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National Kyorugi Referee Seminar Summary

January 8, 2013 Vancouver, B.C.

The National Kyorugi Referee Seminar held on Jan. 8, 2013 in Vancouver, B.C. was the highest attended National Referee Seminar in recent history.

The head facilitator, Master William Jones provided the 36 participants (which included 20 National and International Referees as well as 16 high level Coaches finalizing their NCCP certification) with a detailed overview and open discussions pertaining to the new rules and interpretations.

Included in the list of coaches were Canada’s National Head Coach, Master Shin Lim and former Olympic Team Member, Ivett Gonda. Also in attendance was the Head Coach of the Royal Military College taekwondo team, Joel Ridely; Taekwondo Canada’s High Performance Director, Christian Hrab; Nova Scotia Coach and Taekwondo Canada Board of Director member Katy Pyke; and the Association’s Program Co-ordinator and former Olympic Bronze Medallist, Dominique Bosshart.

Understanding the roles and responsibilities of both referees and coaches was the overall theme of the seminar, focusing primarily on new rules and their interpretations. Coaches and referees participated in interactive discussions regarding numerous scenarios and concluded with recommended actions to the various scenarios. Referee Chair Eric Wah assisted Master Jones in the afternoon as the breakout groups focused on hand signals, correct methods and video replay scenarios. The seminar also provided extensive training on video replay procedures as well as appropriate situations for the use of video replay.

Testimonials

“This was very educational and useful. Master Jones’s delivery was exceptional – very clean and concise… was good to get other referees’ expertise.”

“Great course, loaded with relevant knowledge.”

“Each time I attend a seminar there is always something new to learn.”

“Scenarios for instant video replay practice were very educational.”

“The seminar was a great start to the week.”

Referee Reports:

News:

 

Referee Reports:

Ms. Denise Gareau’s Chun Cheon Open Experience

I have experienced the art of Taekwondo for many years and it was very exciting to be accepted as an international referee at the Chun Cheon Open in July. International competitions attract not only advanced athletes that train for years in different corners of the world, but also referees that are willing to share their experience and knowledge with each other. This rewarding experience gave me the opportunity to see the birth place of this amazing sport, meet many interesting people and make new friends.

This year in the Chun Cheon Open there were approximately 30 sparring referees.  There were six groups of five referees each to service 3 or 4 rings for the first 4 days.  A proper rotation was set up, so every one of us had the opportunity to be in the center at least once before we rotated out for break.  Other than sparring referees, there were poomsae referees who judged group poomsae, dance, individual poomsae, and competitions in breaking boards and bricks, which took place in the remaining rings.  On the last day, when the poomsae competitions were completed, all 5 rings were dedicated to sparring matches, which changed the schedule to a more taxing rotation where referees had to stay in the rings all day without possibility of extra breaks except for lunch.

Electronic body pads, which we often see at Nationals, were not used until the Olympic divisions on the last 2 days.  In the Pan Am region we normally use Daedo, Lajust or Adidas scoring systems, but for the international referee it is important to understand that other equipment can be used and we must quickly adjust to a new system.

A pre-fight inspection was a little different from what you would normally expect in a Canadian competition – there was no inspection except for mouth guard check at the start of a match.  Equipment in any state or age was allowed and it was not a surprise that not all of it made through the matches.

Even though the Chun Cheon Open was an international competition, there were a lot of Korean athletes present. It was very important to pay attention to your ring captain’s instructions since some of them were unique for this specific competition.  For example: in the Chun Cheon Open a 10 point gap any time in the second round was enough to terminate a match between 2 Korean athletes, but the regular 12 point gap rule was applied for everyone else. Additionally, one of the major rule changes was the introduction of the gamjeon for turning your back to run and avoid the attack of the opponent.

Competitive team sparring was a new experience to me during this tournament. Each of 5 teammates would take turns in the ring, where athlete’s turn was prompted by coach’s request.  Even though this type of competition is in the rule book, we rarely have the opportunity to experience it in Canada.

