The World Karate Federation has proposed a few changes to the existing Kata evaluation system.
“The new system will significantly reduce the time of eliminations to about half the time or less. The test provided excellent proof of concept and valuable lessons learned for the continued development of the system.” – Chairman, World Karate Federation Competition Rules Commission.
A notable change could be seen in the number of panel of judges in judging a Kata event, which is proposed to change from 5 judges to 7 along with breaking of scores into 2 categories namely – technique and athleticism.
According to the existing system, evaluation of a Kata is done under 5 categories: conformity, technical performance and athletic performance. Elements such as standards in form and style (Ryu-Ha) are considered under this. Technical performance is evaluated based on factors such as technique, stances, transitional movements, timing, synchronization, correct breathing, focus (Kime) and technical difficulty while athletic performance is considered upon strength, speed, balance and rhythm.
Under the proposed new system, the Kata event will be performed before 7 judges and these elements will be listed under the 2 main scoring categories of technique and athleticism while points for each of these 2 categories will be awarded independently of each other. The points for technique would amount to a percentage of 70% of the total while points for athleticism would amount to 30%. The 2 highest and lowest scores would be eliminated of each of the categories and the 3 remaining scores would be considered and added up to the total number of points in judging a Kata’s standing in a competition. In addition to this, the proposed system aims at applying electronic procedures in evaluating Kata.
This proposed system was tested at the recently concluded Swedish National Karate Championship under the patronage of the WKF Competition Rules Commission and the process was overlooked by the Chairman of the commission Mr. Gunnar Nordahl and commission members Yrsa Ranki, Luca Valdesi and Javier Escalante with the assistance of the Swedish and Norwegian referees that served on the 7 judge referee panel.
According to the commission, this proposal will be completed and submitted to the WKF Executive within the year.
