07/08/2024
Several people have asked about the Rules for this upcoming tournament. Most Martial Arts tournaments have very similar sets of rules and we are no different.
Probably the biggest differences in our event and others is the 7 point spread in sparring and the fact that light face contact is allowed for ages 13 - 17.
For those who want to read the entire set of rules, here they are.
If you find any discrepancies (and there are likely to be a few), please let me know.
General Rules:
All competitors, instructors, coaches, parents and fans are responsible for review of the rules.
Registration fees are $60 for one or all events.
Spectator fees are $5 per person (6 and under free).
Competitors must be registered and ready to compete by the time their division is called.
It is the competitor’s responsibility to allow time for change of uniform and/or the registration process.
It is the competitors (or the competitors guardian’s) responsibility to listen for and report to the appropriate ring when their division is called. Divisions will be announced no less than three times (including original announcement). Any competitor who does not report to a ring by the time it begins will not be allowed to compete.
The only persons allowed on the competition floor will be competitors, tournament officials and judges who are actively judging. Neither parents nor instructors will be allowed on the floor unless they are serving as a judge or scorekeeper.
Respect and sportsmanship: Any Center Referee or tournament official may warn a competitor, coach, instructor, teammate or fan about being disrespectful or for displaying poor sportsmanship. The head tournament official or Arbitrator may disqualify any person from competition or attendance for disrespect or poor sportsmanship, either from themselves or another person acting and/or speaking on their behalf.
Ring / Division Assignments:
ALL Competitors must report to their assigned rings prior to the division beginning.
No matter how many of the events you are competing in, you MUST report to the ring when it begins. Second and third calls for divisions will be made. It is the responsibility of the competitor (or their guardian) to be attentive to announcements and to report when the ring is called.
When competitors report to the ring they must have all necessary gear for their competition.
If a competitor does not report to the ring by the time the first person begins, they will not be allowed to compete in the division that has begun.
Ring assignments may change in order to expedite the event or due to availability of judges.
Order of competition will be made by random draw by the judges assigned to that ring.
Youth competitors may be moved down an age division due to diminutive size, but they will NOT be moved UP unless they request to.
Women’s Black Belt sparring will be divided evenly into two divisions between the median weight of the competitors – providing that there are at least two competitors in each weight class.
Men’s Black Belt sparring will be divided evenly into two divisions between the median weights of the competitors – provided that there are at least two competitors in each weight class.
Seniors Men and Women (Ages 35 – 44) and Executive Divisions (Ages 45 and up) will not be separated into weight classes.
• If there are enough Black Belt adult sparring competitors, allowing for at least four per division, additional divisions may be created.
All winners of Black Belt Divisions will be eligible to compete for the Grand Championships.
A competitor who wishes to move UP a belt class may do so, but they cannot compete in two different belt classes (ranks) in the same division. (If you compete in Black Belt sparring as a Brown Belt, you cannot compete in Advanced AND Black Belt divisions).
Executive Division competitors may choose to compete in Senior or Adult Divisions, and Senior Division Competitors may choose to compete with the Adult divisions, but Adult Division competitors may not move into Executive or Senior Divisions. This is to honor the natural competitive advantage of age groups.
Judges:
A judge’s meeting will be held prior to beginning the competition – This is NOT an open meeting for all instructors or interested parties. Instructors who wish to discuss or clarify rules must volunteer to judge and be in the judge’s meeting.
Center referees are chosen based upon time-in-grade, experience and expertise. Their decisions are final. Complaints will be heard by Tournament staff officials and are not to be debated ringside. Arguments against official rulings made while the ring is active could be interpreted as disrespect and fall under the rules regarding such.
Attempts will be made to restrict judges to Black Belts of adult age (18+). The most senior Black Belts available will be asked to judge before junior belts. Efforts will be made to ensure that judges from the same school are not judging together. If there are not enough judges to run the event efficiently, younger black belts may be used.
Respect will be shown to judges at all times.
Parents, instructors, coaches or teammates who are disrespectful of any judge or tournament official take the risk of having the competitor being disqualified.
Kata and Weapons:
Scoring:
Efforts will be made to have 5 judges for each Black Belt Division. Under Black Belt divisions will have three judges.
All judge’s scores will count equally.
Order of competition will be determined by random drawing of name cards. Any competitor who arrives after a division has begun will not be allowed to compete in any discipline that has already begun (discipline being kata, weapons or sparring).
Scoring will be on a two-decimal system (9.05 / 8.31, etc..).
Judges must NOT give the same score twice.
Median is recommended to be 9.51 for Black Belts and 8.51 for under black belts. However, this is not a requirement and judges may score based upon their own observations and experiences. Tournament officials are not responsible for individual judges’ scoring style or system.
