ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY

 

ATHENS KARATE GAMES 2008
And
(Six suggestions to improve officiating)

 

   It seems as if I have grown up in Isshin-ryu attending the Athens Tournament. I can’t count the years I have been attending and how many students I have taken to it. It was so long enough ago, that (I think?) I entered and won the first one. I may have my wires crossed but Master Burris announced that a few years back. There have been many first for people at maybe Isshin-ryu’s longest running tournament. It was the site of the first full contact match won by Jim McDonald. The venue has switched back and forth from Athens to Maryville. Don’t ask me why, the kids are reading this and it was the fault of a young, rowdy, Nashville group. No names here please. Now my grand daughter is competing in it. Congratulations Burris’s. That is some run, truly, a big part of a lot of people’s history and linage.

 

    It was a successful trip for us as, Dragon, Uriah (Woody) Wood, won the kumite grand and almost won the kata grand. We picked up a few other trophies along the way and enjoyed watching some of our friends do well also. My thanks to JC and Carol Burris for the day they put in with their hearts in their throats. They have been dealing with some bad family news that would have left most people without the emotional energy to carry the day. To their ever lasting credit and dedication, they made sure everyone had a tournament to come to this weekend. I’m sure your thoughts and prayers will be with the Burris family. Also, some prayer time for Master Ralph Smith’s
mother. She is having a difficult time and the family could use your support.



    One thing for sure, there is no shortage of talent in the ranks. I was heartened to see so many adult white belts and good kids coming along. The most improvement has been in the kids division. The adult black belt division is and will be worth following for a long time. There are several very good fighters and the competition was as good as any tournament other than the Hall of Fame, I have seen in a while. When Master Tony Williams retired, I thought it would leave a gaping hole in the talent. No one can replace him but several stepped up and made it a quality show. There are two things that must be done to guarantee this infusion of talent continues to compete. We must lean heavier on conduct and improve the officiating. Some students are not being schooled in courtesy and conduct. There is also a need to get a hold of spectator conduct. When my grand daughter was about to enter her match, the mother of her opponent came over and said, “is this the girl you are fighting?” Well kick her butt. This to a twelve year old???? When I was officiating, A spectator was screaming at me, because I didn’t call a point for her favorite. Actually, only one judge called it. It was a leg that wrapped around the head. It did not make any contact. And the competitor was so off balance he wound up on his head. Here’s my approach. If it won’t work in the street you ain’t getting a point. If you are on your head in the street you may want to reevaluate that technique yourself. If you want to win a match using Ta Kwon Do stuff, it won’t be in my ring. Actually it was not the spectator’s fault. We talk about the rules then don’t really enforce them consistently. People are beginning to forget what constitutes a good scoring technique. I was yelling myself over the out of bounds rule and some incredibly obvious, no calls. The competitor ran out of bounds eight times and was never penalized. The last point was called with both out of bounds I have worked and trained my competitors and if there is sloppy refereeing going on, I’m going to let them know. It does two things. It puts the officials on notice and lets my student know that they are doing alright and are just getting bad calls. If they are getting beat straight up, I don’t say a word and neither do they. If they are getting jobbed I’m going to protect them any way I can. I brought them and I am responsible for them. It is not a play ground or summer camp to me. It is a competition. I don’t mind any coach/ sensei talking it up around me, when I am officiating. I have played just about every sport and point karate is the only competition that puts a gag on you from coaching and gamesmanship. Sensei’s are one thing, but I don’t want some damn student or spectator yelling at me. I know that parents get frustrated when their kids are getting bad calls. So do I. I watched what I thought was several injustices in one kids ring and a total screw up in another. Let me stop here and say, that I know almost everybody that officiated Saturday. They all do their best and are honest as anyone could be. It will never be about honesty. It is about experience and ability. Some are not as active as others and don’t always have the opportunity to watch and work with good fighters in their dojo’s. When two good, fast, fighters with multiple techniques are competing, it takes officials of equal observational ability to keep up. The plan was to let more young black belts get some experience officiating. That with senior support, should be the best plan to follow. There are several of us masters that would like to retire from officiating after so many years. We have paid our dues. But it may be a little too early to back out all together. Things are getting worse instead of better. Another example: One group of masters judging kata, were using two different sets of numbers. Two were using six to eight and three were using seven to nine. Even with the experience that happened. Also one gave a competitor an 8.8. I’ve never seen a score that high before. There are some answers to all this and I have some suggestions.




  1)   Choose your officials wisely. By now we know who everyone is. Don’t group veterans in one ring and rookies in the other. Mix and match. Have just one person in charge of the grouping. If during the tournament the chemistry isn’t working change them around. Have the center ref in kumite and kata have an understanding with his judges as to what you are looking for. If someone is scoring high or low ask them why. If they don’t like it, replace them. Before kumite, lay out what you expect also. Remind your judges to move and watch high and low. If you have someone having a bad day or just not on top of it, replace them. Alternate center ref positions. You can get another prospective if you do. You are in charge, so be in charge. You have been handed a very responsible position. Competitors are trusting you to put your heart into it. So lead, follow or get out of the way.