My referee team consisted of 3 Koreans and another foreigner, and even though the language barrier was not evident, sometimes it presented a unique challenge. On the other hand, many other referees did not speak English and it made it difficult for them to communicate with athletes and coaches.  This unique challenge presented a difficulty whenever a video replay was requested. Overall, video replay was well used and accepted, where the only deficiency was one camera view.

Coming from different countries and ethnic backgrounds it was a pleasant surprise to experience a well organized tournament not only in the rings, but also during the meals and living arrangements.  It was educational to discover that some hotels in Korea have rooms set up to follow a local tradition of using mats for sleeping arrangements.  I was sharing a room with a friend of mine from Mexico and we were lucky enough to each have western type beds.  Lunches were served at the tournament complex, but breakfasts and dinners were served in the hotel with enough variety of Korean and some western dishes to satisfy our basic needs. Every meal, including breakfast, had the Korean basics of rice, meat and kimchi which was unusual compared to my regular morning choices. To satisfy our curiosity about authentic Korean cuisine, organizers took us out one evening for a ‘sit-on-the-floor’ Korean BBQ experience.

Beautiful country with unique architecture, that we normally only see in the movies; interesting people, who extend you a hand of friendship without asking anything back; well organized tournament featuring amazing athletes and referees from all over the world – all of it made it easy for me to shed away my fears of unknown whenever you travel half the way across the world, enjoy my Korean experience and welcome a thought of future adventures as an international referee for the World Taekwondo Federation.

Denise Gareau

 

Ms. Barbara Marian’s Baku Experience

I left my home on Saturday afternoon, June 25th and headed to Pearson airport for my journey via Montreal and London Heathrow. I arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan airport at 11:30 pm on Sunday, June 26th, only to be greeted and whisked through the visa queue with the help of the pre-arranged IR greeters provided by the host TKD Federation. A 30 minute or so drive got me to the Park Inn, located on the harbor of the Caspian Sea. It was a nice, clean, comfortable hotel, with pleasant and eager, English speaking staff. Fortunately, the beds were comfortable as a good night’s sleep was necessary and welcomed.

On Monday morning at 8:15, 60 IR’s met in the lobby to be bused to the Sardhachi Sports Centre where the three day referee training began.  Shortly after the day-long lecture on rule interpretation began, we were joined by the WTF Secretary General who informed us that the Daedo PSS will not be used at this event.  Apparently, the night before saw a court in Korea respond favorably to LaJust’s request for an injunction against the use of Daedo PSS at this event. We were all very surprised and quite thrown for a loop, but we are professionals and can readily adapt as necessary. So, manual scoring it is.  Big kudos go to the Azerbaijan TKD Federation for supplying us with lots of young black belts who sparred for us for two full days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

We had many opportunities to practice with real players using the Swiss Timing scoring system during those two days. Since it had been quite a long time since many IR’s had used a manual scoring system (versus the PSS) it was a valuable training opportunity so that we could perform immediately with Match #1 on Thursday morning. During our training, we were told that mistakes would not be tolerated and were not acceptable. If we pushed a wrong button, we were to fix it right away. Any other kind of mistakes, be they intentional or from ignorance, would result in a trip to the airport and an immediate flight home.  ~No pressure~

I left the training a bit early on Wednesday afternoon to do the two hour weigh in, which was uneventful, with all female athletes making their weight the first time, and only four no shows. When that was completed, and dinner finished, several of us enjoyed a nice walk along the harbor of the Caspian Sea.

The four day competition began on time on Thursday morning (as it did each morning) with our first Canadian, Karine Sergerie competing, unfortunately coming up short and not making the qualification for the Games. I worked at inspection for a few hours in the afternoon which is always fun, because the atmosphere is quite relaxed. The competition day was running reasonably on schedule, but with the Opening Ceremony to add, the time seemed to drag on. The organizing committee thoughtfully provided us with some chicken sandwiches to hold us over until our late dinner. I was not able to go to dinner, as I had to spend some time in my hotel room working on the computer at my real job.

