2015 Twin Cities
Class "B" Regional Tournament
April 10-11, 2015
Hosted by Master Janelle Gleisner and ATA Martial Arts of Burnsville
Following is an abbreviated description of how scoring and procedures work for each ring. This is only a brief description. For a detailed version of the rules, go to the Tournament Rules page at ATA.
RULES AND POINTS - HOW THINGS WORK
FORMS
In Songahm Taekwondo, each rank has its own unique poom-sae (form) designed specifically for the techniques taught at that rank level. The form is part of a complete system of teaching the Songahm Taekwondo student. The Korean word "poom-sae" means a "form" or "pattern of movements." It is actually a planned series of movements that combines the physical skills (such as blocks, strikes, kicks, stances and more) with the mental skills (such as balance, coordination, discipline, strategy, focus and more). The target of these movements is an imaginary opponent of the practitioner's own size.
Each competitor will take their turn to perform their Form in front of the judges. The first three competitors will all complete their form so the judges can get an understanding of the performance level of the ring. Then each judge will simultaneously display a score ranging from 9.1 to 9.9 (with 9.9 being the best) for each of the first three competitors one at a time. The judge to the Center Judge's left is the "Foot Judge" and will give a score based on stances and kicks. The judge to the Center Judge's right is the "Hands Judge" and will give a score based on punches and blocks. The Center Judge gives a score based on everything including overall presentation, power, eye contact and attitude. After the first three have gone, each competitor will then get a score immediately following completion of their form.
The competitor with the highest total score (total of all three judges) will be awarded first place, 2nd highest score will get 2nd place, etc. If there is a tie among competitors for 1st, 2nd or 3rd, those competitors will perform their form again. This time all three judges will judge based on overall. After all tied members have gone, the judges will point at who they believe was the best among the tied competitors.
COMBAT WEAPONS SPARRING
Combat Weapon Sparring is executed exactly the same as Traditional Sparring above except for the following:
- The winner of the match is the first to 10 points or the person who is ahead when time expires at 2 minutes
- There is no punching or kicking. Scoring is done as follows:
Strike to any part of body - 1 pt
Strike to head - 2 pts
Strike to weapon arm from elbow to hand - 2 pts
Jumping while scoring any of the above - add 1 more point
Dropping your weapon - your opponent gets 1 pt
Stab to the front leg - 2 points
X-TREME AND CREATIVE FORMS AND WEAPONS
ATA-Xtreme Form and ATA-Xtreme Weapons competitions are a “Free Style” performance that allows the mix of traditional and contemporary martial arts techniques that have evolved over the last 30 years. These may be added to a traditional form, or the form may be devised in its entirety by the competitor.
X-Treme and Creative Forms and Weapons are scored from 9.0 to 9.9.
The following guidelines are in place for ATA-Xtreme competition (Forms & Weapons):
At least 50% of the form must be original material.
The form must be no longer than 2 minutes from bow in to finish. Any competitor that performs more than 2 minutes will be disqualified.
If there is a music malfunction the Center must use their best judgment as to time adjustment.
All 3 Judges will score the entire form.
Judging Criteria: Creativity, Difficulty, Presentation, Attitude and Precision are the basis for judging.These should all be considered, but not weighted in any particular order. Music is allowed but not mandatory. If music is used, a competitor who performs “in time” with themusic may receive a higher score.
All ATA-Xtreme Forms for competitors must include EITHER: 1 or more 540 degree turn in the air (completed in the air) with a kicking technique (kick must becompleted in the air) OR 1 or more movement where the head is below the waist line (examples include, but are notlimited to: (Cartwheel, round-off, forward roll, backward roll or shoulder roll. etc). Any performance that does not include the required moves will be disqualified.
Student must also compete in the corresponding traditional event.
Student must wear traditional Dobok or ATA-Xtreme uniform only
X-Treme Weapons
Releases of the weapon are allowed in ATA-Xtreme competition.
Control of Weapon is added to the Judging Criteria.
Dropping the weapon will result in a two (2) tenth of a point deduction;o A weapon that is retrieved must be picked up using some type of “Xtreme” move. If this does not happen, an additional one (1) tenth of a point will be deducted. Even a traditional weapons pick-up would incur the 1 tenth point deduction.
If competitor drops weapon a second time all three judges will give a score of 9.0 and consider it an incomplete form.
Creative
Since its inception in 2009, ATA Creative Form and ATA Creative Weapons competitions are a “Free Style”performance that allows the mix of traditional and contemporary martial arts techniques. These may beadded to a traditional form, or the form may be devised in its entirety by the competitor.
The following guidelines are in place for ATA-Creative competition (Forms & Weapons):
At least 50% of the form must be original material.
The form must be no longer than 2 minutes from bow in to finish.
Any competitor that performs over 2 minutes will be disqualified.
If there is a music malfunction the Center must use their best judgment to adjust time.
All 3 Judges will score the entire form.
Judging Criteria: Creativity, Difficulty, Presentation, Attitude and Precision are the basis for judging.These should all be considered, but not weighted in any particular order. Music is allowed but not mandatory. If music is used, a competitor who performs “in time” with the music may receive a higher score.
