The DMA first started from an informal get-together of community leaders in 1999 to pool their knowledge. A more formal meeting structure began in 2001, and the DMA was born. They wanted to have a common base level of knowledge among all the individual groups which they belonged to. They looked around at what others were doing and created a list of other BDSM organizations who used DM's, and had links to their training and groups policies on the old DMA web site. They started teaching classes, with the goal of conducting classes quarterly, a process which went on for several years. But, as is the nature of time, things grow and change and many of these leaders were taken elsewhere in life, and many challenges arose. Some criticized the DMA as trying to be "community police" or legislate the "one true way". Some of those who supported the DMA wanted an actual certification or licensing program, which had its own difficulties. The group languished; groups splintered and started conducting their own, individual training. Occasionally, once every 3-6 months, some group would ask us to conduct a class and one of the folks trained in “the one true way” steeped up and usually made it happen (not always). Last year, a group of intrepid folks came together, looked around and saw group was still occasionally responding to teaching requests and have since dived in, revised the curriculum, are updating the web site, and are now evangelicalizing a new mission.