A bad attitude by the competitor, his/her instructor(s), parent(s), family member(s) or fan(s) will disqualify the competitor. We encourage you to learn & ask questions however it must be done in a respectful manner. Our judges will keep you informed if any unusual situations occur.

The order of competition & the "byes" if any are to be awarded are determined by the competitors’ registration date. The first to register will be the first to get a "bye" during fighting, (if any are to be awarded) & the last to compete during forms.

When there are 5 judges, the scorekeepers will drop the highest & lowest scores. When there are 3 judges, all the scores will be counted.

All competitors must present themselves in karate uniform, (kung fu, tae kwon do, etc) & respective belt. T-shirts are allowed, (but not recommended), as long as they represent your martial arts school. By wearing a T-shirt instead of a uniform top during Kataform, you take the chance of being scored lower on your presentation.

Finger and toenails must be properly cut or covered to eliminate any possible chance of injury. Any jewelry or other object that the judge feels might be dangerous cannot be worn.

All competitors must be able to show proof of their age. Please keep a copy of your birth certificate or driver’s license with you at all times.

You are required to compete at the age and rank you are on the date of each tournament. All your ratings points will be accumulated under the age you were as of January 1^st of the current year.

All rules as noted hereinafter.

Any disrespectful behavior or simply a bad attitude by the competitor, his/her instructor(s), parent(s), family member(s) or fan(s) will disqualify the competitor. All points, fees and future participation in A.F.A.C.T. Rated tournaments will be forfeited.

Each competitor will have a maximum of 3 minutes to perform their kataform. The time begins when a competitor enters the ring. If the competitor goes over the 3 minutes, they will be disqualified. There is no excuse for missing your division, if you are not at the ring when your division begins, you will forfeit your turn and all payments made. You will be given your ring assignment at the beginning of the tournament. It is your responsibility to stay close enough to your ring, the scorekeeper & your judges so you can hear your name. If you do not show after your name has been called 3 times, you will forfeit your turn & be disqualified from the division. The first three competitors will do their kataform with out getting scored immediately. When the third competitor finishes his/her kata, the first competitor will go back up in front of the judges to receive his/her score. Then the second and third competitors will do the same. When the fourth-twelfth competitors do their kataform, they will get scored immediately after they finish their kataform. No division will have more than twelve competitors. The kataform scoring range is from 6.5 - 8.0, middle scores being 7.2 & 7.3. The ring size for children will be approximately 17’ x 17’. The ring size for adults will be approximately 18’ x 18’. If you feel you need more space, please contact the tournament promoter at least 10 days prior to the event to see if your request can be filled. All competitors must present themselves in karate uniform, (kung fu, tae kwon do, hakima, etc) & respective belt. T-shirts are allowed, (but not recommended), as long as they represent your martial arts school. By wearing a T-shirt instead of a uniform top during Kataform, you take the chance of being scored lower on your presentation. You may wear shoes when you are performing you kataform as long as they do not damage or mark the competition floor. An instructor or helper may perform a kataform with a competitor to help build their confidence, etc however the judges will score the competitor from 6.3 – 6.5, most likely making the competitor place last. If a competitor needs to start a form over due to his/her own negligence, he/she may do so with the following consequences:

Beginner - No penalty for starting over. If the competitor still is unable to complete his/her form, he/she will be scored on what they have completed.

Intermediate – .2 deduction. Judges should determine what they would’ve scored the competitor had he/she not started over, and then the judges should subtract .2 of a point. For example: the competitors’ kata was very good & had he/she not started over I would’ve scored him/her 7.8 therefore I scored the competitor 7.6.

Advanced & Youth Black Belts - .4 deduction - Judges should determine what they would’ve scored the competitor had he/she not started over, then the judges should subtract .4 of a point. For example: the competitors’ kata was very good & had he/she not started over I would’ve scored him/her 7.8 therefore I scored the competitor 7.4.

Adult Black Belts – Disqualification. If a Black Belt competitor has to start their Kataform over again, they will NOT be scored.

