Proposed new WKF rules

[wayneshin]

I know there don't seem to be all that many involved in WKF on here so this may fall on deaf ears but I am jut wondering if any have heard about or experienced the new (proposed) WKF kumite rules yet.
Just to elaborate, they are talking about;

• 4 flag judges instead of 3,
• centre referee does not vote on scores,
• You must have two flags to be awarded a point.
• If each competitor gets two flags both can be awarded a point.
• Take downs score a point even if the follow up does not land.
• Penalties/warnings do not provide points to your opponent. (You will still be DQed after the 4th) The goal is to make karate stronger and reduce faking.
• Juniors and Seniors to wear the same body protectors the cadets have been wearing.

I know they have already trialled these at the Paris Open and the Sydney International with a view to introducing in 2011.

 

[Grenadier]

I know there don't seem to be all that many involved in WKF on here so this may fall on deaf ears but I am jut wondering if any have heard about or experienced the new (proposed) WKF kumite rules yet.
Just to elaborate, they are talking about;

• 4 flag judges instead of 3,
• centre referee does not vote on scores,
• You must have two flags to be awarded a point.
• If each competitor gets two flags both can be awarded a point.
• Take downs score a point even if the follow up does not land.
• Penalties/warnings do not provide points to your opponent. (You will still be DQed after the 4th) The goal is to make karate stronger and reduce faking.
• Juniors and Seniors to wear the same body protectors the cadets have been wearing.

I know they have already trialled these at the Paris Open and the Sydney International with a view to introducing in 2011.

Not deaf ears, just rather busy ones!

The new rules actually work great at the WKF level. They force the judges to be far more alert, and at this level, the numbers work out quite well.

Where they don't work so well, though, is at the lower levels, such as at the zone and regional levels. At least with the WKF competitions, all of the judges and referees there have made it through A-level for their national levels, as well as at the PKF levels, meaning that they're amongst the best of the best judges and refs in the world.

The system works well at the national level, if you're looking at the elite divisions, since only the more highly ranked judges and refs are going to be in those rings. However, in the other divisions at the nationals, you run into a problem described below.

At the regional levels, you're generally not going to have a referee and four judges that are of that caliber, and there have been many times that I've seen a decent referee in the ring, but stuck with four terrible corner judges.

A lot of times, you have judges who are afraid to make calls, now that they're put on the spot even more than ever.


If the system is to work well at all levels, judges and referees are going to have to be held to much higher standards. There's just not much margin of error with the new system, which is why I suspect that there will be several changes in the upcoming year or two.