ITF Tournament
TOURNAMENT RULES
SECTION 1 - GENERAL
Article 1. PURPOSE
The purpose of these rules is to elevate the quality of Taekwon-Do by scoring every aspect and to provide an equal opportunity for all participants to show the ultimate of their abilities in friendly competition with one another.

Article 2. APPLICATION
These are to be applied at every International and National Taekwon-Do competition for degree holders. They apply to male and female except where stated otherwise.

Article 3. OFFICIALS
The Juries, Referees and Judges, will be selected from the roles of certified Umpires in the International Taekwon-Do Federation.

Article 4. DUTIES
A. Jury will normally consist of 3 senior Umpires who will be seated in place of honour, in front, and will render the final decision in case of a tie or dispute.
B. Referee will be in the square to control the match.
C. Judges for patterns will be seated in a line facing the competition. Judges for sparring will be seated at the four corners of the square. They will give points in accordance with their judgement.
D. Timekeepers will be seated at ringside to check and indicate the beginning, end and continuation of each match.
E. Recorder will be seated at ringside to keep match records.

Article 5. COMPETITORS
JUNIOR COMPETITORS
Junior competitors must be 13 to 17 years old at the beginning of the championships and will compete in the divisions laid down in the following rules, but all competitors must be I, II or III degree rank and must be holders of current I.T.F. certificate and membership cards. Competitors in all divisions must be healthy and registered with their National associations.

SENIOR COMPETITORS
Senior competitors must be over 18 years and older at the beginning of the championships and will compete in the divisions laid down in the following rules, but all competitors must be I, II, III or IV degree rank and must be holders of current I.T.F certificates and membership cards. Competitors in all divisions must be healthy and registered with their National associations.

Article 6. DRESS
A. Officials will wear the dress requirements as laid down in the I.T.F Umpires rules.
B. Competitors, while competing must wear the "official approved" TKD dobok with only badges also officially approved by the I.T.F. The black belt must be of the official dimensions and must indicate the competitor's degree. A number will be given to all competitors and this must be worn on the lower back part of the dobok at all times. Female competitors may wear a white T-shirt under the dobok jacket.
C. Competitors are allowed, when not performing, to wear normal sportswear such as track suits, dressing gowns, training shoes, etc. however it is at the discretion of the Tournament Adjudication Committee. For opening and closing ceremonies countries may wear the official ITF dobok or the official country training suit, but all team members should be dressed the same. No participant in the parade is permitted to carry cameras, flags, banners, etc...other than authorised, on the field during the opening and closing ceremonies. Any participant committing a breach of the above regulations, will liable to sanctions.
D. Drinking of alcoholic beverages or smoking while wearing the dobok is prohibited.

Article 7. SAFETY EQUIPMENT AND PROTECTIVE WEAR
A. Competitors must wear:
i.) Safety equipment of an approved type on their hands and feet.
ii.) Groin guard protectors must be worn INSIDE the dobok trousers.
B. Competitors may, optionally, wear the following:
i.) Shin protectors.
ii.) Breast protectors (female only).
iii.) Mouth Guards.
iv.) Head Guard (Juniors only)
These all being of an approved type consisting of elasticised material with sponge or rubber type padding and containing no metal, bone or hard plastic or similar hard material whatsoever, nor involving the use of zip, lace or stud fasteners.
C. No other protective or safety equipment may be worn, except in special circumstances with the approval of the Tournament Adjudication Committee.
D. All competitors with injuries which require bandaging or strapping of any kind must satisfy the Tournament doctor of their need, and obtain approval of type before performing i.e. no pins or hard material can be worn, neither can bandaging give extra support so that it constitutes an advantage to that competitor.
E. No jewellery, watches or other adornments may be worn, hair may be kept in place using a material of a soft elastic nature only, no grips or slides are allowed.

Article 8. MEDICAL ATTENTION
All tournaments must have a Doctor(s) and qualified First Aid personnel in attendance. Doctor's recommendations, with regard to competitors' further participation, following injury, must be adhered to.

Article 9. INJURY LIABILITY AND INSURANCE - COMPETITORS
All competitors must sign a tournament entry form and have full Insurance coverage for all eventualities.

Article 10. INSURANCE - FOR EVENT
All hosts must ensure that the event booked has all the necessary public liability insurance, fire certificates and Government licences which are all required to host such events.