Under Black Belts may restart a form, but judges should consider the restart as a factor when comparing the performance with that of other competitors.
If a competitor in an Under Black Belt division restarts a form each judge should consider that in their score.
If a Black Belt competitor restarts a form, they will not be scored.
The ultimate position for winners will be calculated along a point system as follows:
• The top score from each judge receives 10 points; that judge’s 2nd highest score gets 6 points, then 3 points for 3rd place and 1 point for fourth place. No points are awarded for less than fourth place.
• Once all of the points assigned to each competitor are calculated, then the point totals from all judges will be added to determine places 1–3.
o This system prevents biases – intentional or unintentional – from improperly affecting winners.
Tie-breaker processes:
If there is a tie for any awarded position (medal) then the score keeper will determine which competitor received more points for the contested medal. For example: if the position contested is for 1st place, then the individual with more 1st place points will be declared the winner. If those are still equal, then the individual with the most 2nd place points will win.
Scoring and Tie-break example:
Name Judge 1 Judge 2 Judge 3 Judge 4 Judge 5 Total Points
Appleseed, Johnny 8.44 (3) 8.65 (6) 8.38 (3) ### ### 12
Boop, Betty 8.39 (1) 8.55 (3) 8.69 (6) ### ### 10
Conundrum, Carl 8.12 8.46 (1) 8.35 (1) ### ###
Dandelion, Dan 8.79 (10) 8.69 (10) 8.72 (10) ### ### 30
Egghead, Eddie 8.51 (6) 8.31 8.69 (6) ### ### 12
In the example above, each judge has awarded a score to five different competitors. The scorekeeper has gone down the list of each judges score and awarded points accordingly as 10/6/3/1. However, because Judge 3 has awarded the same score twice (Appleseed and Egghead both received an 8.69) there is now a tie for second place (12 points to each). However, because Egghead received more 2nd place points (from Judge 1 and Judge 3) Egghead will be awarded 2nd and Appleseed will be 3rd.
If the competitors are still tied, then the scorekeeper will add all of the total scores together to determine a winner. For example:
For Competitor A: Judge 1 scores 8.39; Judge 2 scores 8.44 and Judge 3 scores 8.46
For Competitor B: Judge 2 scores 8.47, Judge 2 scores 8.29 and Judge 3 scores 8.55
At the end of the division, Competitor A and B are in a tie for 3rd place – the score keeper will add all of the scores for Competitors A and B arriving at the totals of 25.29 for Competitor A and 25.31 for Competitor B…Competitor B will win 3rd place.
If after the process above takes place and there is still a tie, the two competitors will perform again and the judges will physically indicate which competitor they believe has performed best. The indicated competitor will win the place in question.
Weapons MAY NOT touch the floor. If the competitor’s form calls for the weapon to strike the floor, then the form MUST be altered.
If an under Black Belt competitor drops their weapon, they may be allowed to continue, but the drop (or near drop / loss of control) should result in a reduced score as determined by the individual judge.
If a Black Belt competitor drops a weapon (or nearly drops it / loses control), they should not be scored.
In youth divisions, judges have the discretion of working with the competitor(s) to ease nerves or get through their introductions, especially in the Novice/Beginner divisions or younger age divisions. However, no interference is allowed once the competitor begins with the exception of assisting competitors in the Special Needs Divisions if needed.
Rating Considerations: When scoring a competitor’s performance in kata and/or weapons, judges should only consider the overall martial value of the kata. Scores should not reflect the degree that the competitor has memorized the pattern of the kata, but rather the skill set with which the techniques are expressed. External factors such as how the uniform and/or belt are worn, type of weapon used or system that the competitor comes from should never be a factor.
Sparring:
Sparring divisions may be combined if there are not at least two competitors in a division. If youth divisions are combined, consideration will be made to the rank level, degree of experience, sizes and general fairness for the competitors.
Women’s Black Belt sparring will be divided evenly into two divisions between the median weight of the competitors – providing that there are at least two competitors in each weight class.
Men’s Black Belt sparring will be divided evenly into four divisions between the median weights of the competitors – provided that there are at least two competitors in each weight class. If there are less than two competitors in each weight class, the competitors will be divided at the median weight into two divisions.
Seniors Men and Women (Ages 35 – 44) and Executive Divisions (Ages 45 and up) will not be separated into weight classes.
• If there are enough Black Belt adult sparring competitors, allowing for at least four per division, additional divisions may be created.
