5 Simple Rules for Karate Judges

Last weekend I competed in and judged at the Old School Classic Karate Tournament.  I'm happy to report that I won the grand championship for forms.  First time I've ever pulled that off.  While I'm happy with my results, there's been some issues I've had in the past with judging, and these are things that I try to teach my students about so when and if they are called upon to judge at a tournament it'll go smoothly for them.  I'm writing these as a person who has completed for over 20 years in open tournaments and has been judging for nearly as long.

FIRST: If you are new to judging in open tournaments makes sure the other judges know this before things get started.  They should help you along the way.  Also try to get in a ring that handling younger kids.  Its a great learning experience and five year olds typically don't get too crazy when they don't like how you're scoring things.  And if you are a more experienced judge and you have a newbie there to help, make sure you let them know what they need to know.  I teach my students how to judge, but not all dojos do.

SECOND: Know the rules of that tournament.  There is usually a black belt meeting before these events in which the rules are gone over, and that's when questions are asked.  Go to that meeting.  It does not matter if you've done these things a hundred times, everyone needs to be on the same page before getting into a ring.

THIRD: It is not your tournament, it is only your ring.  The rules are in place for a reason, and you don't get to change them.  It does not matter if you are a 9th degree black belt.  It does not matter if you are yourself a tournament promoter.  You stick by the rules established.

Years ago, back when I fought in these things, we were being staged for our weight class and the center judge informed us that she would be allowing face contact in our division since we were black belts.  The rules as established and gone over repeatedly stated clearly, "No face contact", and I informed her of this.  She told me if i had a problem with this then I didn't have to fight.  I informed her that if she had a problem following the rules of the promoter, who was paying to insure the event, then she shouldn't be judging and I had no problems getting the arbitrator over to sort her out.

Just last weekend, one of my black belts was judging a ring and one kid split the other's lip.  There's a no blood rule in effect for this event.  You make the other guy bleed and its a DQ.  My students stops the match, pointing out the blood.  The center judge tried to keep the fight going.  Fortunately my student announced loudly enough "Blood" that it caught the arbitrator's attention and he got in the ring to sort it out.

When its your tournament and you are paying for the insurance on the event then you can make the rules.  Until then, know the rules and enforce them.

FOURTH: Make your calls quickly.  Don't look to the other judges to try to see what they are saying so you can follow suit.  You've got to make a call and make it quickly.  This is especially true in fighting.  Nothing gets everyone ticked off faster than a late call.

Remember: the "no point" and "didn't see" calls are perfectly legitimate calls.  Judges are positioned in different spots in the ring for a reason.  Everyone can't see everything thing.  If a judge calls a point and you didn't see it, there's no harm in calling that you didn't.

FIFTH: Go over the rules briefly with the competitors when they get to your ring.  Helps things go smoothly and there's a lot less confusion.  This could be the first time out for some of these folks and they may have questions.  They paid their money to enter so taking a minute to make sure everyone's straight on everything in good for the tournament.

There's other little tricks I know and I try to make sure that everyone has a good time when they get into my ring.  These five points that I touched on are important and should always be considered when you are judging.  These tournaments are supposed to be fun, and the best way to ensure that they are is with good judging.

SO Close

My dojo competed in the battle of the 7 Cities Tournament yesterday.  My daughter competed, and she did alright.  Got a couple of finalist medals out of it.  My other students did well.  Had a few get some trophies.  The demo team did well, and put on a good show.


I competed at the end of the day.  I was a bit tired, but I shook that off.  My family was there and that was extra incentive.  Most of all, it was my birthday, and I wanted that forms championship belt.  The last few years, a Tang Soo Do stylist named Jerry has been dominating in the forms division.  Nice guy, but that's who I was gunning for.  He wasn't there, so it was pretty much wide open.  There were still a lot of strong competitors out there, so I knew I had to bring out everything I had.


The weapons division went horribly.  I hit a slick spot on the floor and nearly fell, but managed to catch myself and continue.  But that slip cost me dearly and I was completely out of placing.  No problem, I'd just make up for in in the empty hand competition.


I did Hakutsuru for my kata and this was the first time I'd used it in competition.  Usually I did a combination of Hakucho and Shiho Kosokon.  That's scored well for me, but I knew I needed to take things up a notch.  I was one of the first three up, which usually isn't a good thing.  But that fine because I had my form ready.  Its a white crane form and I got out there, and well....





I killed it.  Just threw the gauntlet down for everyone to try to catch my score.  There were a lot of those guys who came damn close too.  Seriously strong forms out there.  It the end though I got first place and it was on to the grand championships.


My dad and stepmom had to go, but they saw me win, so everyone was happy.  On I went with the four other division winners to see who gets the belt.  I was to go third.  No problem.  The first girl was pretty strong.  The second girl was someone who I've competed against a few times, and she's very good, but she slipped in the same spot I had slipped in the weapon's division, and she managed to catch herself as well, but it cost her in the scoring.


I got out there and put everything I had into the kata and it paid off.  My scores were strong, but would they hold up against the last two guys?  They went out there and nailed there forms and I'm running the numbers in my head.  They both had me beat.


So, much to my surprise, after all the scores are calculated, i get announced as Grand Champion.  I'm floored.  They call me up, and i stepped forward like a kid who thought he might possibly be in trouble for something, but they said I won, and the look on my face had to be one of a man who was utterly perplexed. This was what I was after, and all I could think was "someone's math is off".


Here comes the tournament promoter with the belt, and the cash prize money.  I've known this guy for years.  He's honestly excited that I finally won the grand.  The missus is one her cell phone calling my dad.  She excited.  I'm sort of excited, but it all just seemed so wrong.  Then I saw one of the other competitors looking at the scores.  He, rightfully, called for it to get re-checked.  


