TOURNAMENT RULES

The Warrior Open follows the official ITF Taekwon-Do tournament rules, with a few exceptions. These exceptions are mentioned in the Warrior Open regulations, which you can view below.

If you have any questions regarding the ruleset, please email our organising committee at info@TheWarriorOpen.com and we’d be happy to help.

ITF TAEKWON-DO RULES

If you would like to download a copy of the ITF Taekwon-Do rules, you can do so by clicking the button below.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE RULES

THE WARRIOR OPEN RULES

The following amendments and replacements to the Official ITF Taekwon-Do Rules of Competition are in effect for The Warrior Open to be held in London, United Kingdom. These amendments will either overrule or complement the ITF Rules of Competition.

GENERAL
DIVISIONS
EQUIPMENT
PATTERNS
SPARRING
DISPUTES
GENERAL

T2. APPLICATION (amendment)

These rules are applied at The Warrior Open for both grade and degree holders.

T5. COMPETITORS (amendment)

The Warrior Open classifies male and female competitors as Lil’ Warriors/Pee Wees (5-6 Years), Cadets (7-13 Years), Junior (14 – 17), Senior (18 and over). Competitors can be from 10th grade up to 6th degree.

T6. DRESS REQUIREMENTS (replacement)

Competitors can only wear white doboks, any brand desired is allowed. No other colours are allowed. The ITF dress code rules for 1st – 3rd degree and 4th – 6th degree doboks have to be observed. The organising committee must approve all sponsors.

T8. MEDICAL ATTENTION (amendment)

At The Warrior Open there will be no tournament doctor, only qualified first aid personnel. The first aid personnel will replace the doctor when referred to in the official ITF rules.

T9. INJURY LIABILITY AND INSURANCE (replacement)

See the paragraph on liability in the official The Warrior Open invitation.

T11. RING SIZE (replacement)

For sparring the competition ring size will be 6 by 6 meters competition space. Each ring will have at least one (1) meter extra jig saw padding floor around the ring. For pattern the competition ring size will be 8 by 8 meters competition space.

T12. RESULT RECORDING (replacement)

Results will be made public within 2 weeks after The Warrior Open on the SportData website www.sportdata.org.

T15. AWARDS (replacement)

Prizes for competitors finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd will be awarded in each category.

T18. COMPETITION NUMBERS (replacement)

Individual Cadet / Junior / Senior:

There is no restriction on the number of competitors subscribed per club/school/country.

T20. DRAW FOR ORDER OF COMPETITION (replacement)

The organising committee decides on the order of competition.

T21. WEIGHT CHECK (replacement)

Weight checks will be held at times appointed by the organising committee. Competitors not making their weight at the first weight check, will have until the closure of the final weight check to present themselves at the correct weight. In case a competitor has to switch categories on the day of competition because of not making their weight, the organisation will charge £15,- administration fee. All competitors must make the weight in their ITF dobok trousers and T-shirt. 500 gram difference will be used.

For example; a competitor is the -70kg category needs to weigh between 63.5kg and 70.5kg.

DIVISIONS

T17. DIVISION OF COMPETITION (replacement)

The Warrior Open differentiates competitors into the following classes:

C-class: 10th Kup – 5th Kup

B-class: 4th Kup – 1st Kup

A-class: 1st Dan – 6th Dan

In case a competitor has to switch categories on the Friday before the competition, the organisation will charge £15,- administration fee.

Pattern competition:

Pattern competition will be divided into the following categories:

Category	Grades
Cadet Female & Male	10th – 9th Kup 8th – 7th Kup 6th – 5th Kup 4th Kup – 2nd Dan
Junior Female & Male	10th – 8th Kup 7th – 5th Kup 4th – 1st Kup 1st Dan 2nd Dan
Senior Female & Male	10th – 8th Kup 7th – 5th Kup 4th – 1st Kup 1st Dan 2nd Dan 3rd Dan 4th Dan and up

(The organisation has the right to divide / combine categories, depending on the number of entries).

Sparring competition:

All C-class sparring will be performed according to point-stop system, where the center referee stops the bout after a potentially scored point (i.e. golden point rules, described in amended T40). All A-/B-class sparring is according to the ‘normal’ continuous system.

EQUIPMENT

T7. SAFETY EQUIPMENT AND PROTECTIVE WEAR (replacement)

All competitors in sparring must wear:

Hand and feet safety equipment, not necessarily red or blue. The glove must enclose the fingers, no boxing gloves allowed.
Groin guards (for male competitors) that must be worn inside the Dobok trousers.
Head guards, not necessarily red or blue.
Mouth guards, must be transparent.

All safety equipment must be made of soft materials, provide enough protection for both acting competitors and be of an approved type by the organising committee. In case of uncertainty, the Head of Umpires will have the final decision.

Competitors may, optionally, wear the following:

Shin protectors.
Breast protectors (for female competitors) that must be worn inside the Dobok jacket.
Groin guards (for female competitors) that must be worn inside the Dobok trousers.