The standardized Bye system will be used PRIOR to any other action in the ring. Once the bye(s) are chosen competitors will be matched along the following criteria:
a. School affiliation – the center judge will determine which competitors are from the same school and separate them if practical. (The definition of “School” in this means that the students attend the same dojo, dojang or studio…not that they are from the same system or style).
b. Size – this is particularly important in the youth divisions. Judges will line up the competitors by height and then match along that spectrum.
Defining a sparring point:
A point is a martial art technique that is scored by a competitor in-bounds and up-right (not touching the floor with a hand or from the knee(s) for reach and/or balance) which strikes a competitor to a legal target area with the allowable amount of control.
a) Areas of the body that may be struck to earn a “point” or “points”:
i. The front of the torso. This means the area from the collar bones to the beltline or waist while the individual is facing forward.
1. Judges will ensure that belts are worn at the waistline and not pulled up to reduce scoring areas.
ii. The sides of the torso. This is the side of the ribcage and underneath.
iii. The area of the kidneys. This is a small area 45˚ toward the back along the ribcage. For clear definition, have an individual cross their wrists behind their back; the area forward of the arms is a target area.
iv. All areas of the helmet.
The best way to define the “scoring area” of the body is to clasp the hands behind the back; everything in front of the arms, above the belt is a target (13 and under no face contact).
b) Areas which are specifically NOT targets:
i. Throat, neck and spine
ii. Arms, hands, shoulders
iii. Groin
iv. Legs, knees and hips
c) Techniques which are specifically ILLEGAL:
Sweeps, takedowns, knees, elbows, joint-locks and ground fighting
d) Focused Touch Contact: the legal amount of contact allowed to certain scoring areas.
i. In age divisions 13 and under there will be no contact to the face.
ii. Light contact to the face is allowed for all ages 13 - 17. Light contact is defined as “touching”.
iii. In adult divisions, contact to the face is allowed so long as there is not a malicious attempt to injure the opponent.
iv. EXCESSIVE CONTACT is defined as a technique that harms an opponent OR a deliberate and malicious attempt to harm an opponent. A deliberate attempt to strike with excessive force may be considered the same as actually striking with excessive force.
v. Excessive contact will be determined by majority vote of all referees.
vi. If the fighters become uncontrolled during a match with one or more fighters deliberately fighting outside the boundaries of respect and mutual sportsmanship, then the Center Referee has the authority to end the match and declare the competitor ahead at the time to be the winner or to disqualify both competitors
vii. Uncontrolled techniques: defined as strikes/blows that the competitor is unable to manage the force of. Uncontrolled techniques are not legal and should not be counted; they may also result in a warning or disqualification. Majority vote of the referees is the determining factor on whether a technique is uncontrolled.
viii. Blind techniques: are those thrown when the competitor cannot adequately see the competitor and/or target area. Blind techniques are not legal and should not be counted; they may also result in a warning or disqualification. Majority vote of the referees is the determining factor on whether a technique is “blind” or not.
ix. STRIKING LATE: It is understood that there are times when a strike will land after “STOP” has been called. These should be limited to occasions when the strike is already in motion and the fighter cannot be reasonably expected to stop them. If the judges determine that a fighter is deliberately or carelessly striking late they may warn the competitor, award a point to the other fighter, or disqualify the offending individual.
e) Scoring techniques to the head will include any closed fist strike and/or ridge-hands. The entire surface of the helmet is a target.
f) Kicks will count as scoring points when they are legitimate martial arts techniques performed with control. Control means that the competitor is in control of their body when the kick is being thrown, that they are able to maintain balance, and do not fall to the floor during delivery/return.
g) It will be the judgement of the individual referee or judge as to whether a technique is a valid strike.
h) It will require a majority of judges to validate the contact and awarding any point.
i) If a competitor deliberately runs from the ring or runs away from an opponent to avoid contact, that competitor will receive a warning. The Center/Head Judge may award a point to the opponent if running becomes excessive or repetitive.
j) If a competitor injures another, the injured competitor may receive a penalty point. If the technique which caused the injury was malicious or thrown in a careless manner, the offending competitor may be disqualified. It will require a majority vote of all judges to award a penalty point or disqualify a competitor.
Safety Gear:
Foam or padded gear is required for all divisions. Specifically required gear is as follows:
a. Helmet that covers the sides, back and top of the head.
i. Faceguards are optional
ii. Black Belt adults may opt to not wear helmets; all others are mandatory
b. Gloves that cover the fist and hand and are padded over the knuckles
c. Boots that cover the entire foot including the heel
d. Mouthpiece
e. Groin protector for men/boys - *males will NOT be physically checked for groin protectors. It is required equipment and failure to not have it is grounds for immediate disqualification if the competitor is found to not be wearing one.