If a competitor needs to start a form over due to someone else’s negligence, no penalty or consequences will be given.

No weapons, music, props, etc may be used in any open hand kataform division.

Tie: In the case of a tie for 1^st-4^th place with 5 judges, the scorekeepers will add back in the high and low score. When there are only 3 judges or if there still is a tie after you add back in the high & low score when there are 5 judges then the competitors must perform a kata again. It does NOT have to be the same kata they originally did. If there is a tie a second time, then the competitors will be brought into the ring & the judges will vote on whom they thought had a better performance. Any disrespectful behavior or simply a bad attitude by the competitor, his/her instructor(s), parent(s), family member(s) or fan(s) will disqualify the competitor. All points, fees and future participation in A.F.A.C.T. Rated tournaments will be forfeited.

Kataform Grand Championships – You must do an open hand kataform. You may choose to do the kataform you won first place with or you can choose to do a different one. The judges will have a random draw to determine the order of performance. All other rules are the same as open hand kataform rules. Any disrespectful behavior or simply a bad attitude by the competitor, his/her instructor(s), parent(s), family member(s) or fan(s) will disqualify the competitor. All points, fees and future participation in A.F.A.C.T. Rated tournaments will be forfeited.

All rules are the same as open hand kataform except for the following. You must use a weapon. You will be judged on the use of your weapon 1^st, then all other techniques as in open hand Kataform 2^nd. No sharp weapons will be allowed. Weapons are subject to the judge’s approval. If a competitor drops his/her weapon due to his/her own negligence, he/she will have the following consequences:

Beginner - .2 deduction for starting over. If the competitor drops his/her weapon a second time, he/she will be scored on what they have completed.

Intermediate – .3 deduction. Judges should determine what they would’ve scored the competitor had he/she not dropped their weapon, then the judges should subtract .3 of a point. For example: the competitors’ kata was very good & had he/she not started over I would’ve scored him/her 7.8 therefore I scored the competitor 7.5. If the competitor drops his/her weapon a second time, he/she will be disqualified.

Advanced & Youth Black Belts - .4 deduction - Judges should determine what they would’ve scored the competitor had he/she not dropped their weapon, then the judges should subtract .4 of a point. For example: the competitors’ kata was very good & had he/she not started over I would’ve scored him/her 7.8 therefore I scored the competitor 7.4. If the competitor drops his/her weapon a second time, he/she will be disqualified.

Adult Black Belts – Disqualification

Any disrespectful behavior or simply a bad attitude by the competitor, his/her instructor(s), parent(s), family member(s) or fan(s) will disqualify the competitor. All points, fees and future participation in A.F.A.C.T. Rated tournaments will be forfeited.

Weapons Kataform Grand Championships – You must perform with a weapon. You may choose to do the weapon kataform you won first place with or you can choose to do a different one. You may also choose to do a different weapon. The judges will have a random draw to determine the order of performance. All other rules are the same as Weapons kataform rules. Any disrespectful behavior or simply a bad attitude by the competitor, his/her instructor(s), parent(s), family member(s) or fan(s) will disqualify the competitor. All points, fees and future participation in A.F.A.C.T. Rated tournaments will be forfeited.

Each match will last 2 minutes running time or 5 points, (which ever comes first). Running time means the clock will start at the beginning of the fight & will not be stopped during point calls. In the instance of unusually long point calls, i.e.: equipment needing adjustments, injuries, rule clarification, etc., a judge will stop the time until the issue is resolved. If one competitor does not have 5 points before the 2 minutes are up, the competitor who is ahead wins the match. If the match is tied at the end of 2 minutes, the match will continue into "sudden death" overtime. During "sudden death" overtime, the first person to score a point will be declared the winner. All legal hand techniques that score will be given 1 point. All legal foot techniques that score will be given 2 points.

Points are awarded by a majority vote of the judges. The judges don’t have to agree on the same technique being scored, only that a point was scored. The only determination to be made is that the point scored was worth one point or two. For example, when working with 3 judges:

Judge #1 sees a hand technique scored by fighter A, (worth one point)

Judge #2 sees a foot technique scored by fighter A, (worth 2 points)

Judge #3 sees nothing, and then fighter A will receive one point. He only receives one point because the majority of the judges didn’t see the foot technique.

