Try Out at the Tri-Nations

Saturday 17^th January saw thirteen senior referees convene on the Honeywell Sports Centre in Barnsley for the Tri-Nations Tournament featuring England, Scotland and Wales Kumite under 21 competitors.  

Referees: Peter, Ben, Tony, John, Tina, Dale, Dave, Gemma, Brian, Alex, Ivor, Tracey & Gary

The competition was arranged by England National Squad Coach Willie Thomas and the officials were collated by Dale Gamble EKF/BKF Chief Referee and was to serve as a warm-up for the Cadets (14-15), Juniors (16-17) & u21 (18-20) fighters for the European Championships in Zurich over the first weekend of February.  It also served a dual purpose of providing both competitors and officials a try-out of the new WKF Rule v9 effective Jan 1^st 2015.

Two areas were in operation with the officials split across both of them.  Tatami 1 had Brian Noble (World Ref), Ivor Thomas (Euro Ref), Dave Robinson (British Ref), John Robinson (Brit Ref), Gemma Holland (Eng Ref), Tony Tutty (Eng Ref) & Alex Rush (our one and only national referee from Scotland).  Tatami 2 had Dale Gamble (World Ref), Peter Bibby (Euro Ref), Ben Brown (Brit Ref), Tracey Archer (Brit Ref), Tina Pajuste (Eng Ref) & myself.

On area 2 we had the male and female under 21 categories so Hurrah! no face masks to deal with.

In the Referees Briefing, Dale clarified a few points in the new rules in particular with regards the changes to grabbing, holding and throwing.  These were:

1.    1. One hand grabbing and immediate technique of throw –OK – No C2 Warning or Penalty.

2.     2. One hand grabbing and no immediate technique or throw – Not OK – C2 Warning or Penalty.

3.     3. Two hand grabbing where kicking leg is caught and attempt at throw – OK - No C2 Warning or Penalty

4.     4. All other Two hand grabbing – Not OK – C2 Warning or Penalty

In addition now; no two seconds allowed after throw for follow up and only one bite at the cherry so to speak i.e. no multiple attempts at a score if the first is unsuccessful.

So All Clear then with and off we went downstairs to implement these rules!

The 'Management'  - Ben, Alex & Dave check that all is as it should be ' You can't come in 'ere mate'!

Dale briefed the coaches & competitors with the same information before we started so that hopefully we were all singing from the same hymm sheet so to speak.

Dale (hidden) conducts the briefing of the competitors and coaches.

On Tatami 1 Dale kicked us off with two bouts of female u21’s with no issues followed by Peter with two bouts of u21 males.  I was assigned to train a couple of ‘virgin’ volunteers on the scoreboard and score sheets so this kept me out of mischief for these bouts especially with changing the bout time from two to three minutes and back every two bouts.  Bouts 5 and 6 were for me to referee – again no real problems – all was going swimmingly well.

However, the next bout featured top English fighter Curtis Harvey (see previous FEW Report 30.11.2014) versus his Scottish opponent and this was very eventful with at least three instances of Curtis holding his opponent which could each have been given Cat2 Warnings.  Curtis also then did a superb take-down and follow up which up until 31^st Dec 2014 would have scored him a well-deserved Ippon (3 points).  However on this day in 2015, it could not score simply because Curtis grabbed his opponent’s gi top with BOTH hands and swept him to the floor then followed up with a superb punch.  Dale was Judge 4, Ben J3, Tina J1 and I was J2 and we all had to sit motionless despite wanting desperately to flag for C2 offences.  We could neither signal a Cat2 foul to Ao and we certainly could not signal for a score since the scoring technique was preceded by an offence.  Curtis was fortunate to get away with this foul and went on to win the bout.

This particular bout highlighted the difficulties in application of the rules and could easily have led to Curtis being Hansoku’d on Cat2’s – should we as referee’s be lenient and let the grabbing go or be pernickety and penalise every single instance of grabbing?  My view having attended a few Euro Referees briefings over the past three years would be to err on the lenient side.  It has been stressed previously that we do not want bouts decided by penalties especially Cat2 penalties, so to just stop the bout with Yame, reset with no warning/penalty issued and then restart would seem to be the sensible approach.

