Dear Ref Doctor,
At JOs one of the matches for 10-11 year olds had a player that received 3 full point deductions for head contact. All three kicks would have been excessive contact under Junior Safety Rules. The referee declared Shi-gan slightly before the 60 second clock expired in the first two instances. It seems this is a violation of the intent of the "no head contact" rule. Was it handled correctly?
jay ferguson
Yes, kicked hard 3 times in the head. Yes, 3 gam-jeons.
The Shi-gan was called to stop the Kye-shi from reaching 60 seconds and therefore continue the match.
With all due respect, I must disagree with the diagnosis, sir. To directly quote the JSR, updated February of this year:
A. Ages 11 & Under Elite Open (All Belts) and Ages 11 & Under World Class Color Belt Division
1. In National Qualifier and National Junior Olympic Championships sparring
competition, the rules concerning a kick to the face shall be as follows:
a. Any technique contacted to the head area which does not make any injury,
will be given a warning by the referee (“Kyong-go”).
b. Any technique, which makes injury to the head area will result in a one-point
deduction by the referee (“Gam-jeom”).
c. If the competitor cannot continue because of the injury to the head area, the
attacker will be disqualified.
As I believe I was the Referee during the match Master Ferguson brings to the floor here, in my opinion, the first strike to the head was not intentional; however, it was powerful enough, in my opinion, to deserve a Gam-jeom. While there was no discernible injury, it did rock the other player to the point where I asked medical to check them out. On advice from medical, who said they believed the player could continue, I stopped the Kyeshi clock with Shigan, to allow the player to continue. A second and third head kick also occured, with much the same result. The receiving player, while shocked by the blow, was able to continue, and appeared as if they wished to continue, so in my opinion, the appropriate accomdation was given that player. Had they chosen not to continue, I would have awarded the match to them; however, based on the rules that state a player who cannot continue a match due to a head injury cannot continue in the tournament, I didn't think Master Ferguson or his player wanted that to happen. As there was no bleeding, abrasion, or other obvious injury, and the advice from medical was that the player was uninjured, I permitted the play to continue.
Based on the rules noted above, no where does it state that I must DQ a player in this division who kicks to the head. If I thought they were truly "head-hunting", I would have; however, in my opinion, they were simply a poorly-trained former point-fighter-turned-WTF-stylist who kept forgetting the head wasn't a supposed to be a target. They weren't injuring the other player. Scaring them, surprising them, pissing them off, yes. Injuring, no.
So again, I must respectfully disagree with the diagnosis, Herr Doktor. According to the published rules, and in my pervue as Referee, this was a Field of Play decision which I made, in my opinion, in keeping with the spirit of the rules, and the intent of the player to continue the match.
However, if I am reading this rule incorrectly, I would greatly appreciate any further insights.
--Larry Voorhees
As I believe I was the Referee during the match Master Ferguson brings to the floor here, in my opinion, the first strike to the head was not intentional; however, it was powerful enough, in my opinion, to deserve a Gam-jeom.
Just to clarify, it was not my fighter nor was Master Voorhees the center during the match in question.
in fact, this is exactly what happened... in the 3rd round the other player started to retaliate and kicked his opponent hard in the hard... what was suppose to be a no head contact fight turned into a full contact black belt match... if i recall correctly the player continued his actions in the two matches and was finally disqualified in the 3rd round...