Friday brought some challenges for most of the referees with respect to our gastro functionality.  I think the chicken sandwich from the night before was a bit “off”. Some of the refs suffered to varying degrees of discomfort with some of us suffering for several days. Oh yay, I had the “pleasure” of the Mexico training camp repeating on me again L. No Canadian athletes competed today. Again, I skipped dinner for two reasons – one being gastro and the other being that my real job was calling me again.  I had to take care of my company’s fiscal year end process.

Saturday saw two Canadians competing, Ivette Gonda and Sebastian Michaud, who would eventually succumb to the very strong field. One match in particular that I had the pleasure of being the centre ref, was in the male minus 80 kgs division. It was great and going well, when suddenly my feet decided to stay where they were, when my body needed to back up. Well, yes, I had to call “kalyeo, shigan” from the horizontal position. The players stopped fighting, I got up and the crowd applauded. Too funny. It is on Dartfish for future viewing pleasure J .  I think we should include the horizontal “kalyeo and shigan” into our referee training.

Sunday, the last day, was Francois Coulombe-Fortier’s day, but it was not to be. Four Canadians did not qualify here, but they will have another opportunity in Mexico at the Pan Am Qualifier. I had another good day reffing and stayed on my feet (yay). I spent the afternoon at inspection, and got out in time to be a judge for the male plus 80 kgs final. We had a nice relaxing dinner and a couple of drinks at a harbor side establishment and then readied for the long journey home the next morning.

I arrived at home on Monday, July 4th at 11:15 pm. My bed felt sooooooooooo good.

Now we wait for an email from the WTF, which we should receive with the next week or so, advising us if we will continue on, and which of the regional qualifiers we have been appointed too. So, now we wait with baited breath…

Barbara Marian

 

Mr. William Jones’ Rio de Janeiro Experience

“FRIENDSHIP THROUGH SPORT” …. A CISM initiative

“THE PEACE GAMES” …. A Brazilian theme

Rio de Janeiro …. A Referees Journey

Many people wonder if being a taekwondo referee is really worth the years of study, the scrutiny, the financial cost and personal sacrifice …. read on and you decide …..

The Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) was established in 1948 by several European countries. Since then, the world military membership has grown to one hundred and thirty-three nations. With world markets unraveling, governments in constant strife, and countries engaged in war, there is a refreshing irony with these games that redirects the personal might of military teams worldwide to face each other in the sporting arena …. which proved to be one of the largest demonstrations of peace this world has ever witnessed. The 1st Military World Game (MWG) was held in Rome, Italy in 1995 to commemorate 50 years since the end of World War II.  Sixteen years later, on July 16, 2011, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil received the honour of hosting the 5th Military World Games….and what an event it was.

It was July 13, 2011, winter time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when we arrived.  The average daytime temperature was 25 C, night time was a comfortable 17 C.  With an altitude of only 201 ft above sea level, the conditions couldn’t have been better for a taekwondo tournament – the conditions were in fact ideal.

With a delegation of an estimated 200 members, the Canadian Forces (CF) were well represented in a large portion of competitions over this 8 day event including basketball, fencing, sailing, shooting, soccer, swimming, track & field, volleyball, triathlon and of course taekwondo. The organization and management of the CF team functioned like a “well-oiled machine”, starting months before the event. The organizers, Denis, Nathalie, Caroline, Lisa, Mark, Shawn and a multitude of others worked selflessly in the background to make our trip flawless. On the flip side, Brazil was challenged with the almost overwhelming task to manage and house an estimated 8,000 participants (competitors, coaches and referees) not to mention planning and executing the amazing opening and closing ceremonies.

All MWG participants were spread throughout three self-sufficient military villages providing food and lodging for our entire stay.  Our Canadian team was housed in “white village” which was the newest facility but was the furthest from the actual sporting events requiring a 45 minute bus ride (each way) every day to and from the venue.  This daily excursion did provide a unique perspective as we were exposed to the various levels of Brazilian local police/regional police/secret service/military protection.  Each day included a bomb check of every bus and van, military escort complete with motorcycle police blocking highways, secret service cars filled with men in black, secret service escort in our vehicle, helicopter escort with a minimum of 4 units in the air at any one time and last but not least secret service staff feeling the need to keep traffic under control by walking down the middle of the highway with guns drawn.

