POWERS AND DUTIES
All GKR Karate International tournaments are run under the guidance of a Chief Referee/Tournament Director. This person is responsible for the smooth and efficient running of the tournament and all officials.
THE CHIEF REFEREE
The Chief Referee's powers and duties include:
| • | Ensuring the correct preparation for each given tournament, including competition area arrangement, competitor draws, appointment of officials, match operation and supervision, safety precautions, etc. |
| • | Passing final judgements on matters of a technical nature that may arise during a given match and for which there are no stipulations in the rules. |
THE REFEREE (Shushin)
The Referee ("SHUSHIN") shall have the power to conduct matches (including announcing the start, suspension and the end of the match). He/she has the power to:
| a) | Make the final judgement in the awarding of an IPPON or WAZA-ARI. |
| b) | Explain, if necessary, the basis for giving a judgement. |
| c) | Impose penalties and issue warnings (before, during or after a bout). |
| d) | Obtain the opinion/s of the Judge and/or Arbitrator (when required). |
| e) | Announce extensions of time on a bout. |
| f) | Halt a bout in the case of a competitor being injured and consult with First Aid personnel and the Chief Referee before making a decision. |
Other powers and duties include:
| 1. | The authority of the Referee is not confined solely to the competition area, but also to its entire immediate perimeter. |
| 2. | The Referee shall give all commands and make all announcements. |
| 3. | When the Judge signals (by a gesture) an effective technique, it is a Referee's duty to consider the Judge's signal and give a judgement. A Referee does not have to call "YAME" when a Judge signals a point. |
| 4. | When explaining the basis for a Judgement, the Referee may speak to the Arbitrator or Chief Referee. The Referee will explain only to him/her and no one else. |
| 5. | When awarding a point, it is a referee's duty to ensure all criteria for scoring are met (such as correct form, distance, technique, vigorous application etc). When the referee withholds a point because one of the criteria has not been met, the referee should inform the competitor of this. |
| 6. | A good Referee will not halt the smooth flow of the bout unless it is necessary to do so. All halts with no outcome, such as "YAME - TORIMASEN" should be avoided as much as possible. The Referee's judgement in this instance is made "on the move". |
| 7. | Before over-ruling any Judge's signal the Referee must consider whether the Judge was better sighted. |
THE JUDGE (Fukushin)
The Judge's role is an important one. A Judge assists the referee in his decisions to award points. The Judge offers a valuable view from an opposite angle. Therefore the Judge must ONLY score what he/she actually sees and not just signal a score because the Referee saw something.
When signalling a score, the Judge should use signals that may be clearly seen - yet which are not overly obtrusive. The objective is to inform the Referee of an opinion - not to see or to impose it.
| 1. | The authority of the Referee is not confined solely to the competition area, but also to its entire immediate perimeter. |
| 2. | The Referee shall give all commands and make all announcements. |
| 3. | When the Judge signals (by a gesture) an effective technique, it is a Referee's duty to consider the Judge's signal and give a judgement. A Referee does not have to call "YAME" when a Judge signals a point. |
| 4. | When explaining the basis for a Judgement, the Referee may speak to the Arbitrator or Chief Referee. The Referee will explain only to him/her and no one else. |
| 5. | When awarding a point, it is a referee's duty to ensure all criteria for scoring are met (such as correct form, distance, technique, vigorous application etc). When the referee withholds a point because one of the criteria has not been met, the referee should inform the competitor of this. |
| 6. | A good Referee will not halt the smooth flow of the bout unless it is necessary to do so. All halts with no outcome, such as "YAME - TORIMASEN" should be avoided as much as possible. The Referee's judgement in this instance is made "on the move". |
| 7. | Before over-ruling any Judge's signal the Referee must consider whether the Judge was better sighted. |
The Judge ("FUKUSHIN's") role is to:
| a) | Signal an opinion by discrete gestures regarding scoring. |
| b) | Take part in a consultation with the Referee, when invited. |
| • | The Judge shall speak only if summoned (Shugo) by the Referee. | ||||||||||||||||||
| • | The Judge shall carefully observe the actions of the contestants and signal to the Referee an opinion in the following cases:
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NOTE
All consultations between the officials must be kept as brief as possible. Wherever possible, discussions shoul be strenuously avoided and reliance placed upon the prescribed gestures as noted in the signals section of this manual.
| • |
An Arbitrator ("KANSA") shall be appointed for each match. The power and duties of the Arbitrator are to oversee the running of the match and to ensure that the rules are followed. |
| • |
The Arbitrator is not there to assist the Referee and Judge in evaluating the scores. |
| • |
The Arbitrator can, paradoxically, be involved at the request of the Referee in group decisions. This is rare and most often occurs when a judge feels the Arbitrator may have been better sighted. |
| • |
An Arbitrator cannot halt the bout if he/she disagrees with a decision. |
| • |
The power and duties of the Arbitrator also include the supervision and direction of the timekeeper and scorekeeper. |
Kata
| • |
During the kata division, two score-keepers are required. |
| • |
Both score-keepers should confirm the total score of the kata given by the three judges. |
| • |
At the end of the kata division, the score-keepers should ensure the draw has been clearly marked with first, second and third place winners. |
Kumite
| • |
During the kumite only one score-keep is required. The second score-keeper, takes on the role of time-keeper. |
| • |
The score-keeper will sit behind the table to the rear of the Referee and must at all times be in clear sight of the Referee. |
| • |
The score-keeper will mark down all scores given by the Referee, including the adding up of warnings and penalties. |
| • |
If a competitor has been warned for the same infringement a number of times without penalty, the scorekeeper may inform the Arbitrator who may signal the Referee. |
Kata
There is no set time for Kata. During the kata division, the timekeeper will assist the Scorekeeper in the adding up of the scores. This is to ensure each competitor's score is confirmed by two people to avoid mistakes.
Kumite
| • |
The timekeeper will sit behind the table to the rear of the Referee and must at all times be in clear sight of the Referee. |
| • |
The clock will not at any time be stopped unless specifically directed to be the Referee of that bout. |
| DIVISION | DURATION | TYPE | |
| ALL DIVISIONS BELOW OPEN | 1.30 minutes | Continuous | |
| Blow whistle once at | 1.00 minute | ||
| Blow whistle twice at | 1.30 minutes | ||
| OPEN DIVISIONS | 2 minutes | Continuous | |
| Blow whistle once at | 1.30 minutes | ||
| Blow whistle twice | 2.minutes | ||
| OPEN DIVISION FINALS | 2 minutes | Stop time for all calls | |
| Blow whistle once at | 1.30 minutes | ||
| Blow whistle twice | 2.minutes | ||
| TEAM KUMITE (SHOBU IPPON) | 2 minutes | Continuous | |
| Blow whistle once at | 45 seconds | ||
| Blow whistle twice | 1 minute |
| Introduction |
| Referee & judge levels |
| Competition Area Overview Kata Kumite |
| Powers & Duties Chief Referee Referee Judge Arbitrator Score keeper Time keeper Kumite time-keeping summary |
| Tournament Kata Important points Competitor's guide Scoring kata Tied scores Scoring sheet Criteria Score ranges |
| Tournament kumite Starting, suspending & ending matches Scoring Penalties |
| Injuries & accidents |
| Dress requirements Competitors Officials |
| Tournament terminology |
| Referee hand signals |
| New Rules |
| Printable version |