Dale stressed that Referees really now need to be on the ball – they can no longer rely on their panel of judges to help them out with penalties. Also that since Judges can only signal for points and Jogai, then the supporting aspect on points is really important for them otherwise good scoring techniques can go unscored without the mandatory two flags for the Ref.  

I now look forward to the Referees Briefings next weekend at the Paris K1 Premier League event where no doubt all will become clear and we will see whether our interpretation of the new rules has been correct.  Dale, Billy Brennan, Brian, Paul Gunn and myself can then feed-back to the officials at the EKF KYU Grades Championships on the Sunday.

Overall a good try-out at the Tri-Nations and a most enjoyable day.

Gemma & Ivor with Tina in the background

Web Links

Here are some links to web sites that may help you in pursuing your officiating & karate career:

Please support the campaign for karate into the Olympics for 2020 in Japan:

http://www.wkf.net/pdf/karate-into-the-olympics.pdf I am a member of Kofukan England & Kofukan International Tani-ha Shito-Ryu Karate-do Shukokai Organisation. Kofukan England are founder members of the English  Karate Federation the national governing body for karate in England affiliated to the European (EKF) and World  Karate Federations (WKF) who are in turn the only  world body recognised by the International Olympic  Commicssion (IOC). Kofukan England:  http://www.kofukankarate.com/ Kofukan International:  http://www.kofukaninternational.com/ World Karate Federation:   http://www.wkf.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=99 This link below gives the history of the WKF - the foremost  Karate association in the world from 1970 as WUKO to the  now IOC (International Olympic Commission) recognised  WKF - fascinating! http://www.wkf.net/thebook/images/background/top-section-bg.jpg The link below gives the WKF official YouTube channel for  WKF karate with over 10 million hits!  Here you will find  videos from the 22nd WKF World Karate Championships  held in Bremen in Nov 2014. http://www.wkf.net/imagenes/banners/pastilla_youtube.jpg English Karate Federation:   http://www.englishkaratefederation.com/ British Karate Federation:  http://www.britishkaratefederation.co.uk/ European Karate Federation  http://www.europeankaratefederation.net/ Shihan Tomiyama 8th dan is our joint Chief Instructor  (along with Shihan Naoki Omi 8th dan in Paris) and is a  graduate of Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. He has regular visits to the honbu dojo of the late Hiroshi Fujimoto  Sensei.   http://do-karate.sakura.ne.jp  or http://homepage3.nifty.com/do-karate/index.html (old site) Kofukan England compete in the ten year anniversary  tournaments of the Shukokai World Karate Union in  Japan.  I referee'd at this huge tournament in 2009. My club Kofukan Karate Loughborough have a new web  site (Dec 2014) on which you will find much information on our activiities along with archive photos, videos of  Sensei Tomiyama & Sensei Omi, events etc, etc.   Please check it out on: https://sites.google.com/site/kofukankarateloughborough/home Kofukan Karate Loughborough also have a separate Google  Blog page on which new activity is posted.  This is located  under: http://loughboroughkarate.blogspot.co.uk/ John Wynd 3rd dan & Kofukan England Referee has his  Leicester Kofukan Karate club page under:: http:\\www.Leicester Kofukan.co.uk/ Tracey Archer 3rd dan & British Referee operates a new  club at Newark as well as one at Welton in Lincoln.  She has a page on Facebook under: Newark/Welton Kofukan Karate Club: www.welton.kofukan-karate.co.uk/ https://sites.google.com/site/kofukannewark/home Denis Koltsov 5th dan runs Lancaster & Morecombe  Kofukan Karate Clubs in Lancashire.  See: http://www.kofukan.info/lancaster/ Garry Petitt 6th dan has his Lincoln club page under: http://lincoln-karate.co.uk/ UK Sport - The UK's High Perfomance Sports Agency:  http://www.uksport.gov.uk/ Sport & recreation Alliance:   http://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/   Speak on behalf of 320 Governing Bodies,  150,000 Clubs and 8 million sports practioners across the UK 1st European 'Olympic' Games featuring WKF karate:   http://www.baku2015.com/en/sports/Karate   SportData.org Sport data is a website used to manage all top level karate  competitons.  The site includes downloadable bulletins for  each tournament, ticket details, hotels, timetable, registration details, live stream details, categories, competitor entries,  referee entries, official entries, coach entries, top athletes,  draw sheets, results, competitor stats, medal stats and is a  mine of really useful information.  If you want to find a  competition anywhere in the world then this is the web site  to find it. . Emilio Merayo - Emilio is a fellow Referee on the  international EKF/WKF tournament circuit and Shito ryu  karateka with Sensei Inoue's Inoue-Ha Shito ryu Keishin  Kai - a World qualified kumite and kata official.   He operates a web site which is 'truly finger on the pulse'  with all the latest updates from WKF, EKF, K1 results,  IOC news, etc, etc.   Check it out: https://emiliomerayo.wordpress.com/  Peter Bibby is Commission Secretary for the EKF Referees  Department.  He has set up a web site with allthe latest  WKF Rule updates, score sheets, kata lists and other useful  bits of information such as listings of all qualified officials  at English, British, European & World level.  Find it under: http://www.ekfreferee.com/