International Taekwondo Referees (33 in total) from around the world joined together, some meeting for the first time, some rekindling old friendships, to participate in the largest World Military Taekwondo Game in CISM’s history. Canada was honoured with six referee spots for this prestigious event; Eric Wah, Martin Kenneally, Susanne Mitchel, Karen Armour, Jacques Ayotte and William Jones. Our Referee Chair, Bruce Harris from the USA managed the entire event extremely well. Canada was further honoured with the appointment of Lt. Col. Martin Kenneally as Referee Vice-Chair of the event and Ring Captain of Team B.  Your author was appointed Ring Captain of Team A. Two Canadian Ring Captains is unprecedented in the history of the CISM games – another first for Canada.

Opening Ceremonies, was, in a word, incredible, as each of the 115 countries participants marched one country at a time into the massive Estádio Olímpico João Havelange stadium. Televised on ESPN live, the world witnessed a country embracing this world class event like a child scoring their first goal. The crowds cheered, people danced, bands played – the atmosphere was electric as the athletes, coaches and referees entered the field.  Nothing could adequately describe the overwhelming feeling of pride as we heard “CANADA” announced upon our entrance to the stadium field – it was an Olympic moment for all of us.

The TKD referees began their assignment with 2 days of training followed by 4 game days. Two rings were used for the event with one ring setup for the purpose of live stream telecast through the ESPN network. All games were played using the Daedo PSS combined with Video Replay. This combination proved to be highly successful throughout the course of the competition ensuring positive, fair play and judgment. It was one of the best events we have ever attended.

We did manage to enjoy the sights and sounds of Rio as we travelled with some of our International referee friends to several major points of interest. A few highlights included the world famous “Cristo Redentor” (Christ the Redeemer) statue situated high on Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio.  Named as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, with arms outstretched, the Christ figure symbolizes peace … an appropriate landmark to visit.  We witnessed a stunning sun set following a 1400 metre gondola ride between two mountain peaks finishing at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain.  Our trip wasn’t complete until we walked along the fine sands and witnessed the magnificent scenery along the world famous 4 km stretch of Copacabana beach which will be one of four “Olympic Zones” during the 2016 Summer Olympics. Without a doubt, Rio definitely lives up to it’s nickname Cidade Maravilhosa – “Marvellous City” as it prepares now to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Canadians can be proud with Yvette Yongs Gold medal performance under the guidance of GM Young Choung. Her performance was flawless, her determination unstoppable and above all, her humbleness was irrefutable. I am proud to be a Canadian International Referee …. and I’m even more proud to be associated with our Canadian International Referee team who joined me in Rio de Janeiro this year. The deep friendships that we fostered and the memories we created among ourselves and our fellow IRs will live with me forever… because to me, the game is a means to an end … I’m happy to be a referee.

Thank you Martin, Eric, Jacques, Karen and Susanne and all of my International Referee friends for a fantastic journey.

William Jones

 

News:

Five Canadian Officials Selected for Pan AM Open

Dear Taekwondo Community,

I have received confirmation today that 5 Canadian IR’s are being invited to officiate at the Pan Am Junior, Jr. Poomsae and Open in Las Vegas from the 6th to the 9th of October.

They are Master Song Chul Kim, Master Linda Kwan, Master Barbara Marian, Master Martin Kenneally and myself.

This is the first time we have more than 3 referees at a Pan Am Championship.

Congratulations!

Best regards,Eric Wah

 

Two Canadian Officials in the Running for Olympic Selection

Dear Taekwondo Community,

As you may know we have two Taekwondo Canada officials in the running to be work the 2012 Olympic Games.

We will keep you posted on Master Song Chul Kim’s and Master Barbara Marian’s progress.

Sincerely,

Referee Committee

 

Ms. Marian Named Canadian Referee Of the Year 2011

 

Officials Prepare to Attend 67th Kyorugi IR Seminar in Australia

Dear Taekwondo Community,

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Peter Allen, Ms. Linda Kwan, and myself have been approved to attend the 67th IR seminar in Gold Coast in Sept.

