“But Sensei”, he
said, “I got ripped off!” “That guy won because they gave
him a point that he didn’t really score.” “Well”, I replied,
“I seem to remember that last time you won with a point that
you didn’t really deserve, and I didn’t hear any complaints
then.” His face reflected a good dose of reality. My student
had just learned a lesson about human nature, and himself
You know, it’s amazing. Let someone win that way, and I
have yet to see him or her return a trophy. But let them
lose that way, and some people act as if they had been
purposely singled out, and irreversibly damaged. Get a grip.
I have seen people who are qualified, fair, honest, and
above reproach, make a complaint about calls made by an
individual who is considered just as qualified, just as
fair, just as honest, and just as above reproach. So which
one is incompetent, incorrect, or cheating? At least one of
those choices is the assertion that is being made, isn’t it?
It is my experience that when an individual is outside
of the ring, their perspective of a call is influenced by
where they are standing, who is around them, how intently
they are watching, and if the competitor they are interested
in is winning or losing. It’s not that anyone is trying to
be unfair. But it is the reason the root word of “Fan” is
“Fanatic”.
Ask ten people who had just seen an accident or a
robbery what they saw, and you will get ten different
stories, similar but different. Even people experienced in
observation have a tendency to differ in their reports. Are
they lying?
I understand that when most people are being critical
of judges or referees it is only because they want the
competition to be as fair as possible. Well……… who doesn’t?
Seriously, who doesn’t? Of course there are those few who
make it a habit to continually find something wrong with
officiating. These people will never be pleased because it
is either their nature to be contrary, or their concept of
the realities of open competition were developed while
watching Sesame Street or Barney.
Lets break this all down a bit. Forms competition is
more open to interpretation of the judges. The first three
competitors are run to establish an average from which to
score. Judges may be points apart, however, as long as their
scoring is relative from competitor to competitor everything
is considered acceptable. When five judges are scoring, the
high and the low points are dropped in order to average out
the score, and to eliminate the perception of the
manipulation of points in one direction or another.
In Ju-Jitsu sparring, most of the action happens down
on the mat with the contestants locked and attempting to
establish a superior position. One referee is used because
with the action as close as it is, it is necessary to be
right on top of the competitors. Any more than one referee
and they would be getting in each other’s way.
In karate sparring the job gets tougher. The techniques
are multiple, and the action is fast and in a constant state
of flux. That is why there is always a center referee, and
two or four corner referees to cover the action. Remember,
the referees are not only sorting out points from
techniques, good and bad, being thrown by two people at
once, but also they are looking for fouls and ring
violations.
Good referees understand that you must see a technique
completed at the target in order to call it a point. They
might have seen the technique travel all the way until it
was inches from the target before the competitor’s body
obscured their view. They might have even seen the receiving
competitor lurch, or heard a thud, or the spectators yell.
It makes no difference. If they did not actually see the
technique to point of completion, they should not assume it
was a point. That is one of the reasons you often see a
referee give the “hands covering the eyes” signal when a
point is called for.
In the final analysis, nothing can be awarded in the
sparring ring without verification from a majority of
officials. This alone gives credence to the validity of the
calls. And, since out of all the tournaments I have ever
been to, I have never once been asked to a meeting to
discuss whom we were going to cheat, we can forget about any
conspiracy theories. There is something sad about someone
who feels that they are so good that in order to lose they
have to be conspired against.
Lastly, we have the arbitrators as quality control. It
is not only their job to arbitrate disputes on calls and
interpret the rules, but to also watch for, and replace,
referees who do not follow the rules, consistently make bad
calls, are not committed to their position, are not in
keeping with the spirit of the event, or more interested in
watching their student two rings over.
The Martial Arts does not stand alone. Disagreeing with
officials is an age old, honored pastime at all sporting
events. It’s a chance for spectators, competitors, and
coaches alike to complain. It allows everyone to become
involved, and let’s face it people love to complain.
The world is becoming overloaded with all kinds of
groups trying to make all kinds of competitions “fair” for
everyone, even to the point of eliminating having anyone
lose. We need to face the fact that they are also watering
down the drive and motivation of the competitors. If you do
not have winners and losers, you do not have a competition;
you have an exercise in mediocrity.
This is the real world. There are winners and losers.
At competitions the people who keep the rules and judge the
events do their best but at times are fallible like any
other normal human being. This is the unknown factor, the
wild card that truly reflects real life.
As we hone our abilities and streamline our
competitions we are doing everything possible to keep the
officiating at a high and responsible level. Personally, I’m
proud of the quality, and an unusually infrequent number of
complaints justify my feelings.
No one will never be able to “idiot proof” any sporting
event that is actually conducted as competitive. However,
finding a way to eliminate the complainers, whiners,
moaners, and self-proclaimed infallible experts would be a
great start.