Tournament Guidelines

(adopted by SCKF Board 5/12/01)

tournament execution
- start on time
- kenshi, especially yudansha and adults, to help with court duty
- next shift always ready to go
entry forms
- distribute 4 weeks prior to deadline
- strict deadline
- must be turned in with check, or will not be accepted
- entry form includes shinpan
- dojos must submit only those participants and shinpan confirmed to attend
tournament duties
- support for events is a requirement for dojo membership in SCKF
  - keep a public record for individuals
  - may be a factor in promotional exam
- shinpan
  - court duty preassigned prior to tournament
  - post current and next shinpan on wall
  - runners to help track down next shinpan
  - have an extra court judge for giving breaks
  - do senior division and women's yudansha first, to make more shinpan available
  - consider having 3dan shinpan
- kenshi duties
  - sign in closed at a fixed time prior to start of tournament for all participants (see sign-in notes below)
  - yudansha: court duty for youth kyu, women's, senior
  - parents and older kyu: court duty for adult kyu
  - adult kyu, parents, older kyu: court duty for yudansha
- court duties
  - existing duties: announcer, timekeepers, scoreboard, tasuki
  - court coordinator: coordinate changes, shifts, kantosho
  - participant coordinators: new division lined up to go in, next participants ready to go, also assist court coordinator (runners, etc)
- toban
  - duties: setup, refreshments/bento, donations, clean up
  - assign dojo toban in advance, distribute it fairly based on membership and previous assignments
  - outside patrol: ask Explorer Scouts or other volunteer service groups, offer them bento
tournament program and miscellaneous
- opening ceremony: all participants march in, shinpan lined up
- kata
  - should be masters' demonstration (5 dan and above)
  - rotate through dojos, head instructor recommends performers
- late entries (after deadline or on day of taikai)
  - must pay a late fee, recommend $10
  - requires tournament chair approval and receipt of all fees by treasurer (be especially watchful of this on tournament day)
- sign-in
  - replaces roll call for older ranks. Keep roll call for youth 0-6kyu and 5-4kyu groups.
  - sign in at a fixed time prior to start of tournament for all participants. Example: close sign-in at 8:45am for a tournament scheduled to start at 9am.
  - late sign in
    - for hardship cases, head instructor may sign in for the kenshi (must be before close of sign in). If kenshi doesn't show, an additional $10 fee will be assessed to the dojo.
    - after close of sign in: requires tournament chair approval and receipt of late fee by treasurer
- women's and senior divisions
  - women: have kyu and dan, but if 8 or less yudansha then either move 1kyu up or merge dan with kyu (in one branch)
  - senior
    - restrict to yudansha only
    - two age groups, tentatively 50-59 and 60+ but distribute based on actual entries. If 16 or less total participants, have 4 trophies total (two sets of 1st/2nd).
    - allow 5 dan and above to shinpan
- donations: post acknowledgements as collected (dojos and individuals)
- need a head instructor's meeting, to establish baselines for participation/responsibility, standards for promotion, etc
amended by SCKF Board 9/8/01
For kyu kenshi wearing a dark blue keikogi/uwagi, it is up to each dojo whether to require a white stripe approximately 1" wide encircling the left sleeve.

Tournament Committee members: Jean Kodama, Tim Yuge, James Yamasaki, Janet Kurokouchi, Ted Yoshimura, Minoru Sakae, Mitsuyo Sakae, Tomoji Kato, Warren Asakura, Cary Mizobe

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