This will be Mr. Allen’s first international event and he is excited for this opportunity.

Ms. Kwan and myself will be refreshing our knowledge.

Have a great day,

Eric Wah

 

TKD Canada uses Instant Replay for the First Time

Dear Taekwondo Community,

The Pan Am Trials were recently held on July 29-30 in Toronto, ON.  These games were the first that TKD Canada had used an Instant Video Replay (IVR) system.  It was provided by a local BOSCH security company. Each ring was equipped with a single HD wide-angle network camera and video recording software.

ACCEPTED Total 34

  • 4 missed technical points had to be added
  • 1 missed spinning head kick,
  • 4 points added9 missed head kicks,
  • 3 points added
  • 12 3 point head kicks removed
  • 2 kyong gos waived off as player was still in bounds
  • 2 1 point waived off and kyong-go given for pushing
  • 1 Kyong-go given for unintentional face punch
  • 1 Kyong-go given for knee block
  • 1 Kyong-go given for holding
  • 1 point waived off and gam-jeom given

REJECTED Total 80

  • 1 additional point not given as it had already been awarded
  • 1 gam-jeom was not given as prohibited act was a kyong-go penalty
  • 4 gam-jeoms were not given as attack was not after kalyeo
  • 1 gam-jeom was not waived off as the attack was after kalyeo
  • 5 kyong-gos were not given as IVR did not show a prohibited act
  • 1 kyong-go was not waived off as player did block with the leg
  • 6 4 point shots were not added as no impact
  • 4  4 point shots were not waived off as impact was good
  • 41 3 point shots were not added for lack of impact
  • 13 3 point shots were not waived off as it was good impact
  • 1 3 point shot was not added as request was longer than 5 seconds
  • 1 3 point shot was not added as time had expired
  • 1 3 points were not added as the prohibited act was before the kick rather than after

Of the rejections 12 were listed as rejected due to camera angle, referee blocking the action or the players blocked the action. If the RJ did not have conclusive evidence to overrule the judges/referee, the IVR request must be rejected. 34 IVR’s were accepted out of a total of 114 requested, which is 29.8% acceptance rate. There were 114 IVR’s requested in 216 matches, which is 52.8% of all matches.

The ideal acceptance rate is about 20% for an International Tournament.  I think we were doing extremely well since we were using IVR for the first time at our National Tournament.  Considering we had only 3 hours training on Friday night, the 30% acceptance rate was acceptable.

The IVR is a good tool for Gyoroogi in Taekwondo.  It gives the coach a voice to protest if something is not going right.  It could be as simple as a missing point for a turning kick to 4 points to a spinning head shot.  It is also a good measurement for the team work for the referee team.  The corner judges are standing up to correct a mistake before the coaches can complain and they are paying special attention for head shots to make sure they are scored for impact, not contact alone.  The centre referee has to pay special attention for kyonggos and gam-jeoms because the coaches can always challenge his/her decisions.  The coaches have to know what questions to ask when they request Video Replay because they may lose the quota if they are not sure of the outcome.  We even solved a dispute of giving a gam-jeom to a competitor for attacking a fallen opponent.  We normally do not show the video to the coaches; but we did it in this case to prove the centre referee had done the right call.

We are glad IVR is being utilized at the Team Trials in Toronto.  The referees worked very hard to learn the procedures and the coaches were very smart to adapt to the system very fast.  I hope we will be using IVR for all our future National Tournaments.

Barbara Marian

 

New Referee Ties Unveiled

Dear Taekwondo Community,

The Referee Committee was excited to unveil our new ties at the Pan Am Trials that were held recently in Toronto Canada. This project was undertaken to unify the look of our officials and to put forward the professional image we work hard to achieve.

The design of the tie is based on ties of the past and using the new Taekwondo Canada logo to bring us into the future.
We will build on a tradition of referees welcoming new officials to the team once they have earned the respect of existing officials by presenting them with their red ties. As new officials become N3 certified they will be presented with a tie
welcoming them to the team.

We hope this is the first of many projects to be completed by Taekwondo Canada and the Referee Committee.

Sincerely,

Referee Committee