Rules

The Alexandria Open Martial Arts Tournament and Festival will use the following stated rules.

Rules

We will do our best to follow standard competition rules from USA Taekwondo where possible.  We can, may, and will likely make changes to these rules in the coming weeks.  Please do not use this as your only official rules guide.  Please stay up-to-date with the rules as they change.

Please also understand that we reserve the right to make any last-minute rules modifications we deem necessary to the smooth operation and completion of the event.  Our fundamental goals are for everyone to have fun, be treated fairly, and be safe. Sometimes in accomplishing those goals we have to make changes that are not in the rules.

Contest Area

There will be several matted rings that will designate the contest area.  Contest areas will be composed of martial arts puzzle mats of several colors and styles.

Forms

Any martial arts form of any discipline will be accepted for this year’s competition.  All competitors will enter the competition area one at a time and perform their pattern upon the command of the ring director. Scoring will follow a decimal system.  As there may be competitors from multiple martial arts styles in the same division, the following criteria will be used for determining the winner of each division as based on USA Taekwondo and World Taekwondo rules for poomsae competition with some modifications.

Grand Champion Forms Divisions

Upon completion of all the forms divisions, all first-place winners for weapons, colored belt females, colored belt males, black belts men, and black belt women will be entered into new divisions.  These divisions will follow the same rules as the regular forms competition and will compete for one Grand Champion Forms Trophy in each group.  The First Place Winner of each group will take home a Grand Championship Trophy.   

Breaking

There will be several different types of breaking competition during this year’s tournament.  Please read below for all the details.

Kids Breaking

Division

Kids breaking will be for all students under the age of 12.  These students will use 6 inch wide pine boards provided by the tournament.  Each of these divisions will have specific breaks for their age.  Ring Head Referees will provide alternate breaking in the event of a tie. Student get one chance to break the board. Students will continue to attempt the break until there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. 

Age Break
4 – 5 Stomp (Boards on blocks)
6 – 7 Front Kick
8 – 9 Side Kick
10 – 11 Turn Side Kick

Creative Station Breaking

Divisions

There will be several divisions of competitors and each age and rank will use a slightly different quantity of boards and number of stations.  All divisions will utilize 6 inch wide pine boards provided by the tournament venue.  We reserve the right to change, combine, or modify any age group or division to ensure fair and equitable competition for all participants

Age Rank by Gup Boards / Stations
12 – 14   10th – 5th 3 / 3
12 – 14 4th – 1st 3 / 3
15 – 17 10th – 5th 4 / 3
15 – 17 4th – 1st 5 / 5
18+ ALL 10 / 10
Rules

Colored Belt Breaking will follow the rules found below.

  1. Two minute set up time.
  2. Must provide your own holders.
  3. Break all the boards in your stations.
  4. Percentage of boards broken versus attempted will be converted into a decimal score.
  5. Judges will score each competitor according to difficulty of technique attempted in a decimal point fashion.
  6. Length of time for breaking will only be used for breaking any ties after points are tabulated.

Black Belt Breaking

Adult black belts ages 18 and over will be able to compete in breaking of up to 30 boards in any number of stations.  Boards will be 6 inch pine boards provide by the tournament. 

Rules
  1. 5-minute set up time
  2. Must provide your own holders
  3. Concreate cinder block standards will be provide should you need them.
  4. Break all of the boards in all of your stations
  5. Percentage of boards broken versus attempted will be converted into a decimal score.
  6. Judges will score each competitor according to difficulty of technique attempted in a decimal point fashion.
  7. Length of time for breaking will only be used for breaking any ties after points are tabulated.

Weapons

There will be two different types of weapons competition; traditional weapons forms and creative weapons forms. We reserve the right to combine these two divisions in the event that there are not enough competitors to complete a full division of at least three people. 

Traditional Weapons Forms 

Competitors will enter the competition area one at a time and perform their weapons form in front of the judges.  Competitors may not have weapons forms with backflips, front flips, or any other extreme martial arts or gymnastics style tricks. Competitors may not have music associated with their form in this competition.

Score will be based on a decimal point system for balance, control, precision, accuracy, focus, power, breathing, and practical application of the weapon.  Any loss of control of the competitor’s weapon from breaking, dropping, or intentionally setting it on the ground will result in a 1.0-point deduction for every occurrence.

Creative Weapons Forms

Competitors will enter the competition area one at a time and perform their weapons form in front of the judges.  Competitors may have weapons forms with backflips, front flips, or other extreme martial arts or gymnastics style tricks. Competitors may have music associated with their form in this competition but must provide their own music for the performance.  

