Point Sparring Rules

MASKS point sparring rules

Competitors age as of January 1 year of the competition. Competitors may move up in age and rank but will not be able to move down.

Black belt Rounds

In point fighting all elimination fights are one round lasting two minutes.

Two point Victory rule: If at the end of regulation time the match is tied, or if one fighter is only ahead by one point, the match continues until one fighter achieves a two point lead.

Mercy Rule: If one fighter attains a lead of 10 points during the eliminations they are instantly declared the winner.

Black Belt Men’s Weight divisions

Light weight Black Belt men’s sparring division 165lbs and under.

Heavy weight Black Belt Men’s sparring division 166lbs and up.

Under belt Rounds

In point fighting all elimination fights are one round lasting two minutes.

All Under Belt matches are to 7 points. The winner is declared upon who scores to 7 first, or has more points after 2 minutes. There is no 2 point win rule in underbelt divisions.

The competitor

The competitor must be dressed in a clean and appropriate uniform.

The competitor should be wearing a clean sparring or traditional uniform.

The pants must reach the feet and be open on the bottom.

There should be no zip fasteners, pockets, hard plastic or metallic clasps or buttons.

Competitors cannot wear any metal objects that may cause injuries to the opponent.

Piercings, chains, watches or earrings that can be removed are not allowed.

Eyeglasses are forbidden; soft contact lenses are allowed at the competitor’s own risk.

Competitors may wear badges or their respective clubs, associations or sponsors.

Names and slogans are permitted as long as they do not offend public decency.

Headbands, hairnets and scarves are not allowed since they may slip.

Long hair must be fastened by an elastic band.

Competitor equipment

The equipment must include:

Approved Martial Art head gear.
Mouth guard (gum shield).
Open hand gloves (foam gloves) that must have the fingers and thumbs enclosed.
Safety kicks (Ringstars are allowed).
Groin protector that must be worn under clothes
Shin guards that must be worn under clothes.
Face shields - allowed only in under belt division unless deemed necessary for a medical condition and will be considered a part of the headgear as a scoring area.

Competitors may additionally wear:

Hand bandages, maximum length of 3.5 meters though no tape on the fist or knuckles.
Elbow and knee protectors.
Breast protector for females.
Safety goggles (permitted for competitors who need prescription eye wear).

Scoring area

Black belt Scoring area:

Front, back, side and top of the head.
Front and side of the body.
Sweeps:
- Boot to boot contact.
- Every action must be controlled, clean and well timed.
- In the event of a downed opponent, the other competitor is allowed three seconds to score by punching to the body.
- No kicks are allowed while the opponent is on the ground.
- The center referee will count to three in his head before calling stop.

Under Belt Scoring area:

Area covered by head gear and/or face shield.
- No face contact is allowed. Contact to the face in all under belt divisions will be an immediate point to the person who was hit with intentional face contact. The referee’s will stop the fight and determine if the technique was deliberate or unintentional.
Front and side of the body.
Sweeps:
- Boot to boot contact of the front leg only.
- Every action must be controlled, clean and well timed.
- In the event of a downed opponent, the other competitor is allowed three seconds to score by punching to the body.
- No kicks are allowed while the opponent is on the ground.
- The center referee will count to three in his head before calling stop.

Black Belt/Under Belt Point scoring:

Black Belt Scoring:
- Definition of a point: when a legal technique hits a legal target area.
- The competitor scoring must remain on their feet. E.g., the technique must be completed to score, unless the competitor is thrown or pushed to the floor.
Every clean and well controlled technique to a permitted target area and executed with light contact scores, according to the degree of difficulty, as follows:
- All punches to head or body, 1 point.
- Foot sweep 1 point (a competitor is swept if any body part other than their feet touch the floor and their balance is broken after an opponent’s attack. A follow up kick to an opponent on the ground is not allowed, only a punch to the body. Both front leg and base leg are legal).
- Sweep and punch follow up 2 points.
- Kick to the body 1 point.
- Kick to the head 2 points.
- Jump kick to the body 2 points.
- Jump kick to the head 3 points.

Under Belt Scoring:
- Definition of a point: when a legal technique hits a legal target area.
- The competitor scoring must remain on their feet. E.g., the technique must be completed to score, unless the competitor is thrown or pushed to the floor.
Every clean and well controlled technique to a permitted target area and executed with light contact scores, according to the degree of difficulty, as follows:
- All punches to head or body, 1 point.
- Foot sweep to lead leg only, 1 point (a competitor is swept if any body part other than their feet touch the floor and their balance is broken after an opponent’s attack. A follow up kick to an opponent on the ground is not allowed, only a punch to the body.).
- Sweep with punch follow up 2 points.
- Kick to the body 1 point.
- Kick to the head 2 points.
- Jump kick to the body 2 points.
- Jump kick to the head 3 points.

Prohibited actions

Sweep and/or kick to areas above the mid-calf, knee and thigh (low kick)
Any strike to the groin.
Any strike to the back of the body.
Scratching, biting, spitting, verbal attacks to the referees or opponent.
Any strike after match is stopped by referee.
Any uncontrolled actions.

Leaving the fighting area or falling down to waste time.

