACHIEVE A PARTICULAR RESULT.

15. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL AFTER THE MAT OR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY OR (B) ONE HUNDRED CANADIAN DOLLARS (CAD$100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

16. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless After The Mat and its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates, and licensors from and against any claim, demand, loss, damage, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to (a) Your Content, (b) your use of the Service, (c) your breach of these Terms, (d) your violation of any law or third-party right, or (e) any in-person Combat Sports activity arranged through the Service. We may, at our option, assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which case you will cooperate with us.

17. Dispute Resolution; Binding Arbitration; Class Action Waiver

Please read this section carefully. It affects your legal rights, including your right to file a lawsuit in court.

Informal resolution. Before filing a claim, you and After The Mat agree to first try to resolve any dispute informally for at least sixty (60) days by contacting us at the address below with a written description of the dispute and the relief sought.

Binding arbitration. Except for claims that qualify for small claims court (the Civil Resolution Tribunal or Provincial Court of British Columbia, as applicable), disputes about intellectual property, and any rights you have under the British Columbia Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act that may not be waived by contract, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre (VanIAC) under its then-current Domestic Arbitration Rules. Arbitration will be seated in Vancouver, British Columbia, and may be conducted by telephone or video conference where the arbitrator permits. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. The Arbitration Act (British Columbia) governs the interpretation and enforcement of this section.

Class action waiver. You and After The Mat agree that each may bring claims against the other only on an individual basis and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative action. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.

30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration and class waiver section by sending written notice to us at the contact address below within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. Your notice must include your name, account email, and a clear statement that you wish to opt out of arbitration. Opting out will not affect any other provisions of these Terms.

Severability. If the class action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim will proceed in court and not in arbitration, but the rest of this section will remain in effect.

18. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. To the extent a dispute is not subject to arbitration, you and After The Mat consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the Province of British Columbia sitting in Vancouver.

19. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make a material change, we will provide reasonable notice (such as by email or in-product banner) before the change takes effect and will update the "Effective Date" above. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service.

20. Miscellaneous

  • Entire agreement. These Terms and our Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and After The Mat regarding the Service and supersede any prior agreements.
  • Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
  • No waiver. Our failure to enforce any right or provision is not a waiver of that right or provision.
  • Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms freely.
  • Force majeure. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
  • Notices. We may give you notice by email or in-product notification. You may give us notice by email to the contact address below.

21. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Contact us:

AFTER THE MAT
a British Columbia sole proprietorship
Email: [email protected]

We accept written notice by email. If you require a postal address for a specific legal purpose, please request one by email and we will provide it.