Question for any form/kata/patterns etc. judges

[DWx]

How much should a competitor bow before performing kata?

I usually bow before walking on, bow when the command is given and bow when they tell me to walk off again.

Watching various vids on youtube and I saw this one student pemanantly bobbing up and down in front of the panel.

To me this just seems over the top as I think it does actually look sloppy. How do you guys feel about it? How much do you recommend?

[Rateh]

Bow to the previous opponent as they are leaving the ring, bow when you enter the ring, bow when you reach the judges before announcing who you are, bow when they say to begin, bow when they give your scores and you leave, and bow to the next opponent when they enter the ring.

Thats...6 bows I believe. Alternately you could bow to EVERY judge when you first approch them, which would mean the six bows, plus an extra for every extra judge. So if there are three judges that would be eight bows total. Five judges would give you ten bows.

[DWx]

hmm, forgot about mentioning bowing to the opponent, I do that anyway. I've always been told not to bow when they tell you to begin. In all the tournaments I've done, the head judge shouts "ready" in korean and then after that every move is marked. Any additional motion after moving into the ready position is not liked, say for instance if you straightened your gi (why you would desparatly need to do this when you've only just walked on is beyond me but i have seen it happen)

...

[Rateh]

A lot of students straigten their gi's out of nervousness. Once when I was testing a 7 year old for his rank, all throught the test he kept straightening his gi. Not because it was messed up, but because he was nervous.

I'm guessing from what you just said you compete in tkd circuits only. In that case the bowing might be slightly different, I'm not sure. What I said applies to open circuits, where in most cases a judge doesn't know the form that is being presented. They just judge on technique, you could make up the form on the spot for all they know.

[bushido_man96]

I bow when my name is called, along with answering with an emphatic "Yes, sir!" Then, if they give a command for the bow, I do it again. Then, upon dismissal, I bow to them one more time.

[lordtariel]

I do all my straightening before I actually step forward to enter the ring. Then I walk to the center of the ring on the outside, bow onto the mat, step forward to position, bow again, announce kata, then begin. Typically I give each bow a 2-3 count. We bow to all the judges as a group right before we begin the competition.

[bushido_man96]

I also bow to the judges when shaking hands and receiving trophies, and then after they dismiss the group.

[cathal]

We don't bow a lot. We bow when we enter a ring and leave a ring. We'll bow before & after a kata as well.

In terms of sparring we bow upon entering the ring, and before & after the fight.

[Symphony-x]

i bow: before getting on the mat.

before i start my kata.

after i finish my kata

before i move off the mats

as i leave the mat

[Chuilli, Kyo Sah Nim]

Bow to the previous opponent as they are leaving the ring, bow when you enter the ring, bow when you reach the judges before announcing who you are, bow when they say to begin, bow when they give your scores and you leave, and bow to the next opponent when they enter the ring.

Thats...6 bows I believe. Alternately you could bow to EVERY judge when you first approch them, which would mean the six bows, plus an extra for every extra judge. So if there are three judges that would be eight bows total. Five judges would give you ten bows.

yes, rateh is right, those are all the appropriate times to bow, and bowing to all the judges just looks good so thats optional, but to keep away from the whole messing with your gi thing people have mentioned, which as a judge i HATE, when speaking to the judges get in, front position, your ready stance, or hands behind your back and feet together. also, i was talking to one of my students the other day in preparation for a tournament. he came up and he adressed the 'judges'(we were practicing it was me and two other dans) but he only addressed me, he was only looking at me. and i told him, hey there are alot of cocky dans out there, whom if you dont look at them personally they wont listen to you, so make sure you look at every single judge as you are addressing them and asking for permission, because after all if only takes one judge to say, 'no.'

good luck

in tang soo,

k.chuilli