Score will be based on a decimal point system for balance, control, precision, accuracy, focus, power, breathing, complexity of tricks, and blending of martial arts skills and gymnastics tricks.  Any loss of control of the competitor’s weapon from breaking or accidently dropping to the ground will result in a 1.0-point deduction for every occurrence.

Sparring

We will follow to the best of our ability, current World Taekwondo and USA Taekwondo rules for sparring where we are able.  This will be a non-PSS event and we will not have Daedo or KP&P personal scoring systems in place. 

Weight, Height, Age, Rank, and Gender

To the best of our ability, we will divide competitors up into brackets that will be as close to the same age, weight, height, and rank as possible.  We will not have weigh-ins and no scales will be available. Gender separate divisions will be made where possible but that will not be a required factor for bracket creation.

Rounds

  • Colored Belts ages 5 – 10: Two – 1 minute rounds with 30 seconds rest
  • Colored Belts ages 11 – 14: Two – 90 second rounds with 30 seconds rest
  • Colored Belts ages 15 – 17: Two – 2 minute rounds with 60 seconds rest
  • Black Belts ages 5 – 14: Two – 2 minute rounds with 60 seconds rest
  • Black Belts ages 15 and Up: Three – 2 minute rounds with 60 seconds rest

Contact Rules

The 2019 Alexandria Open Championships will utilize, where we deem appropriate, the most currently available Junior Safety Rules as designated by USA Taekwondo.  We reserve the right to make last minute changes to these rules to ensure safety of each competitor prior to and during the event.

No Head Contact
  • Any Colored Belt Student ages 11 and Under
  • Any Black Belt Under the age of 7
Light Head Contact

Light Head Contact is defined as a kick performed to the head area “with appropriate control without causing any injury or excessive contact.” (USAT Junior Competition Rules and Interpretation, p. 71, emphasis added) If an athlete has to get evaluated by medical personnel or the center ring referee, it is too much contact and the attacking player must be penalized in accord with the level of the infraction.  

The “Head Area” for the 2019 Alexandria Open Championships is defined as the area covered by the head gear around the ears and side of head but not including the top of the head, forehead or back of the head.

  • Colored Belts ages 12 and Above including adults
  • Black Belts ages 8 – 14

A successfully executed light head contact kick shall be awarded four (4) points.

Turning kicks to the head will not be awarded extra bonus points as they are beyond the contact level of Junior Safety Rules.

Full Head Contact (Black Belts Adults 18+ ONLY)

Full Head Contact is defined as the entire facial area, sides of head, and back of head but not including the top of the head. 

Spinning kicks to the head will result in a 1-point technical bonus and referee stoppages are allowed for kicks to the head and facial area if electronic scoring is not used.

Quick Contact Reference

Use this basic guideline from USA Taekwondo to determine if the contact level was appropriate. This guideline is from the USA Taekwondo Referee training information.  We will utilize the guideline of “Touch” and “Tap” contact.

Source: USA Taekwondo Referee Sparring Rules Training PowerPoint

If a referee determines that the contact level is within acceptable levels of control in the range of Touch or Tap but one competitor is still visibly shaken or crying, the referee must determine if the contest shall continue.  .

From the USA Taekwondo Referee training material: “Inability to continue because of fright, crying or loss of will following a kick to the head does not constitute grounds for disqualification of the attacker.”

Points

Points will be awarded for competitors who execute foot techniques and hand techniques within the designated USAT rules and with the spirit of Taekwondo in mind.

  • 1-Point: Valid strike to the opponent’s hogu with a legally acceptable hand technique. (This point will need to be manually via judge’s call.)
  • 2-Points: Valid strike to the body of the opponent’s chest protector (hogu) with a legally acceptable foot technique.
  • 3-Points: Valid turning kicks to the opponent’s hogu with a legally acceptable foot technique.
  • 4-Points: Valid strike to the correct head area depending on rank and age with a legally acceptable foot technique of appropriate intensity.
  • 5-Points: Valid turning kick to the head area with a legally acceptable foot technique. (Black Belt Adults ONLY)

Winning, Ties, and Judges Superiority

Winners will be determined at the end of the sparring rounds. 

Any Tie score will be determined by a Golden Point Round of equal time to one regular round of the contest.  The first athlete to score a clean, valid, and appropriate-level point will be the winner of the match. Any Tie that is still undecided at the end of the Golden Point Round will be decided first by the number of penalties then second by rule of Judges Superiority

Registration

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Alexandria Open