Referees and Judges at the BTKA competitions must pass a written and practical examination before being allowed to officiate. Association Referees must be at least 2nd Dan and Association Judges at least 1st Dan.
Courses in refereeing are run several times each year, and students of 3rd kyu and above are encouraged to attend these.
General Conduct
Again the rules for dojo conduct apply generally. The competition arena is a dojo, and karate ka must bow before entering and leaving it.
Each area is treated with the same respect, and there are particular rules for entering and leaving kumite and kata areas.
Kumite
- Competitors are termed Aka (red belt) and Ao (blue belt);
- Both competitors face each other at opposing sides of the area and bow;
- They wait until the referee signals that they may enter the area;
- They then walk up to the mark, which is indicated on the mat by a line, and immediately adopt ready stance;
- The referee will give the command “Hajime!” for the bout to commence;
- At the command “Yame!” the competitors must cease the bout and return to their respective lines;
- At the end of the bout after the decision has been given, the competitors bow to each other and walk back to the edge of the area, where they again bow.
It is of the greatest importance that competitors follow strictly the commands of the referee. A competitor can be disqualified for failing to do so.
Kata
- The competitor walks to the edge of the area facing the chief judge and bows;
- He then walks onto the area a suitable number of steps, so as to allow his performance to stay within the area, and bows to the chief judge;
- He announces the name of the kata and adopts ready stance, and starts the performance at his discretion. A command will not normally be given to start the kata;
- At the end of the performance the competitor returns to ready stance or informal attention stance to await the judges’ scores;
- The chief judge will normally blow a whistle for the judges to hold up their score cards. On the second whistle the competitor bows to the chief judge, walks backwards to the edge of the area, and bows again, before walking off.
A lack of etiquette, for example by failing to show proper respect by bowing, will not reflect well upon the competitor, and may result in marks being deducted from his score.
Competition Rules
Competitors should familiarise themselves with the WKF rules of competition, upon which the BTKA's rules are based. In particular they should refer to Chapter 2 of this Handbook, under the headings of Dress, Hygiene, and Etiquette.
All competitors are expected to know the rules of competition and to abide by them.
Disputes
It sometimes happens that a dispute may arise about a decision made by a judge or referee.
If this occurs, under no circumstances may the competitor enter into a dispute in the area, with the official concerned. Any dispute must be immediately reported to the Chief Referee, who will follow the prescribed procedure under WKF rules for the resolution of a dispute.
Arguing with referees or judges on the area will be treated as a serious breach of etiquette which can be penalised at the discretion of the referee concerned, or the Chief Referee.
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