WKF Kata List 2015

This is the new WKF Kata List which has now come into force on Jan 1, 2015 for all EKF, BKF, Euro EKF & WKF kata events including K1 Premier League events.   Only the Kata listed below may be performed in any of these competitions. Anan * Jion  * Papuren  * Anan Dai   Jitte  * Passai Annanko  * Jyuroku  * Pinan 1-5  * Aoyagi  * Kanchin Rohai  * Bassai Dai  * Kanku Dai  * Saifa (Saiha)  * Bassai Sho  * Kanku Sho  * Sanchin  * Chatanyara Kushanku  * Kanshu Sanseiru  * Chinte  * Kosokun (Kushanku)  * Sanseru  * Chinto  * Kosokun (Kushanku) Dai  * Seichin Enpi  * Kosokun (Kushanku) Sho  * Seienchin  * Fukygata 1-2 Kosokun Shiho  * Seipai  * Gankaku  * Kururunfa  * Seirui  * Garyu Kusanku  * Seisan (Seishan)  * Gekisai (Geksai) 1-2  * Matsumura Rohai  * Shinpa  * Gojushiho  * Mattskaze  * Shinsei Gojushiho Dai  * Matusumura Bassai  * Shisochin  * Gojushiho Sho  * Meikyo  * Sochin  * Hakucho  * Myojo  * Suparinpei  * Hangetsu  * Naifanchin (Naihanshin) 1-3* Tekki 1-3  * Haufa Nijushiho  * Tensho  * Heian 1-5  * Nipaipo  * Tmorai Bassai  * Heiku  * Niseishi  * Useishi (Gojushiho)  * Ishimine Bassai Ohan  Unsu (Unshu)  * Itosu Rohai 1-3  * Pachu  * Wankan  * Jiin  * Paiku  * Wanshu  * * indicates that the Kata is taught at Loughborough Kofukan Karate Club.

All Change at Hitchin

On Sunday 30^th November 2014, I journeyed to Hitchin in Hertfordshire to attend an EKF Referees Kata Course covering all the new WKF version 9 Rule changes.

The course itself was good consisting of a read-through and explanation of all the new WKF Kata & Kumite v9 rule changes coming into force Jan 1^st 2015.  The drive there was a pain – further than I thought and heading in to a low level autumn sun. 

The course was well attended and presented by Dale Gamble EKF Chief Referee (World Kumite Ref A, Euro Kata Judge A) with the assistance of Peter Bibby EKF Referee Commission Secretary (Euro Kumite Ref B, Kata Judge A).

World/Euro refs present included Steve Coupland (Euro Kumite Ref A, Kata Judge A) Ivor Thomas (Kumite Ref B), Tony Dent (Kumite Judge A, Kata Judge A), Brian Jarvis (Kumite Judge A, Kata Judge A), Nigel Blood (Kumite Judge A) & myself (Kumite Judge A, Kata Judge A).  Billy Brennan (World (Kumite Ref A, Kata Judge A) & Brian Noble (World Kumite Ref A, Euro Kata Judge A) joined us for the Kumite bit.