In order to receive a point, you must score a legal technique in the legal target areas. Legal target areas are from the bottom of the neck to the stomach including the front halves of the sides of your upper body, you must make contact to receive a point in these areas. Closeness & light contact to the whole head is also a legal target area. Closeness is defined as follows: Beginners: approximately 6" or closer, Intermediate: approximately 4" or closer, Advanced: approximately 2" or closer. In order for a competitor to receive point(s) for closeness, the competitor must pull back the technique, a "sloppy" or out of control technique will not be considered for scoring. Illegal target areas are the back, groin, throat, sides of neck, eyes & any technique determined by the center judge. Strikes to any illegal target areas will result in a warning, penalty points and/or disqualification.

Legal techniques consist of all controlled hand & foot techniques that are executed onto the legal target area with either your hand or foot. The following techniques have been determined as unsafe & illegal: takedowns, spinning back fist, stomps or kicks while your opponent is down, head butts, elbows, knees, hair pulls, bites, scratches, slaps, grabbing for more than one second, or any other act determined unsafe by the center judge.

In order to score points, you must score a legal technique in the legal target area while in the ring. If a competitor receives one warning the scorekeepers will note it & the fight will continue as normal. When a competitor receives a second warning, (regardless of what kind of warning) the scorekeepers will note it & a point will be awarded to the other person, and so on until someone wins.

Out of Bounds – When both feet must be out of bounds or one foot out of bounds & the other foot is in the air.

Excessive Head Contact – When one competitor hits another too hard in the head, the guilty competitor will receive a warning &/or disqualification, this will be determined by a majority vote from the judges or at the center judges discretion.

Excessive Contact - When one competitor hits another too hard in any legal area, the guilty competitor will receive a warning &/or disqualification, this will be determined by a majority vote from the judges or at the center judges discretion.

Illegal techniques - takedowns, spinning back fist, stomps or kicks while your opponent is down, head butts, elbows, knees, hair pulls, bites, scratches, slaps, grabbing for more than one second, or any other act determined unsafe by the center judge.

Fighting Gear must be supplied by the competitor. Mandatory fighting gear includes head gear that pads the top side & back of the head, hand gear that covers the back of the hand & knuckles, foot gear that covers the top (instep) of the foot & toes, mouth guard, groin protector for males. All gear must be soft & cushioned, (foam dipped gear is recommended). No leather gear will be allowed. Suggested non-mandatory fighting gear includes chest protector, face cage or shield, shin guards.

We have 3 to 5 judges in each ring for a reason. They have been well trained both as a martial artist and as judges. Even though you may think you seen a point from 20 to 100 fee away, "clear as day", chances are if the judges didn’t call it then it either didn’t score, was blocked, the judge blinked or the judge didn’t have to correct angle to see the technique make contact. Worse case scenario is that we have 3 judges; I do my best to assign judges from different schools to each ring so if there is even a chance of favoritism, you still have the other 2-4 judges to call the point(s). When there are 5 judges then it eliminates any favoritism. If a call is not made with the 5 judges then I am confident the technique was not legal or valid. Please remember that judges are NOT to call a technique that they did not see make contact. For example if the competitors back is to the judge and the other competitor throws a kick or hand technique to their stomach then it is IMPOSSIBLE for the judge to see the technique make contact. The judge may have heard the technique hit loud and clear and may have seen the technique thrown clear as day BUT if they don’t see it make contact then they are not to call the point. In this one case the judge doesn’t know if the technique was blocked, hit an arm, shoulder, etc. There are 3 to 5 judges so that all angles can be covered. Part of competing is putting yourself in the position that most of the judges can see your points. Any disrespectful behavior or simply a bad attitude by the competitor, his/her instructor(s), parent(s), family member(s) or fan(s) will disqualify the competitor. All points, fees and future participation in A.F.A.C.T. Rated tournaments will be forfeited.