Referees & Judges - WKF Kumite Rules
APPENDIX 3: OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES FOR REFEREES AND JUDGES - VERSION 6 MADRID JANUARY 2009
This Appendix is intended to give assistance to Referees and Judges where there may be no obvious
guidance in the Rules or Explanations.
EXCESSIVE CONTACT
When a contestant makes a scoring technique immediately followed by another which makes
excessive contact the Referee Panel does not award the score and instead issues a Category 1 warning
or penalty (unless it is the recipient’s own fault).
EXCESSIVE CONTACT AND EXAGGERATION
Karate is a martial art and a high standard of behaviour is expected from competitors. It is
unacceptable that competitors, who receive a light contact, rub their faces, walk or stagger around,
bend over, pull or spit out their gum-shields, and otherwise pretend that the contact is severe in order
to convince the Referee to give a higher penalty to the opponent. This kind of behaviour is cheating
and demeans our sport; it should be quickly penalised.
When a competitor makes a pretence of having received an excessive contact and the Referee Panel
decides instead that the technique in question was controlled, satisfying all six scoring criteria, then a
score will be awarded and a Category 2 penalty for feigning or exaggeration will be issued. (Always
taking into account that severe cases of feigning injury may warrant Shikakku.) More difficult
situations occur when a competitor receives a stronger contact and falls to the floor, sometimes
standing up (in order to stop the 10 second clock) and then falling down again. The Referees and
Judges must remember that a Jodan kick is worth 3 points and as the number of teams and individual
competitors receiving financial reward for winning medals increases the temptation to stoop to
unethical behaviour becomes stronger. It is important to recognise this and apply the appropriate
penalties.
MUBOBI
A warning or penalty for Mubobi is given when a competitor is hit or injured through his or her
own fault or negligence. This may be caused by turning their back on the opponent, attacking with a
long, low Gyaku-tsuki Chudan without regard for the opponent’s Jodan counter attack, stopping
fighting before the Referee calls “Yame”, dropping their guard or concentration and repeated failure or
refusal to block the opponent’s attacks. Explanation XVI of Article 8 states:
Should the offender receive an excessive contact and/or sustain an injury the Referee will issue a
Category 2 warning or penalty and decline to give a penalty to the opponent.
A contestant who is hit through their own fault and exaggerates the effect in order to mislead the
Referee Panel may receive a warning or penalty for Mubobi as well as an additional penalty for
exaggeration, since two offences have been committed.
It should be noted that there are no circumstances in which a technique that has made excessive
contact can be given a score.
ZANSHIN
Zanshin is described as a state of continued commitment in which the contestant maintains total concentration, observation, and awareness of the opponent's potentiality to counter-attack. Some
contestants after delivering a technique will turn their body partially away from the opponent but are
still watching and ready to continue the action. The Referee Panel must be able to distinguish between
this continued state of readiness and one where the contestant has turned away, dropped their guard
and concentration, and in effect has ceased fighting.
CATCHING A CHUDAN KICK.
Should the Referee Panel award a score when a contestant delivers a Chudan kick and the opponent
then catches the leg before it can be withdrawn?
Provided that the kicking contestant maintains ZANSHIN there is no reason why this technique
cannot score provided that it contains all six of the scoring criteria. After all in the case of two almost
simultaneous Gyaku-tsukis it is normal practice to award a score to the contestant considered to have
landed their technique first even though both might be considered effective. Theoretically, in a real
fight scenario, a full power kick would be deemed to have disabled the opponent and therefore the leg
would not be grabbed. Appropriate control, the target area, and satisfaction of all six criteria, are the
deciding factors as to whether any technique can be awarded a score or not.
THROWING AND INJURIES.
Since grabbing hold of the opponent and throwing is allowed under certain conditions it is incumbent
upon all Coaches to ensure that their competitors are trained in and are able to use break-fall/safe
landing techniques.
A competitor who attempts a throwing technique must comply with the conditions imposed in the
Explanations in Article 6 and Article 8. If a competitor throws their opponent in full compliance with
the stated requirements and an injury results due to the opponent failing to make a proper break-fall,
then the injured party is responsible and the thrower should not be penalised. Self-caused injury can
result when a contestant being thrown, instead of making a break-fall lands on an extended arm or
elbow, or holds onto the thrower and pulls them down on top of themselves.
A potentially dangerous situation occurs when a contestant grabs both legs to throw the opponent onto
their back or when a contestant ducks down and bodily lifts the opponent up before throwing him.
The Article 8, Explanations X states that “ … and the opponent must be held onto throughout, so that a
safe landing can be made.” Since it is difficult to ensure a safe landing, throws such as this fall into
the prohibited category. 2
VOTING PROCEDURES
When the Referee decides to halt the bout he will call “YAME”, at the same time using the required
hand signal. The Judges will lower their flags and await the Referee’s opinion. When the Referee
returns to his starting line, he will convey to the Judges by using the appropriate signal(s) his
reason(s) for stopping the bout. The Judges will then signal their opinions and the Referee will render
the majority decision. Since the Referee is the only one able to move around the area, to directly
approach the contestants, and to speak to the doctor, Judges must seriously consider what the Referee
is communicating to them before giving their final decision, as no re-consideration is allowed.
In situations where there are more than one reason for stopping the match the Referee will deal with
each situation in turn. For example, where there has been a score from one contestant and a contact
from the other, or where there has been a MUBOBI and an exaggeration of injury from the same
contestant.
2 ANOTHER IMPORTANT CHANGE CLARIFYING THAT ALL DANGEROUS THROWS (AND
ATTEMPTS) ARE IN CATEGORY 1.
NO SIGNALS AFTER “YAME” If three Judges fail to signal after the Referee has stopped the bout
can the Referee give a score or penalty?
Paragraph III of the Explanations in Article 12 states “However, when the bout is halted, the majority
decision will prevail.” Since the Judges have seen nothing they are not considered to be offering an
opinion or vote and therefore the Referee is in the majority. This situation can occur when action
occurs close to the match area perimeter on the Referee's side and where the Judges are unsighted.
However Referees must be very, very sure before awarding points or giving penalties in such a
situation.
TWO JUDGES SIGNAL A SCORE FOR AKA
If after YAME, two Judges signal a score for AKA and the other Judge does not signal can the
Referee give a score to AO?
The rules state that the Referee cannot go against two Judges unless he has the positive support of the
other Judge therefore he must award the score to AKA.
JOGAI
Judges must remember that when indicating Jogai they are required to tap the floor with the
appropriate flag. When the Referee stops the bout and returns to his position they should then indicate
a Category 2 infringement.
INDICATION OF RULES INFRINGEMENTS
For Category 1 infringements Judges should first circle the with the appropriate coloured flag then
extend the crossed flags to their left for Aka, putting the red flag in front, and to their right for AO,
putting the blue flag in front. This enables the Referee to clearly see which competitor is regarded as
the offender.
This is provided for your information. Please check the WKF website for any amendments or changes to this information or for the latest news. www.wkf.net