  2)   The kids have improved to the point to where more attention should be given to experienced officials for them. They are our future. Let’s give them our best.

  3)   Put two to three roving officials on the floor patrolling the rings. They should settle disputes, keep rings moving and full, while keeping spectators off the floor at all times. If spectators get out of hand warn them or put them out of the gym. I have stopped matches to warn spectators and once disqualified a whole school. The disqualified school was giving the tournament. The sensei asked, ”can you do that Denny?” I said yes if you keep me as chief referee or you can get control of your students and spectators. He did and I continued on. You would be shocked to know who it was. I have kicked two of my students out due to their parents conduct at a tournament. I don’t go to their jobs and scream at their bosses and friends and they are not coming to my corner of the world and participate like an official or master. This cannot become a little league baseball game or a hockey match for the spectators. I also stopped a match and told a wife that if I heard one more word I’d disqualify her husband and put her out of the gym. The husband is a close friend now and the wife is also. He is a ranking master, she is a mid dan. it is funny to us now but no one was laughing then. Of course Mr. Long was there so we kept order according to his wishes. I still try to do that, but now days, people are more worried about offending someone than representing what is right. People just want every body to be ok irrespective of the damage the few troublemakers are causing. Yet plenty is said behind those people’s backs after the fact. A long time ago Cas Cox approached me and said, you are signaling late with your flag. I wanted to say I wasn’t but in truth that day I was having a hard time separating my personal feeling from what I saw. I knew others were doing it and still do. But I was embarrassed and straightened myself away. I have never done that since. On the other hand I feel that I didn’t call two points for Woody that someone else would have called. Earlier I had challenged Master Gabbard to call points for his son more evenly. In my opinion he was not calling points for him that anyone else would have. He was trying so hard to be fair he was costing his son and students points.

  4)   Allow coaching by a designated coach. All others are to stay away from the ring. The coaches can consult with the judges or their competitor once between a point. No one can enter the ring after that. Any violation by the coach or anyone too close to the ring, can and should cost their fighter a point. One warning can be given if previously agreed to by the tournament director.

  5)   Only Sensei’s or Masters who operate a dojo or participate in someone else’s can officiate black belt matches. This includes women, juniors and kids rings also. Tournament directors want and need ring help but you are just buying trouble when you put some people in a ring. Sensei’s should excuse themselves from judging their own students. It is a no win situation for both. Excuse yourself and ask a stand by alternate to take your place. Only the most qualified master should handle the finals in both kata and kumite. That is generally done but not always.

  6)   Have someone demonstrate what type of kicks and punches can’t be called. Such as; wrap around kicks, weak back hands to the body, over extended lunge punches and anything cheap and not Isshin-ryu worthy. Are we supposed to be illustrating techniques that would work in the street or not. Encouraging cheap points is not good Isshin-ryu. Lets also not call green belt point in the black belt ring or expect black belt points in the green belt ring.



    Have the meeting during the line up. Also take about five minutes on ring etiquette. I have had two sessions with black belts that didn’t even realize that they were being disrespectful. They were very open and seemed to appreciate the talk. What we are seeing here is a slow but obvious departure from the traditional values that Mr. Long demanded. So many people say, “boy if Mr. Long was here that wouldn’t go on.” Well what does that say for us who are here. It means that we had better stop reminiscing about when we had a strong leader, and be one. To be honest, I don’t always say what I could. Some people just aren’t worth the trouble. I don’t care what they do. But if I see future in someone I’m going to do what I think is in that person’s best interest. I also stay away from some masters and sensei’s people because the sensei or master is a jerk. But if I have a working master or sensei wants to educate my guys, have at it. I appreciate the help. We have a Dragon Tab group for the very purpose of giving each others students a wide range of input and leadership.

    These are six things we can try to realign our antiquated system that doesn’t work any longer. If these don’t work, then let’s try something else until it does work. Everyone is working hard. I just believe it is in the wrong direction. Let’s shake things up tournament directors and officials and show that we hear the complaints and are trying to do something about them. We have some very good rules already in place that are fair and work. We just need to be about implementing them on a consistent basis.

    Mr. tournament host: Please also be its director and custodian of conduct. Don’t leave it to everyone else to monitor your success. Shaking hands, giving nice awards and choosing a good venue are important to your success and image as a tournament host. But more importantly, assign yourself the job of monitoring the officiating and doing everything you can do to insure the equal opportunity of the competitors to get a fair and competent shake. They will accept the former but will never forget the latter. IT IS YOUR TOURNAMENT AND REPUTATION THAT IS ON THE LINE.

    So just tell me Mr. Tournament director, what you want me to do? I’ll work hard for you, to give the people attending your tournament a fair shake and a max effort. I won’t be late, or line up in street clothes at your formal bow in. I’ll bring some exciting competitors that will make your tournament more exciting. They will be respectful, courteous and demonstrate good sportsmanship. If you don’t want to put trouble makers out, call me and I’ll belly bump them out the door; my old bouncer technique. Only now, I have the belly to do it. If I can’t get it done, I have several close associates who will be happy to assist me. They are wearing dragon tabs and love a challenge. It’s called the Harold Long way of getting the job done and we are all card carrying members of his club.