Scores got recalculated, and then with tons of apologies, the belt and cash prize went to the guy who won the weapons division.  Now, the guy who called for the scores to get checked did not win, nor did he think he had, but he knew something was wrong.  The woman who slipped also wanted the scores rechecked because she trains with the promoter and wants to make sure everything's above board.


But again, lashings of apologies from everyone, and no belt for me.  Ah well.  At least I got to touch it.

Tournament Time

OSU!  Its Sunday, March 18, 2012, I'm feeling quite proud, and this is The Side.  Things have been afoot during my absence from the internet, and one of them paid off pretty big yesterday.  No i didn't come up with a way to make gallons of green beer.

BEATIN'S!!!

As I mentioned previously, yesterday was the Petersburg Karate Open.  I try to compete every year, and I encourage my students to do so as well.  Its a very well run tournament and over the years the promoter has gotten to know me.  Thanks me personally for coming every year and for bringing what students I can.  He even asks me how my dad is doing, since he hasn't been able to make it as often since retiring to West Virginia.  Lewis Clay Sensei is a quality guy.

I didn't win big this year in kata (empty hand forms)  or weapons.  In fact I didn't even place this in the top four this year.  This actually surprised a few other competitors.  My forms were strong and I executed well, however there were a bunch of other people that did too.  It wasn't bad judging, its just the pool of competition was a deep on this year.  No whining from me, I'll just have to try harder next go around.  And yes, that is a picture of me from last year's tournament.  Maybe I should have kept the beard, I did better then.


We had four other competitors from our group this year.  It was their first time at a tournament for each of them.  The two boys both did kata only, which I encouraged since they had not seen kumite (fighting) at an open tournament and its really a good idea to see it before you jump in.  Both of their divisions were pretty stacked and the odds were against them.  They performed well, but didn't make the top four.  I'm proud of both of them.


Then there were the girls.  The fairer sex.  Dainty, delicate, little flowers.


Yeah.  Right.


The little yellow belt that went is indeed a pretty little girl with long blonde hair.  Then she bows onto the floor and becomes a powerhouse.  She didn't make the top four in kata, but I'm sure she very close.  Her kata division was huge and there was a lot of talent in it.  Then she got to the kumite.  In forms divisions at this tournament, boys and girls compete together.  For kumite they are split up.  This little girl has no problem at all fighting whoever we put in front in her.  She's got three brothers, so she's high speed and low drag all the way.  I passed by her on my way out of my right as she sat with her bright pink sparring gear on at the edge of her ring waiting to see who would be paired up first.  I whisper a couple last minute instructions and words of encouragement to her as I passed.


That kid took her first opponent apart.  Then the next one.  Then the next one.  Next thing she knows there a first place trophy in front of her.  She took those other girls apart like a math problem.  She calmly determined their strategies, worked out the simplest counter, and started racking up points.  The whole time she had a look on her face like she was reading a slightly dull book.  I asked her afterwards if she thought she would win first place.


"Yeah.  I'm pretty good at kumite."


Not bragging, just a matter of fact assessment of her own abilities and the confidence to go out and do what she does best.


She wasn't the only girl we had out there.  During my absence from the internet one of my twin daughters took up the training.  She just turned five, so she's not all hardcore yet and its mostly for fun.  She said she wanted to compete.  She wanted a trophy like the kind daddy's got in the garage.  I told her to practice and she was a bit unsure as to the concept of training for a tournament and both me kids are headstrong little things.  She doesn't fight yet, so I let her go out to do kata.  I managed to slip away from my events long enough to see her.  The Missus was a nervous wreck.  The center judge was Preston Rogers Sensei who is very well known here in Virginia, and he was absolutely amazing in dealing with those little kids.


I got to see my daughter tie for second place, and she performed well in the tie breaker, but got edged out.  Still she's got her very own third place trophy with has barely left her hands since she got it.  Its on her nightstand as I type this.  The Missus called my father who called me last night, he's quite proud.


She didn't practice as much as she should have, but she did work for it.  She went out and behaved well, and did her best.  She performed strongly and that got her, finally, a trophy of her very own.  Yes I know trophies aren't the most important thing in the world, but she's now seen what hard work can earn you, and that's a pretty big deal.


So I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get a trophy myself, but that's nothing compared to how proud I am of those kids.

MUSIC!!!

Asian Terminator Skateboard FAIL!  Yeah, you read that right.





That's it for me this go-around.  I've got more practicing to do since the next tournament is in June.  For now though, I'll see Y'all Wednesday.

Onward to victory?

Or at least going out barefoot in front of a few hundred people to do stuff and try to win trophies. That's right, tournament season is fast approaching. I haven't talked about karate tournaments or competition for a while and that's because I haven't competed in over a year. Part of it was due to not being able to go to the tournaments due to work schedules and finding someone to watch the kids. Most of it was do to my competitive drive in these things isn't what it used to be. I stopped fighting years ago and mainly just do kata and weapons. I do enjoy hanging out with the other black belts in my division. I like performing. I do pretty well at these and usually end up placing.

So why am I not pumped?

Its a lot to do with priorities. I'd rather be writing or drawing stuff than competing. I'm prouder of my students who get trophies than I am of my own. My whole goal as a Sensei is to make them better than I am. Some days, that's not too hard. Honestly, I have a bunch of trophies. They're in my garage. They start falling apart after a while. I actually threw out some of them when we moved last time.

I got a video e-mailed to me by the VKA (Virginia Karate Alliance)promoting this season. So, I'm going to go out this year to at least one tournament and compete. I'll say "hi" to the guys and chit chat a bit. Then I'll go out and do my best and let the chips fall where they may.