We started on the kata rule changes which are quite profound – a big turn-around in terms of bowing before and after the kata and the reversion back to styles and the new kata list - all of which are welcome initiatives certainly from my perspective.  If a competitor fails to bow now at the start and end of the kata then they will be disqualified!

One point clarified was that of bowing at the completion of the kata in Team Kata finals.  This is not needed – only the bow at the end of the Bunkai to stop the clock.

We all should know that a kata begins and ends with a bow so I and many others found it really difficult not to bow before the kata and at the end under v8 WKF rules - it is almost second nature to bow.

Uechi Sanseiryu now permitted (totally different to Goju & Shito Sanseiru)- This is an excellent version performed in the final of the Okinawa World Karatedo Tournament 2009, Budokan, Okinawa - From Karate by Jesse on Youtube

The kata list containing some 90+ kata is also a great idea. However, I am very surprised that no Asai ryu kata feature or even kata from Gensei ryu to which I was recently exposed to in Denmark (See Kaizen report).  Uechi ryu (Kanchin, Kanshu, Seichin, Seirui, Sanseiryu) and Kyokushinkai (Garyu) kata feature.  Also Ryuei ryu kata Ohan & Anan Dai the latter of which none of my fellow Euro Kata Officials nor I were aware of.  I have also not be able to find out much, if any actual detail on Ohan other than the mention of the name in discussions on the web.  If anyone knows and books and/or videos featuring this kata please let me know.

The reversion back to styles (Ryu-Ha) is also a good initiative and together with the kata list will mean that some of the more flamboyant moves in kata will be eliminated since kata judges will be once again focussing on the style detail as taught by bona fide ryu-ha instructors. 

One more terrific initiative is the making slapping the gi with the Hikite (returning hand or fist) a foul resulting in the score for technical performance being reduced to zero.  Now the English competitors have done this for a long-long time, presumably in the mistaken belief that it increases the perception of power.  Now us kata judges have been around the block a few times so for someone in the twenties to hit themselves repeatedly does not go unnoticed.  The only problem has been that many of the competitors in England do it – along with the heavy apple-eating, dog-barking breathing style and we judges were effectively powerless to do anything about it.  Quite often the person doing the slapping and heavy breathing was the much better performer so they went through – result; all the other competitors copy it.  Now though they will lose 33% of their marks for slapping! It is only then when they get to Europe that they come a cropper.  Perhaps now we will see a transformation in England to silent kata as exemplified by the Japanese – Marvellous!!!!

At the course we were due to do kata practical so all officials had their gi’s with them. However, the room was unfortunately considered to be too small to accommodate all of us so we elected to review the Kumite rules – I was disappointed since even the old fat blokes (& gals) in the corner like to dust down their gi’s every now and again - Strange but True!

So in Kumite, changes include the elimination of the two handed grab – this is now only allowed if the competitor catches a kicking leg and immediately attempts a takedown.  Even the person being thrown or swept can no longer hold on without being warned or penalised with a Cat2.  It will be interesting to see how this rule is to be applied at the Euro Refs briefings since previously it was ok to hang on as the throw is being actioned – an instinctive self-defence mechanism, but then the hanger-on had to release grip immediately on hitting the floor or a Cat 2 would be given to the hanger-on.

Two handed grabs and throws no longer accepted & to be warned or penalised - as shown here by Rafael Aghayev of Azerbaijan. Photo from Rafael Aghayev FacebookFanPage.

The other big change is that only the referee will indicate Cat 1 & Cat 2 offences (except Jogai which is the judges responsibility).  This system was operated at the Dutch Open in 2014 and I did like it.  The referee has now moved back from being a mere conductor to having much more responsibility so has to be on the ball for offences, leaving the points to the judges.

My next big tournament is the Karate1 Premier League in Paris, France over the weekend of the 24/25^th Jan 2015.  I am really looking forward to this to see how the new rules will be implemented.  I, along with Dale, Billie, Brian and Paul Gunn (Euro Kumite Judge B) will be in attendance on the Friday and most of the Saturday.  We then dash back to Blighty for the EKF Kyu Grades on the Sunday – a hectic weekend.  This is closely followed by the European Juniors/Cadets & u21’s in Zurich, Switzerland Feb 6/8 and then the Karate1 Premier League in Almere, Holland Feb 14/15.  A very busy three weeks. 

