Karate competition and mats

[localman]

Can anyone please confirm whether all karate competitions (kumite) are routinely conducted on mats? If so, when was this introduced and it there an article I can access discussing this? Many thanks.

[Zaine]

I believe that depends on the location and organizers. Some use it and some don't. I'm not sure as to when it started however.

[Dobbersky]

I believe that depends on the location and organizers. Some use it and some don't. I'm not sure as to when it started however.

Most Competitions are regulated by governing bodies such as the JKA, JKF, WKO, WKA and WUKO etc. It does stipulate the use of mats etc in the terms and conditions of their Kumite Rules including sizes etc.

Also I believe that it is a general requirement from an insurance point of view that mats of some discription are used.

For Kata it is a different issue.

I have seen in Videos on You Tube that local competitions being held I think in a hotel or conference centre being performed on carpets with the "areas" taped out.

I would suggest contacting the above Karate Bodies to see if they would be able to provide the info, unless of course someone of here knows

[sojobo]

Dobbersky,

You missed out WKF.

They are the largest International Karate assoc. in the world.

The JKA, JKF etc. are all affiliated to them.

Their comps are always conducted on tatami (both kata and kumite).

Sojobo

[Montana]

I've been judging and refing tournaments since around 1980 and have never seen mats used. Generally hard wood (gymnasium) or tile floors.

[Catfish]

Sometimes it depends on the venue, but it's becoming more and more common to have mats - particularly on say a concrete floor with zero give in it, which is the norm in larger multi- use venues.

My personal opinion is mats are OK for kumite, but thick mats are very difficult to get used to for balance in kata, and unless the mats provided are interlocking then they have a tendency to slip and leave gaps which slows the tournament down as they are pushed back together between competitors. As another poster said, insurance / health and safety may be at the bottom of this.

[JohnASE]

As you can see, the answer is no, not ALL competitions are on mats.

The most common type I've seen used is the puzzle mat. They're typically one meter square with interlocking, puzzle-type edges. They're available in various thicknesses and colors and often reversible. I could be mistaken, but I thought the WKF used puzzle mats, at least I thought the USANKF used them.

Quoted from WKF rules...

The competition area will be a matted square, of a WKF approved type, with sides of eight metres

(measured from the outside) with an additional two metres on all sides as a safety area. There will

be a clear safety area of two metres on each side.

I've seen reversible red and blue puzzle mats used with one color for the competition area and the for the safety area.

[brickshooter]

I'm under the impression that touraments don't get to choose matts or non matts. They only get to choose the arena. And most of the time, money decides. Since matts cost money, matted arenas will cost more. So unless it's a huge tournament where there is plenty of money to go around, most tournaments go with the lower priced wooden floor.

I've never seen cement or brick. But would cringe at the thought of such tournaments.

BTW, I think this is a regional issue. In the USA where there are abundant basketball gyms available for weekend rentals at rock bottom pricing, wooden floor tournaments seem to be the standard.

Japanese Karate tend to share their tournament arenas with Judo arenas where matts are standards. They'd probably charge you extra to remove the matts. In Europe, there's a split.

Edited January 9, 2012 by brickshooter

[sojobo]

Most WKF run comps I have been in have used Jigsaw (puzzle) mats.

Although, Judo tatami are also acceptable I believe.

They can be toe brakers though!

Sojobo

[bobo]

tournaments these days are pretty lame. Even the ones with the big promoters/money behind them are lucky to get a crowd of 100 people at most & they are usually relatives & friends. Poor Unqualified judging/judges , stupid gymnastics, people walking around looking like unhappy zombies they don't wanna be there, etc ... and they are usually held in some dark high school gymnasium. Makes you wonder why they even have them in the first place... Anyways, Why bother.