ATA Black Belt Academy - ATA sparring rules

ATA Tournament Rules

This is an unofficial summary of the rules of ATA sparring competition. For the official rules, please click here.

Legal target areas
Hand strikes are allowed to the front of the body only. The legal target area is the region above the belt, below the neck, and in front of the side seams of the uniform. Hand strikes are not permitted to the back, the head, or below the belt.

Kicks are allowed to the front of the body (just like hand strikes) and also to the front, sides or back of the head. (This includes the sides and back of the neck, but not the front of the neck.) Kicks are not permitted to the back or below the belt.

Forbidden techniques
The following techniques are not permitted:

Grabs or holds
Joint locks
Sweeps
Throws
Spinning (blind) hand strikes
Pressure points
Elbow or knee strikes
Any technique to an illegal target area

Scoring points
Full contact is not permitted in ATA tournaments. To score, a technique need only come within a short distance of the target (black belts should touch the target lightly). If it is clear that the only reason you did not penetrate the target is that you chose not to do so (as opposed to your partner preventing you from doing so by blocking or evading) then the judges should give you the point.

Points are awarded on the following basis

One point: Any hand strike or kick to a legal part of the body (below the neck)
Two points: Any kick to a legal part of the head, or any jump kick to a legal part of the body (below the neck)
Three points: Any jump kick to a legal part of the head

Warnings
Any illegal conduct can earn you a warning from the judges. In particular, you will be warned for kicks or hand strikes to illegal target areas. If you get two warnings then your partner is awarded a "penalty point." For each additional warning, your partner gets another point.

If you make physical contact to an illegal target area (such as a punch to the head), then your partner is awarded a penalty point. If your conduct is malicious or reckless then you can be disqualified from the match.

Winning
A competition match lasts two minutes. If you score five points or more before that time limit is reached, then you win the match. If not, then the person with the most points at the end of the two minutes is the winner. If the score is tied after two minutes, then the match enters a "Sudden Victory" round. All points and warnings are wiped clean and the next point wins the match.

| Schreiber's ATA home | Taos ATA home |