Federation of European Wadokai – European Championships – Reading, England 2014

On the weekend of Sat 1^st & 2^nd November, I had the pleasure of being invited to the Federation of European Wadokai European Championships held at the Rivermead Leisure Centre on the banks of the river Thames in Reading.  Some twenty five years ago I used to instruct at Reading Shotokan Karate Club (KUGB, now JKA-England) on Thursday evenings at this centre so it was a real pleasure to return to my old hunting ground. 



Officials at the FEW European Wadokai Championships 2014



I, along with fellow European officials Steve Coupland, Tony Dent, Ivor Thomas, Brian Jarvis, Nigel Blood, Dona Marshall plus top British officials Dave Robinson & Tracey Archer together with top English officials Rob Lambe, Sara Cotton & Phil Whyte were invited by Chief Referee Vince Parker on behalf of Sensei Sakagami 8^th dan, Peter May and the FEW.  We were joined by FEW officials Mauricio Sai (Euro Ref -Italy), Violet Brown (Euro Judge - Ireland), Siobhan Lecky (Ireland Ref), Mark Symmonds (British Ref – Eng), Csaba Bistrony (Ref – Hungary) Mick Ryde (Eng Judge), Sue Ryde (Eng Judge) and a number of other Wado officials from various European countries.



Saturday was the elimination day for the championship and kicked off as usual with kata across four areas.  I was assigned to Tatami 1 under the direction of Mauricio Sai from Italy (the most senior Ref at the tournament) as TM and Tony Dent as TM covering areas 1 and 2.  Kata judging was handled in the main by the senior Wado kai officials – I consider myself not to have the appropriate technical detail on wado kai kata to feel competent to judge the kata so I opted out of this.  This is the same at our Kofukan Internationals where despite having world kata refs we only use senior Kofukan officials even if they are not a national Kata Judge.  This ensures that we get only true Kofukan kata’s in the finals which have some differences in emphasis/feel & also moves to the Shito-kai/Itosu-kai/Inoue-hai Shito kata more often seen in open competitions.  Likewise with Wadokai kata I found that sitting by the side my vote was going in opposition to the other Wadokai judges – subtle differences that I was not picking up so I did not potentially want to cost someone a European medal.

Amelia Harvey (England competitor at the 22nd WKF World Champs in Bremen Nov 2104 & Mairi Kerrin  (Ireland competitor at same World Champs & MC for FEW Euro Champs)

All progressed well with the Senior Competition with no issues raised, this was completed and we headed to the hotel for a wash and brush up prior to going to Chinese restaurant just a few doors away from the hotel.  I have to say though that parking in Reading is an absolute nightmare – there are no free spaces anywhere whereas when I lived all those years ago it was possible to find free parking – not anymore!  Anyway the China Palace ‘all you can eat’ Chinese meal was brilliant and most of the tournament contingent feasted in there.

Tatami 1 Officials Saturday with Csabo, Sara, Tony, Mauricio, Siobhan, myself & Rob Lambe

Sunday was Finals day and the tatami’s were reduced to two and I was assigned to Area 1 again, this time under the direction of Ivor Thomas (Euro Ref B) and Tony Dent (Euro Judge A).



Tony Dent & Ivor Thomas show how a TM's job should be done.



One deeply regrettable incident occurred in the Cadet Kata Final and involved a table official not doing their job properly.  If we as Referees make an error then we put our hand up to admit the mistake, correct the mistake and take it on the chin along with all the embarrassment – not so some TO’s.