Coaching

Only one coach is allowed and he/she is to stay seated.
If the coach feels there has been an infringement of the rules, he/she may indicate to the center referee using the sign “T” for time.
At no time may the coach enter the fighting area.
The referee may give a penalty point due to infringement of the rules by actions of the coach.

Referee/Officiant

In each fighting area, the referee acts as the “ring inspector.”
The referee is responsible that all MSKC rules will be correctly applied in their ring.
The referee may stop time to give a warning or minus-point.
Referee’s must comply and be knowledgeable of all MSKC rules.

Refereeing:

The center referee, upon scoring will count opinions of themselves as well as other corner referees.
The scoring is done by the center referee following a majority system only.
When a referee sees a score they must indicate IMMEDIATELY.
After each acknowledged technique the fight has to be stopped and the score announced.
Points are awarded only by unanimous or majority decision of the referee and the judges.
The main referee must in any case show his own opinion; he cannot give a score without raising his own hand to show the point before he stops the competition, if there is no majority.
Referees can score for either fighter, indicate no call (i.e., did not see), or a clash.
Referees call a point(s) for one fighter by pointing at that fighter with appropriate numbers of fingers extended.
A referee will place hand(s) in front of his eyes indicating that he did not see the point scored.
A referee will cross hands down low indicating a clash, no points awarded.
If a referee wants to show that the contact was too hard he will punch his fist into the other hand.
To give a warning or a penalty point (minus point) the main referee must inform the competitor why he was penalized.

**Note: No double point calls allowed. If both fighters score at the same time a judge is to call a clash.

**Note: If one referee calls for 1 point, and the other judge calls for 2 points then the fighter receives 1 point.

Permitted techniques

Jab
Punch with fore fist
Reverse punch
Back fist
Ridge hand
Front kick
Side kick
Spinning back kick
Roundhouse kick
Inside out Roundhouse/Twist kick
Hook kick
Crescent kick
Axe kick
Sweeps below calf
Any jump kick.
- All techniques must display control, balance and focus.

Illegal techniques

Spinning back fist
Elbow strikes
Throws
Pushing with arms
Low kicks
Knees
Head butts
Using any kick or technique that requires one hand to touch the floor.

Exit rule

Exit means the 1 whole foot must be outside the competition area. In case of an exit, the attacking competitor must remain in the area to score. If the defender steps out of the area and is scored upon before the center referee stops the match, the score is valid.

Contact and injury situations

In the event of a strike that dazes an opponent the center referee must stop the time then ask the corner referee’s their opinion on the injuring strike. If the majority decide the contact was excessive and/or intentional, the referee will penalize the offender. If they decide on unintentional contact, there is no penalty.
If one of the competitors is injured, it is only the decision of a medical professional, the competitor or his coach to stop the fight.
An injured fighter has 5 minutes to resume the match. If they cannot continue at that time the match is over.
The referee cannot decide how seriously a competitor is injured. In case of injury the referee must always call the doctor/ medic.
If one of the competitors is injured and the fight is over because of a foul, the innocent competitor is declared winner.
In case of an accident, the competitor with the highest number of points is declared winner.
If a draw, the uninjured competitor is the winner.

Warning and Penalty-Points

Any infringements of the rules, depending on how severity and intent, may result in a warning, penalty (minus) point or even disqualification.
Warnings will be carried throughout the match.
Striking any illegal area is an immediate point for the opponent who received the illegal hit.
- Groin is included in this rule for both Black Belt and Under Belt.
- Face contact is included in this rule for all Under Belts. (Note that the headgear is not considered as “face contact”)

Warnings for “exit” will be kept separate from warnings for other offenses.
It is up to the referee to give a minus-point instead of a warning, when in his opinion the violation was excessive (always falling down or wasting time).
If a competitor voluntary steps out of a fighting area or is refusing to fight, the referee has the option to add 10 seconds to the fight time.
- This is separate from other violations. The warnings and penalty (minus) points are given for using illegal techniques or doing prohibited actions, as well as any illegal action from coaches.

The procedure for warning is as follows:
- First warning
- Second warning
- Third warning
- First minus point
- Second minus point
- Disqualification

The procedure for voluntary exit is usually as follows:
- First warning
- Second warning
- Third warning
- first minus point
- Second minus point
- Disqualification

Competition Safety Rules

Competitors may only participate if they are completely healthy.
Upon suspicion of illness a competitor must be examined by the on-site doctor/medical team who will decide whether that competitor may participate or not.
A competitor has 5 minutes to re-enter the ring and resume the match after an injury.
Eyeglasses are forbidden; soft contact-lenses are allowed and safety sport goggles are allowed but at the competitors own risk.

Protesting

The scoring of the referee and judges are final.
Protests against the decisions of the referee or judge can only be accepted in the event that the competition rules have not been correctly applied.
The protest must be made immediately after the alleged infraction or directly after the match.
The protest is first made to the center referee, and then if a satisfactory answer is not found, the protest moves to the Head Referee/arbitrator.
The Head Referee/arbitrator will hear the protest, talk to the judges, and then make his or her decision.
His or her decision is final.

Bodily fluids

All body fluids such as blood or vomit, will be cleaned up by instructors, coaches, or parents.