ATA Testing and Instruction

Please note that the rule is not changing.

COMBAT WEAPONS SPARRING

One (1) penalty point will be awarded the opponent if a competitor drops his/her weapon for any reason from the time the match begins until a winner is determined for that match.

If a weapons is dropped, the center judge should immediately call “STOP TIME”.

Example 1: Competitor A jump strikes Competitor B on the top of the head with a combat weapon sparring technique. During the attempt to evade, Competitor B drops his weapon. Competitor A would receive 3 points for the jump strike to the head, but only 1 additional point for the dropped weapon because the maximum points one can receive at any one time is 4.

Example 2: Competitor A jumps and strikes Competitor B on the weapon-holding arm below the elbow with a combat weapon sparring technique. As a result of the strike Competitor B drops his weapon.Competitor A would receive 3 points for a jump strike to the weapon-holding arm and an additional one (1) points for the disarm. This would result in a total of 4 points.

Example 3:  Competitor A, strikes Competitor B in the head and as a continuation of the technique/motion, drops his weapon, Competitor A would receive no (0) points, and Competitor B would be awarded one (1) point because his opponent dropped his/her weapon.

Example 4:  Competitor A strikes Competitor B in the head, finishes the motion, and returns to a neutral position after break has been called.  Competitor A then drops his/her weapon.  The judges should then call “stop time”, and confer with the center judge asking the following questions:

1.       Did you see a weapon drop?

2.      Was it in the continuation of a scoring motion?

If the answer to Q-1 was yes, and the answer to Q-2 was NO, then Competitor A would receive 2 points for a strike to the head, but Competitor B would receive one (1) point because his/her opponent dropped the weapon.

JUDGES NOTE:  Please have the Center Judge call "stop time" if a weapon is dropped.  The key phrase here is whether or not the weapon was dropped in the continuation of the strike/stab.  If the competitor lost control of his/her weapon while performing a strike/stab technique then the competitor may not receive any points.  If the drop was during the break, then the competitor who performed a scoring technique should receive the “offensive points”, but his/her opponent should also receive a point because his/her opponent lost control of the weapon.

PLEASE NOTE: Improperly presenting oneself durning a Creative or Xtreme Competition is NOT grounds for disqualification.

Please review the video pertaining to this in the ATA Rules Review Course (FREE) for further clarification.

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