World Karate-Do Federation

W.K.F.

KARATE KUMITE RULES

Table of Contents


ARTICLE 12: POWER AND DUTIES OF THE REFEREE COUNCIL, MATCH AREA CONTROLLERS, REFEREES, JUDGES AND ARBITRATORS


A. The Referee Council's powers and duties shall be as follows :

  1. To ensure the correct preparation for each given tournament in consultation with the Organizing Committee, with regard to competition area arrangement, the provision and deployment of all equipment and necessary facilities, match operation and supervision, safety precautions, etc.
  2. To appoint and deploy the Match Area Controllers (Chief Referees) to their respective areas and to act upon and take such action as may be required by the reports of the Match Area Controllers.
  3. To supervise and co-ordinate the overall performance of the refereeing officials.
  4. To nominate substitute officials where such are required. (The composition of a panel of officials may not be changed at the sole discretion of the Arbitrator, Referee or- Judge).
  5. To investigate and render judgment on matters of official protest,
  6. To pass the final judgment on matters of a technical nature which may arise during a given match and for which there are no stipulations in the rules.

     

B. The Match Area Controllers powers and duties shall be as follows:

  1. To delegate, appoint, and supervise the Referees and Judges, for all matches in areas under their control.
  2. To oversee the performance of the Referees and Judges in their areas and to ensure that the Officials appointed are capable of the tasks allotted them.
  3. To prepare a daily, written report, on the performance of each official under their supervision, together with their recommendations, if any, to the Referee Council and the Examining Committee.

 

C. The Referee's powers shall be as follows :

  1. The Referee ("SHUSHIN") shall have the power to conduct matches (including announcing the start, the suspension, and the end of the match) and:
    a. To award an lPPON or WAZA-ARI.
    b. To explain to the Match Area Controller or Referee Council, if necessary, the basis for giving a judgment.
    c. To impose penalties and to issue warnings (before, during, or after a bout).
    d. To obtain the opinion (s) of the Judges (by flag gestures).
    e. To announce extensions.
  2. The authority of the Referee is not confined solely to the competition area but also to all its immediate perimeter.
  3. The Referee shall give all commands and make all announcements.
  4. When the Judges signal, the Referee must consider- their- opinions and render a judgment. The Referee however, will only stop the match, if he agrees with the opinions tendered.

E. The Judge(s) ("FUKUSHIN") powers shall be as follows:

  1. a. To assist the Referee by flag gesture.
    b. To exercise a right to vote on a decision to be taken.
  2. The Judge(s) shall carefully observe the actions of the contestants and signal to the Referee an opinion in the following cases:
    a. When an IPPON or WAZA-ARI is observed.
    b. When a contestant appears about to commit, or has committed a prohibited act and/or techniques.
    c. When an injury or illness of a contestant is noticed.
    d. When both or either of the contestants have moved out of the competition area.
    e. In other cases when it is deemed necessary to call the attention of the Referee.

F. The Arbitrator will supervise the Time-Keepers and Score-Keepers. Records kept of the match shall become official record subject to the approval of the Arbitrator (Kansa).

EXPLANATION:

When explaining the basis for a judgment after the march, the Referee may speak to the Match Area Controller or the Referee Council. The Referee will explain to no-one else.

The good Referee will not halt the smooth flow of the bout unless it is necessary to do so. All halts with no outcome, such as "Yamei - Torimasen" must be avoided.

The Referee need not halt a bout when the Judges signal, if convinced the signals are Incorrect. The Referee's judgment in this instance is made "on the move ". Before over-ruling the Judges signal, the Referee must consider whether the Judges were better sighted. Judges will signal only by flag gesture, they will not use whistles.

When, however, the match has been halted and the Judges have a different opinion to that of the Referee. then the majority decision will prevail.

The Judges must only score what they actually see. If they are not sure that a technique actually reached a scoring area they should signal "Mienai".



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