Frequently Asked Questions

Be at your ring at least 10 minutes before the division starts. You may want to be even earlier to warm up in the ring if time/space allows.

A general question can be answered by any judge, if they cannot answer it, they will find an official Coordinator who can.

You can talk to the center referee. If he/she cannot answer your question, they will contact an official Coordinator for you.

Time/Score keeper- This person(s) is in the corner and is keeping track of order of the competitors as well as announcing the scores and adding scores up.  

Corner judge- an official that is under the direction of the center referee.  

Center referee- Person in charge of the ring. He/she is responsible for the entire ring. This person can answer any questions regarding what is going on in the ring or contact a Coordinator for additional clarification.  

Coordinator- Official who is responsible for supervising a section of the competition rings and personnel. In addition this person may split/move groups to other rings based on division size/ring availability.

Judges score on a variety of categories. These include execution of the form/moves, balance, power, precision and presentation of the form.

A division may be split depending on the number of competitors and/or belt levels. A division that is split may be moved to an open ring.

The order of competition is determined by the Uventex system. If you are late to your ring, then there are rules to address this.

You get a "point"/score by hitting a valid target with a valid move. Kicks are 2 points/hand techniques are 1 point.  Valid targets are all above the belt. The chest, stomach, side of body, and entire head are the targets. The back of the neck and throat are not legal targets.  The winner is whoever establishes a seven point advantage first or whoever has the most points at the end of 2 minutes. If there is a tie at the end of regulation time, the match then goes into Sudden Victory mode. Sudden Victory means who ever scores first wins. There is no time limit on Sudden Victory mode. Note: the Rules for “AA” Black Belts are slightly different. See more official rules here.

Fighters are randomly paired up by the Uventex system. There may be adjustments based upon physical size of competitors and/or to separate competitors from the same school.

• “AA“ level Black Belts: If you lose your first fight, you’ll be eliminated.

• “A” level Black Belts: New this year is the Double Elimination, which means you get a second chance to win; if you lose twice you’ll be eliminated.

• Under Black Belts: There is a Consolation bracket for competitors (six or more in the division) who lose their first match. The Consolation bracket insures that a competitor will get a second opportunity to compete. In divisions with 5 or fewer competitors, the fifth place person automatically is awarded the Consolation trophy but will not compete in a second match.