Rules Governing Karate Competitions Explained for Dummies

Karate is a Japanese martial art that is represented by the system of defense and attack. Previously, karate used to be a system of fist fighting that was created for self-protection only. Nowadays, however, the given sport has become extremely popular thanks to exhibition performance. Thus, the most skillful karateka can easily smash a huge piece of ice with their fist, stave a thick piece of wood to splinters with a kick, and break a stack of roof tile with an elbow or even a head. At the same time, breaking objects is a manifestation of physical power only, rather than the proof of karate skills and abilities.

Apart from other martial arts in Japan (judo, ju-jitsu, and others) that allow athletes to use various throws, submission and painful holds, karate does not encourage the athletes to come into a direct contact. Instead, they use precisely aimed hits and kicks with hands and feet that should reach the opponent’s vital points.

Competitions can be either individual or team ones. As for teams, they should consist of either men or women only. There are no mixed teams in the given sport. It should be clear that there exist precise rules that govern karate competitions, and the given article is going to explain them in details.

Equipment

All the karate athletes should wear a special uniform consisting of trousers, a belt, and a jacket. As for the jacket that is also known as “gi”, it should be of white color without any lines and edging. The jacket should be long enough to cover the thighs but it should not be longer than the three-fourths of the hip length. As for women, there are allowed to wear simple white T-shirts or tights under the jacket. In addition, all the athletes must have pieces of protective equipment: tooth guard, wrist protector, and chest pad for women.

The duration of a karate match depends on the age of athletes. To be more exact, it lasts for 3 minutes for men, 2 minutes for women and midgets, and a minute and a half for beginner women.

Scoring System

It is not only necessary to perform a hold to obtain a certain number of points, but it is also necessary to make the hold be:

• neatly performed;
• of a sporting nature;
• energetic;
• of a martial state of mind and awareness (zanshin);
• fast enough;
• performed from a correct distance.

In karate, there are three kinds of scores. To be more exact, they are as follows:

1. Sanbon – three points.
2. Nihon – two points.
3. Ippon – one point.

It should be clear that each of these scores is applied in a particular scenario, and we are going to become familiar with the most popular situations.

So, the Sanbon appears in the following cases:

• a karateka performs a kick from a Jodan-position;
• a karateka manages to throw an opponent on the met or performs a foot-sweep that makes the opponent fall.

Two points (the Nihon) are given for the following holds:

• a karateka performs a kick from a Chudan position;
• a karateka manages to escape the opponent’s attack and simulates a shot at the opponent’s bare back;
• an athlete performs a number of fist holds, with each of them being performed neatly;
• an athlete manages to imbalance an opponent and simulates the following hit;
• a karateka manages to successfully simulate a hit during the opponent’s attack.

The one-point Ippon occurs in the following cases:

• a karateka performs one of five tsuki hits from Chudan or Jodan positions;
• an athlete manages to successfully perform an Uechi.

So, when a karateka manages to successfully perform a hold, the referee should first determine whether it is possible to award the Nihon. If it is impossible, they consider the possibility of awarding the Ippon.

As for official karate events, the athletes are allowed to attack only the following opponent’s areas:

• head;
• face;
• neck;
• stomach;
• chest;
• back;
• body side.

Determining Winners and Karate Variations

Apart from winning by scores, which has been described previously, a karateka can happen to be a winner if his opponent is disqualified for different reasons. This situation is called Kachi. In addition, if an athlete fails to appear at fighting or refuses to participate in it, his opponent is given winning points.

If a karateka is performing a successful hold when the final whistle blows, this hold can be credited. At the same time, any attack executed after the final whistle is not credited. Moreover, it can even result in a corresponding punishment for an attacking athlete.

No hold is credited if it is performed when both athletes were outside the court. At the same time, such a hold should be considered if an attacking player is within the court and if the referee does not shout “Yame!” In addition, it is impossible to credit two successful holds performed by the opponents simultaneously even if they happened to be successful.

There are also a few other ways of how it is possible to determine a winner. Among them, “Sanbon Kumite” and “Shobu Ippon Kumite”. The first case implies that a match will last unless one of the athletes manages to get three points. In such sparring, a kick in the head is worth three points, a kick in the body – two points, and a single point is given for fist hits. If a karateka manages to perform a hold after he has swept his opponent off his feet, he will get three points. This way of determining a winner and scoring points is often used at various tournaments because it is said to be the best variant that would satisfy the nature of the given sport both for the athletes and for spectators.

As for “Shobu Ippon Kumite”, a match lasts until a karateka manages to earn a single point. In this variation, a point is given for every hold that would have killed an opponent or made him a disabled person, if it had been performed in full force and effect (not half steam as it is allowed by the rules. A half-point (“Waza-ari”) is awarded for every hold that would have resulted in serious damages for an opponent. The same system is applied to Olympic judo competitions. “Ippon/Wazari Kumite” is said to be a more conservative martial art that is quite similar to real fighting, in which a single mistake is a loss.

In some schools, there take place “Knockdown karate” competitions. In this case, a match is said to be over when one opponent is swept off his feet after a kick. It should be mentioned at once that the athletes are not allowed here to hit the opponents’ heads with their hands. On the other hand, hits in the stomach and kicks in the head, body, and legs are allowed and even required. As a result, these matches are even more violent than “Shobu Ippon Kumite” competitions.

“Daido Juku” is another karate variation that has a significant difference from all the other variations. To explain, the athletes should wear special helmets to protect their heads and faces. Nevertheless, this fact should not make you think this karate variation is safe enough. In fact, the helmets are used because there are no many limitations here. For example, it is allowed to kick an opponent with a head, hit the opponent’s head with a hand, to kick the opponent’s shin, and so on. These matches end either by submission or by a knock-out.

Some karate traditionalists are concerned about the fact that higher attention is currently paid to a competing element that significantly contradicts the true values of the given martial art. These people believe the competing nature undermines the art from within; especially it refers to public performance to cheer spectators. They think these performance shows should not be considered as karate itself.

Belt Colors

From the very beginning, karate competitions had been free from any grades or ranks. When the sport became quite popular in Japan, there were created three belt colors: white, brown, and black. In addition, each of them was also subdivided into a few categories that were called kyus. The same system is also applied in many other martial arts. The most traditional belt colors look as follows:

1. Unclassified – the white color.
2. The 8th-4th kyu – the brown color.
3. The 3rd-1st kyu – the brown color.
4. The 1st dan – the black color.

At present, there exist other more complicated systems of the belt colors. Even separate schools can establish their own regularities for this situation.

History

Many people believe that inhabitants of Okinawa island were in a constant partisan war with Japanese invaders, which made them develop the art of karate. There are also people who do not support the given idea. They state that the given martial art existed on the island but it had been brought by Chinese immigrants. So, it is possible to consider the Chinese people to be the inventors of karate.

In any case, the martial art quickly left the borders of the island and conquered Japan. In 1936, one of the first karate schools was established. It was this school that gave birth to a karate classic style. For this karate variation, accuracy and speed, rather than the hitting force are of the greatest importance.

After Japan was defeated in 1945, all the Japanese martial arts were banned. Nevertheless, the Japanese Karate Association (JKA) was established in 1948. From that time, karate was considered both as a kind of self-protection and as a kind of sport. Karate started gaining popularity across the whole world, the first Japanese Karate Championships took place in 1957. In 1963, however, the first World Karate Championships was held in 1963. Karate will become an Olympic kind of sport in 2020.