In order to have a good experience in any competition, it is extremely
important to be familiar with the rules. Every competition has its own
rules, and the World Martial Arts Championships (WMAC)
are no exception.
These following pages are NOT a detailed listing of all the rules and
interpretation. A more detailed online version is available through the
links in the left hand menu, but the full set
of rules is available as a PDF from the links at the right, in the DOWNLOADS
menu.
These pages will however provide brief summaries of the rules, which
should give you a good idea of what will be expected of you and what you
can expect from the tournament officials.
SPARRING
WMAC has three types of sparring. Points, Freestyle, and Full Contact.
The first two are non-contact and light touch contact only methos of sparring,
where all strikes must NOT hit their targets, but should be performed
with balance and distance and control such that the attacker COULD make
effective contact if so desired. Blocking of course, must have some contact
to effectively invalidate an attack.
In Point Sparring, one, two, or three points can be awarded, depending
on technique for a maximum of 12 points, and competition is stopped to
award points, warnings, and penalties. A six point advantage also results
in a win.
In Freestyle Sparring, contact is light touch only i.e. just barely touching
the uniform, but not making impact on the body. The emphasis is on ring
craft, skill (both in attacking and blocking) and stamina. The bout is
not stopped except to award warnings and penalties, or to bring competitors
back into the ring, and the decision is determined by a show of judges
hands or flags.
This is knock-down, knock-out fighting, based on Kyokushin style knock-down
rules. Bare knuckles, with only groin and mouth-guards. Women are also
permitted breast guards. Essentially, no hand-techniques to the neck and
up, no joint, groin, and spine attacks. No grabbing or takedowns, other
than those effected using a leg sweep. You can score either 1 or 2 points.
One point is a knockdown for less than 3 seconds, and 2 points is a TKO
or KO (and win). Winner is based on points, and in cases of overwhelming
superiority without points, it can be based on majority decision only.
This type of fighting is not legal in some regions and will not
be offered in those places.
LEVELS OF CONTACT
AMAC has defined six levels of contact. Only three of these are used,
as shown in the figure below. Points sparring should basically have NO
contact for attacks. In 2009, Freestyle sparring will allow TOUCH contact
only i.e. just touching the uniform. All the other requirements of balance,
poise, and distance still remain as before. The at the other end of the
contact spectrum, we have full contact - knockout/knockdown.
Click on the figure if you'd like to download a larger version as a PDF,
along with a bit more detail, or the link at the right hand side.
SPARRING