These all being of an approved type consisting of elasticised material with sponge or rubber type padding and containing no metal, bone or hard plastic (except for groin guards and breast protectors), the use of zip, lace or stud fasteners is forbidden.

No other protective or safety equipment may be worn, except in special circumstances with the approval of the Head of Umpires. All competitors with injuries, which require bandaging or strapping of any kind must satisfy the Tournament doctor or first aid personnel of their need, and obtain approval of type before performing. I.e. no pins or hard material can be worn. No jewellery, watches or other adornments may be worn, hair may be kept in place using a material of a soft elastic nature only, no grips or slides are allowed.

PATTERNS

T26 & 27. PATTERN CATEGORIES AND DECISIONS – INDIVIDUAL (replacement)

The pyramid system of elimination will be used. Hereunder you can see the amount of patterns, and whether optional/designated pattern(s) will be asked.

Grade	Option
All C-class competitors	One (1) optional pattern
All B-class competitors & All A-class Youth competitors	One (1) designated pattern (excluding the new grade pattern)
All A-class Junior & Senior competitors	Two (2) designated patterns

The following list shows which pattern can be chosen as an optional pattern or assigned as a designated pattern, divided by grade or degree:

Grade	C-class + Jun/Sen A-class	B-class + youth A-class
10th/9th Kup:	up to & inc. Chon-Ji	–
8th Kup:	up to & inc. Dan-Gun	–
7th Kup:	up to & inc. Do-San	–
6th Kup:	up to & inc. Won-Hyo	–
5th Kup:	up to & inc. Yul-Gok	–
4th Kup:	up to & inc. Joong-Gun	up to & inc. Yul-Gok
3rd Kup:	up to & inc. Toi-Gye	up to & inc. Joong-Gun
2nd Kup:	up to & inc. Hwa-Rang	up to & inc. Toi-Gye
1st Kup:	up to & inc. Choong-Moo	up to & inc. Hwa-Rang
1st Dan:	up to & inc. Ga-Baek	up to & inc. Choong-Moo
2nd Dan:	up to & inc. Juche	up to & inc. Choong-Moo
3rd Dan:	up to & inc. Choi-Yong	–
4th Dan and Up:	up to & inc. Moon-Moo	–

Individual umpires shall decide on the winner by raising their hand on either the red or blue side in C-class. The jury president will announce the winner according to the majority of votes. At A- and B-class umpires will electronically score the patterns using a tablet, determining the outcome of the bout. The jury president will announce the winner according to the outcome of the electronic system.

SPARRING

T31. DIVISIONS (amendment)

Individual:

Sparring competition will be divided into the following categories:

Category	Weight Classes
Youth Female C-/B-class:	-130, -140, -150, -165, +165 cm
Youth Male C-/B-class:	-130, -140, -150, -165, +165 cm
Youth Female A-class:	-145, -160, +160
Youth Male A-class:	-150, -165, +165
Junior Female C-/B-class:	-50, -60, +60kg
Junior Male C-/B-class:	-55, -65, +65kg
Junior Female A-class:	-45, -50, -55, -60, -65, +65 kg
Junior Male A-class:	-50, -56, -62, -68, -75, +75 kg
Senior Female C-/B-class:	-60, -70, +70kg
Senior Male C-/B-class:	-65, -75, +75kg
Senior Female A-class:	-50, -56, -62, -68, -75, +75kg
Senior Male A-class:	-57, -63, -70, -78, -85, +85 kg

The following list shows which pattern can be chosen as an optional pattern or assigned as a designated pattern, divided by grade or degree:

T32. DURATION OF BOUTS AND DECISIONS (amendment)

Individual:

Duration of bouts in A-/B-class youth & C-class:

Youth	1 x 1.5 min (with 30 sec extension)
Junior	1 x 2 min (with 1 min extension)
Senior	1 x 2 min (with 1 min extension)

Duration of bouts in A-/B-class juniors/seniors:

Junior	2 x 2 min (with 1 min extension)
Senior	2 x 2 min (with 1 min extension)

(The organising committee has the right to alter the match duration)

T40. BOUT PROCEDURE – INDIVIDUAL (amendment)

C-class sparring will be performed according to the point-stop system. Within this system official ITF rules apply, however the centre referee will stop the bout directly after a potential score and will ask the corner referees to show the score. Corner referees will do this by holding up their hand at either the red or blue side and show the amount of points with their fingers. The score will be awarded to the competitor who scored the first point.

When two (2) or more corner referees show the same amount of points for one (1) competitor, the score will be awarded.
When two (2) corner referees award the same amount of points for one competitor and the other two (2) corner referees the same amount of points for the other competitor, no score will be awarded.
When two (2) corner referees award the same amount of points for a competitor and the other two (2) corner referees the same amount of points that is higher to the same competitor, the highest score will be awarded.

DISPUTES

T52. PROTEST (amendment)

At The Warrior Open, the protest fee will be £75.

T58 & 59. ITF TOURNAMENT & UMPIRE COMMITTEE (replacement)

The Warrior Open does not make use of the official ITF tournament & umpire committee, but has an own organising committee and Head of Umpires as can be seen in the official invitation.

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