Croatia 1997.
KOI World Cup, Men's Team Kumite Event Semi Final.
I stood on the line facing my opponent. My heart pounding like a blacksmith's hammer on an anvil. As the blood surged through my veins I tried to focus on my opponent and the task at hand. So long as I didn't lose this fight, we'd be through to the final. Out of 30+ teams it was down to the last 4 countries of which we were one.
A win would be great, I'd even settle for a draw, so long as I didn't lose.
“Sanban Shobu, Hajime!”, the referee commanded.
Both my opponent and I pushed forward off the line looking for any opportunity to score. We both cautiously probed each other's defense looking for gaps. Suddenly I saw the shift in his body weight and I knew he was more committed to his reverse punch than a desperate gambler to an illegal poker game.
It was just what I was waiting for and I dug in and tried to beat him to the technique.
He went low.
I went high.
The resulting impact was a train wreck. I felt the impact in my chest and at the same time saw his head rock back. Then I heard the referee.
“Yame!”
Ooops.
My opponent immediately took his position back on the line and looked at me as if he was about to tear my soul from my body. I maintained eye contact but was then distracted by the trickle of red from his nose.
The referee called for the doctor…
The doc checked him over and stuffed some cotton wool into his bleeding nostrils. And to his credit my opponent didn't even flinch, just stood his ground eyeballing me in the process.
“Shiro, jodan zuki, Ippon!”, shouted the referee.
Huh? The referee just gave ME a full point for almost knocking the guy out?!
At that point, my opponent just about had kittens. He started yelling and complaining about the excessive contact that I'd made to his nose, which was probably a fair argument. I should have been given a warning and probably lost a point or two for the contact, but the referee whether or not through bad judgment awarded me the point.
Two years later in Germany I lost my individual match for making contact to the face of another opponent. The ironic thing was that this time I barely touched. No blood, and no visible mark. Instead my opponent “took a dive” (exaggerated injury) to have me penalized.
Clearly in both these situations the referees made bad judgment calls. In the first situation excessive contact was made and I was REWARDED for it! With the latter I barely made contact and I was PENALIZED. I guess it would have made more sense if the calls were reversed. But as many people agree, it all evens itself out over time.
Refereeing is a challenging task to say the least and although the rules have been rewritten and are continually improved, they're still subjective. Human beings are the ones making the calls. What one referee deems a good score might be interpreted completely differently by another. What one referee declares as an illegal technique, another might say is perfectly ok.
For example, a tap to the inside of your opponent's front leg with your instep might be interpreted as attacking the limbs (Category 1 infraction), but another might consider your technique an attempted sweep.
So how do we know which karate techniques are the safest to throw without risk of being penalized? And what are the bare essentials for declaring a technique valid?
There are six criteria under WKF rules that must be satisfied in order to be awarded a point. These are as follows:
1) Good form
2) Sporting Attitude
3) Vigorous Application
4) Awareness
5) Good Timing
6) Correct Distance
As competitors we must MAXIMIZE each of the six criteria to give them every opportunity to score our points.
Let's take a look at these in more detail, keeping in mind that we must appeal to the referee's interpretation of the rules. And while there are vast differences in opinion between referees in what constitutes each of the 6 criteria, there are specific points that cannot be ignored.
CRITERION #1 - GOOD FORM
What does that mean exactly?
To paraphrase Sensei Tommy Morris in his article Tactics and the Referee, good form means to have correct posture and stance when performing a technique.
An example could be when performing jodan mawashi geri to make sure your body is balanced when kicking. I've seen so many kicks hit their targets over the years, but many of them were not paid because the competitor was off balance at the point of contact. Clearly this is a case of poor form and the point should not be awarded.
Another common competition technique is reverse punch to the body. The rules state “Good Form”, but does this mean that the hikite must be pulled back?
Interestingly, no.
Gyaku zukis are paid with or without the hikite by the hip. In fact in competition if you pull your hand all the way back, you are lowering your guard and increasing your chance of being hit. Believe me when I say I know this from first hand experience - I was knocked out in 1994 making this mistake!
Also, do you think that if the back leg bends a little or if the attacker raises their heel, a punch should still be awarded? Under the WKF rules there is nothing to say it shouldn't score. And because what is meant by “good form” in one particular style might completely violate the “good form” from another, these things are discounted under WKF rules.
Think of “good form” as the bare essentials. Things like solid body mechanics, good balance, shift of weight toward the target, recoiled and controlled technique.
Discard things like hikite position, whether or not the front knee is bent slightly or a lot, if the back leg is bent and the heel raised. Disregard things like whether your stance is low or high, long or short. It's not kata now that is being judged. What's under the assessment is whether or not it resembled an effective karate technique.
PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT'S BEING PAID
Now remember that there are vast differences in referee's opinions. There are referees who hold high expectations and then those who pay almost anything. It's important to pay attention to what referees are paying on the day. And then it's also important to take notice of what particular referees are awarding points for.
I've been to tournaments where perfectly executed haito uchis (ridge hand strike) are completely ignored by the referees. Then the next week, the same referee will pay the same points faster than you can say “yame!”.
Another example of a technique that very rarely gets paid is a front hand punch to the body. The reason is that it's not considered to be effective. However many of us know that if you pull your hip back, twist into it and put your body weight behind it, this technique can have an incredible amount of power.
Unfortunately most people execute this technique more like a jab – which will score a point to the head, but when done to the body falls into the ineffective basket together with things like back fist to the stomach.
As we can see from these examples, for the competitor it's not as simple as making “good form”, but to implement techniques that the referees will reward you for.
MAXIMIZE YOUR CHANCES OF SCORING
Stick to the techniques that have the highest chance of being paid. Things like chudan gyaku zuki, chudan mawashi and mae geri. Forget about jodan punches, back fists and ridge hands unless you have a knowledgeable referee who you KNOW will pay your points. Jodan mawashi / ura mawashi geri are fine so long as you can maintain good form and control. The 3 points can be worth the risk.
Consider how you can put these techniques into practice, by developing strategies, tactics and combinations that will allow you to score with them.
Remember to give yourself MAXIMUM SCORING OPPORTUNITY (MSO) with the referees; it's a 2 part equation:
MSO = GOOD FORM + WHAT'S BEING PAID
In the next newsletter we'll move forward to some of the other criteria. We'll explore in detail ways you can bend the rules to your advantage and maximize each to score your point.
By the way, if you're wondering, I drew that fight in Croatia and our team went through to the final to take the silver medal (2-3).