All Creative Forms may include only one each of the following techniques:
Kip-Upo Either a shoulder roll or a forward or backward roll. (only 1 out of the 3 possible rolls)
Either a center or a side split. (only 1 out of the possible 2 types of splits)
Multiple traditional butterfly kicks are allowed
Multiple spinning kicks are allowed
The following Techniques are not allowed: No movements with greater than 360 degree turn or twist in the air, No Chinese Wushu Butterfly Kicks or Butterfly kicks with twists, No intended movements where head is below the waist (leaning to kick high is acceptable).
Creative Weapons
Weapons Releases are not allowed but weapon rolls where the weapon remains in contact with the body are allowed. For clarification, it is also considered a release if a competitor drops the weapon and catches it before it hits the ground.
Control of Weapon is added to the Judging Criteria.
Dropping the weapon will result in a 2 tenth of a point deduction from all three judges.
To retrieve a dropped weapon, the traditional weapon pick up is the only option. Meaning that theymust go to one knee and pick up weapon correctly. Failure to pick up the weapon correctly will resultin an additional one tenth of a point deduction from all three judges
If competitor drops weapon a second time all three judges will give a score of 9.0 and consider it anincomplete form.
SPARRING/1-STEPS
Camo Belts through all levels of Black Belts compete in Traditional Sparring while White, Orange and Yellow belts compete in 1-Steps as outlined here. The competition is set up as a single elimination tournament. Due to the number of competitors, some people may get a "bye" as required. Byes are first given to anyone who is or was a World Champion in Sparring, then to District Champions, then State Champions. If additional byes are needed, they will be decided at random.
Traditional Sparring
Each sparring match will last either 2 minutes or until 1 competitor has scored 5 points. If time runs out before someone reaches 5, the person with the higher points wins. If the score is tied, then "Sudden Victory" occurs when a competitor scores the next point.
Neither color belts or black belts are required to make body contact to score points, but may makelight to moderate contact to the body or head.
Points are scored as follows:
Punch or Kick to torso - 1 point
Kick to head - 2 points (no punching to head area is allowed)
Points scored during a jump technique will earn 1 additional points (Example: Jump kick to head = 2 points for kick to head + 1 point for jump technique = 3 points).
Techniques cannot score if the competitor (the attacker) is falling during the execution of the technique.
Kicks cannot score if any part of the competitor other than the base foot is touching the ground.
Competitors can not score points if they are not in the ring
If a competitor violates the rules (kicks or punches to an illegal area, for example), points can be awarded to their opponent.
1-Step Sparring
This form of sparring is for White, Orange and Yellow belts which emphasizes self-defense techniques. Competitors don't actuall get points for scoring points as in Traditional Sparring, but are judged in relationship to their opponent in terms of:
- Quality of stances, blocks, kicks and punches
- Power
- Flow or smoothness of their technique
- Location of the target
- Attitude
Opponents take turns acting as the attacker (not scored). The competitor who blocks and strikes is the one getting evaluated. After each opponent has taken his/her turn, the judges will indicate who they thought performed better. This is then repeated until one competitor has earned 2 points.
Understanding Judging
For Sparring, any of the three judges can call "Break" if/when they observe a point being scored. Then, the competitors return to their starting positions and the judges indicate who got the point(s) and how many they got. Judges will display one of the following signals to indicate what they observed:
- Point - indicated by holding up the Red or White flag for the appropriate competitor and 1, 2 or 3 fingers indicating how many points they earned.
- Block - indicated by crossed forearms. This means the judge thought that the strike was either blocked or did not hit the target area.
- "No see" - the judge did not see the point. Judges should not award points if they did not witness the contact, even if they heard it.
- Warning - Red/White flag is waved back and forth near the ground. This means the judge saw something illegal such as a strike to a non-legal part of the body or excessive power being used.
All three judges will give one of the indications outlined above. Quite often, judges will see things differently based on their angle. Points are awarded on a majority basis. For example, if 2 of the three judges saw a point for Red and the other judge saw it for White, the majority would rule and Red would be awarded the point. A Block cancels a point. For example, if 1 judge saw a point and another judge saw a Block, they would offset each other and the third judge's ruling would break the tie. "No See" counts as a no vote and would not be a part of any majority. So, if 1 judge saw 1 point Red, 1 judge saw 1 point White and the third judge was a "No See" then there would be no points awarded. At times, judges may see different amount of poiints. For example, 1 judge saw a 2 point score while another saw a 1 poiint score. In that case, they judges "agree" on 1 point and that would be awarded to that competitor.
For 1-Steps, the process is more simple. After each competitor has taken a turn, the judge will point at which competitor they believed "won" that round. Whichever competitor has the majority of the judges pointing at him/her wins the point.
WEAPONS
Weapons is identical to Forms as described above, except each competitor performs the form with the use of a traditional weapon. Colored belts perform "freestyle" forms which they make up on their own while all levels of black belt perform a designated form for the weapon they choose.
There are no Foot Judges or Hand Judges for Weapons. All judges are giving scores based on the overall performance. The scoring scale from 9.1 to 9.9 is the same as Forms outlined above. Competitors may choose which weapon they want to compete with.