“Ringstar” or similar shoes are expressly NOT allowed as sparring gear.
Coaching
Coaching is NOT allowed.
Parents, coaches or instructors who provide instruction, coaching or advice during a match may be warned. If coaching continues, the competitor may be disqualified.
“Coaching” is defined as follows:
Forms (both empty hand and weapons): reminding the competitor of movement sequences or specific techniques during the actual performance of a form. * This rule does NOT apply to special needs students.
Sparring:
• Telling a competitor how to position themselves
• How to manage time
• Advising about tendencies or habits of the other competitor
• Telling a competitor what techniques to use
• Reminding the competitor to block
The center referee has the authority to warn spectators, instructors, parents, etc.. about behavior considered coaching. If the behavior continues, the center referee will call for awarding a point to the other competitor and the judges will decide by vote.
Injured competitor
Time-out may be afforded to any competitor who is injured. Time-outs for injury are at the discretion of the center referee.
Time-outs should not exceed five minutes. If, at the end of a five minute time out, the competitor cannot continue, the other fighter may be declared the winner – UNLESS the injury is due to an illegal or excessive technique at which time the injured fighter will be declared the winner.
A fighter who wins a match due to injury resulting from an illegal or excessive strike will NOT be allowed to compete any further.
The Center Referee may call time for any purpose related to the match if s/he deems it appropriate.
The Center Referee may deny a time-out for any reason.
Point values and winner determination
a) All legal techniques, to the head and body, will be awarded one (1) point.
b) All penalty points will be awarded one (1) point.
e) A competitor who is ahead by 7 points (7 point spread rule) before the end of the two-minute time period is automatically declared the winner or whoever is ahead at the end of the two minutes is declared the winner.
Majority of votes
Points are awarded by a majority vote of all judges. The majority of judges do not have to agree on the same technique being scored, only that a point was scored.
Length of match
The length of a match will be two minutes running time unless a competitor is seven points ahead (Seven Point Spread Rule) before time has expired.
a) If a match is tied at the end of two minutes, a sudden victory (first person to score a point) overtime period will determine the match.
Causes for penalization
Deliberately attacking illegal and non-target areas, using illegal techniques, running out of the ring to avoid fighting, falling to the floor to avoid fighting, continuing after being ordered to stop, excessive stalling, blind, negligent or reckless attacks, uncontrolled techniques, showing unsportsmanlike behavior by the competitor, his/her coaches, friends, etc., excessive contact, grabbing to control position of the opponent, and delay of time are just some examples of possible penalization. (See new Limiting Contact between Officials and Competitors for other possible penalizations.)
Disqualification
Requires a majority vote by all officials, unless it is an automatic disqualification.
a) Non-Competing Penalty: If, in the majority opinion of the officials, it is considered that one or both competitors are not making an obvious attempt to compete in the sparring match in the true spirit of competition, one or both competitors will be warned and if it continues, will be disqualified.
b) Wrong Division: If any competitor competes in a division he/she does not qualify to compete in due to age, weight, rank, gender, style, etc., he/she will be disqualified.
General Sparring Rules
a) Excessively running Out of Bounds or falling down (as determined by the center official) will be considered an attempt to avoid competition. The competitor will be warned twice and on a third violation the other competitor will be awarded a point.
b) A competitor must be established as In the Ring in order to score. A competitor is considered out of bound when they have both feet off the sparring area (ring). If the competitor is out of bounds they may not score.
i. If both feet are on the floor, but one is outside of the ring, the competitor is out of bounds. If the competitor throws a technique and only one foot is on the floor and it is out of the ring, they are out of bounds. If they throw a technique with one foot on the floor and it is in the ring, they are in bounds.
c) If the out-of-bound competitor is scored on, with a legal technique, before the center official calls STOP, then the in-bounds competitor can receive a score for the technique and the penalty point from the other competitor going out of bounds to avoid fighting.
d) If a fighter touches the ground / mat with, with any part of their body, except their feet or 1 hand, they are considered down.
e) A point cannot be scored by a down competitor. A downed competitor can be scored on if the other competitor is already in the motion of striking when the competitor goes down. The attacking competitor CANNOT begin his/her attack AFTER the competitor is down.
f) A competitor who leaves their feet while in-bounds, must land with at least one foot in-bounds to score a point.
g) A competitor who remains in the ring while his/her opponent is outside of the ring has established control of the ring and should be allowed to maintain that control. Officials will NOT stop the match to reset unless the competitor who has control backs away OR both competitors go outside of the ring, OR the retreating competitor is actively avoiding competition. In the case of the later, a warning should be given.
h) Grabbing the uniform or the other fighter to gain control is specifically NOT allowed.