The kata sections were whittled down to the final two on the Saturday but they did not give their kata into the table after winning their semi-final bouts where this would have been immediately spotted.  On the Sunday, each final was called and the kata names were collected and added to the draw sheet by the other roving Table Officials.  The rules precluded any immediate repeats and one of the finalists nominated the same kata as she had done in the Semi Final.  In this instance the competitor was Ao (Blue), so would go on after Aka (Red) giving plenty of time to spot the error and advise the competitor to change their kata.  Now we all know that the WKF Rules state that it is the responsibility of the competitor or coach to ensure that the kata nominated is correct for the next round but here we are talking under 14’s who are possibly not renowned for their short-term memory or awareness of the detail of the competition rules concerning repeats.  Table officials have a vital role to play and are there to assist both the competitors and the referees, but in this case neither competitor nor the TM were assisted as they should have been.  The error was spotted by the Table Official but not communicated to the TM until they had both completed their kata – TOO LATE!!  Despite this competitor being far better that the other finalist, she was disqualified and clearly distraught to be Hansoku’d in a European Final!  This is reprehensible and in England we never disqualify children under 14 in kata events never mind finals.  It could so easily have been avoided if only the table official concerned had:

1. Recorded the kata name immediately after the semi-final - I advised this on the Saturday,

2. Checked the draw sheet before the final started and the kata eligibility i.e. for repeats.

3. Advised the TM immediately and NOT at the end of the two kata performances. 

Dona Marshall (Euro Kata Judge B, Kumite Judge B) and I sitting at the side watching were absolutely horrified that this had happened and that effectively the Table Official had cost this young girl a EUROPEAN GOLD MEDAL!!

Anyway on to more positive stuff and when we got onto the Kumite finals one good point from Ivor was that if the competitor chasing a score after a successful takedown steps out then he is in Jogai and not the other competitor. An important one to look for that a lot of inexperienced judges would miss.

Another unfortunate incident was the disqualification of Curtis Harvey for contact.  Curtis is one of the best young fighters in England and a rising star of the European Wadokai.  Unfortunately, in his fight, that I was refereeing, he became a little frustrated after not having about three kicks scored (by any of the judges or myself) that he clearly thought should have scored.  He duly caught his opponent’s leg and punched him in the head way too hard (in my opinion as the ref).  The fighter went down for longer than 10 seconds and the very experienced medic immediately said he was gone.  The only options when the 10 second clock has timed-out are KIKEN, HANSOKU or SHIKKAKU.  The fighter was certainly not in mubobi so Hansoku was administered to Curtis.  A real shame since he then went on to fight in the team finals brilliantly and hopefully he will no doubt learn from this incident.  The refs are there to administer the rules fairly and equally and a technique must have all six criteria to score.  No quarter is ever given to any competitor, whether they are a favourite or not and if the rules are violated then a penalty must be given.  This is exactly why Vince and the FEW invited the top English and European Officials to the tournament.  As the rules state a worthless technique is a worthless technique and will not score.  Jodan kicks must have all six criteria just the same as punches and strikes and it is not just a case of getting the foot to the target to score as many spectators seem to think cheering every time a foot reaches jodan.



Curtis Harvey in the Team Kumite Final has just pulled back after scoring a gyak as signalled by Tony Dent in the chair.  Lisa Bhajwaj (Tournament Organiser) on the camera



With no further incidents to report, the competition concluded late Sunday afternoon and it was back to the hotel for the Sayona party featuring a Jim Gladwin’s rock band – ‘Backlash’.  Jim is a 5^th dan Wado and used to be the instructor at Loughborough Uni retiring at the end of last year.  I trained under him on many occasions and I have seen this superb band perform on a few occasions.  Needless to say they were excellent and really got the crowd going – a fitting way to end an international tournament.

The accommodation / tournament was really well organised by Lisa Bhardwaj and the FEW Executive committee and with England squad numbering some seventy competitors, they took the lion’s share of the medals.  The Penta Headquarters hotel was excellent and very comfortable.  I would say however, that Rivermead Sports Centre is not really a centre befitting a European finals – the toilets were often reported by my colleagues as being in a very poor state and with no arena spot-lighting the finals did not get the atmosphere that they richly deserved plus competitors/spectators have to pay to park - outrageous!  The refs got complimentary parking so perhaps this could be extended to all next time. Maybe one to consider by the FEW for next time?

Thanks to Vince and the FEW Exec for the invite to referee and the kind hospitality offered by FEW.

Lisa has put hundreds of photos on Facebook taken throughout the tournament.  Search for her on Facebook if you are interested in viewing them but set aside a few hours to do so.

Sensei Kuniaki Sakagami 8th dan JKW



Peter May 6th dan with Tracey Archer British Referee