Article 11. SQUARE
Square size will be 9 by 9 metres floor space. When the square is elevated then the elevations must be at least 2 metres greater in size than the Square. Elevations may be from 50 cm to 100 centimetres. Lighting must not be lower than 5 metres above the ground. The official table where the Jury, Recorder and Timekeeper are seated is beside the square.

Article 12. RESULT RECORDING
All tournaments will have several forms of visual display of results for the benefit or participants and audience. Results should generally be shown as often as possible so as to enable the competitors to follow the Course of the event whilst it is in progress.

Article 13. DELEGATES
A delegate of the individual or team may be any person authorised by the National Governing Body. A delegate registers the competitors, submits the documents, lodges complaints and co-operates with the other officials at the competition.

Article 14. COACHES
For individual or team sparring there will be only 1 coach close to the square, but he/she must not interfere in the competition by action or words. During the tournament, coaches must wear a training suit, gymnastic shoes and carrying a towel, during sparring they will be seated at least 1 meter away from the square. He/she must not speak to referees. He/she is the only one allowed to present an official protest. Failure to the above mentioned rules will render the coach liable to be disqualified from his advisory position.
Article 15. AWARDS (Male and female)
JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - INDIVIDUAL		  
Male Pattern
Female Pattern
Male Sparring
Female Sparring
Male Power
Female Power
Male Special Technique
Female Special Technique
Male Overall Champion
Female Overall Champion		 3 GOLD - 3 SILVER - 6 BRONZE
3 GOLD - 3 SILVER - 6 BRONZE
5 GOLD - 5 SILVER - 10 BRONZE
5 GOLD - 5 SILVER - 10 BRONZE
1 GOLD - 1 SILVER - 2 BRONZE
1 GOLD - 1 SILVER - 2 BRONZE
1 GOLD - 1 SILVER - 2 BRONZE
1 GOLD - 1 SILVER - 2 BRONZE
1 GOLD
1 GOLD		  
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - INDIVIDUAL  
Male Pattern
Female Pattern
Male Sparring
Female Sparring
Male Power
Female Power
Male Special Technique
Female Special Technique
Male Overall Champion
Female Overall Champion		 4 GOLD - 4 SILVER - 8 BRONZE
4 GOLD - 4 SILVER - 8 BRONZE
5 GOLD - 5 SILVER - 10 BRONZE
5 GOLD - 5 SILVER - 10 BRONZE
1 GOLD - 1 SILVER - 2 BRONZE
1 GOLD - 1 SILVER - 2 BRONZE
1 GOLD - 1 SILVER - 2 BRONZE
1 GOLD - 1 SILVER - 2 BRONZE
1 GOLD
1 GOLD		  
Only points gained in individual events will count for Overall Winner of the Individual Events. However, in the event of two or more competitors having the same number of Gold medals then the Silver and the Bronze medals will count in determining the Overall Winner. In the event that this also results in a tie then the competitors will be awarded with the same medals. N.B.: Medals which count towards the OVERALL CHAMPION cannot be won without at least 4 competitors for the event.
JUNIOR AND OR SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - TEAM  
Male Pattern
Female Pattern
Male Sparring
Female Sparring
Male Power
Female Power
Male Special Technique
Female Special Technique
Male Overall Champion
Female Overall Champion		 6 GOLD - 6 SILVER - 12 BRONZE
6 GOLD - 6 SILVER - 12 BRONZE
6 GOLD - 6 SILVER - 12 BRONZE
6 GOLD - 6 SILVER - 12 BRONZE
6 GOLD - 6 SILVER - 12 BRONZE
6 GOLD - 6 SILVER - 12 BRONZE
6 GOLD - 6 SILVER - 12 BRONZE
6 GOLD - 6 SILVER - 12 BRONZE
1 TROPHY
1 TROPHY		  
Only Gold medals will count towards the Overall Team Winner. Only points gained in Team events will count for Overall Team Winner. However, in the event of two or more teams having the same number of Gold medals then the Silver and the Bronze medals will count in determining the Overall Team Winner. In the event that this also results in a tie then the Teams will be awarded with the same trophies. N.B.: Medals which count toward the OVERALL TEAM CHAMPION cannot be won without at least 4 teams for the event.

NATION CLASSIFICATION
In order to have the Nations Classification all points from Individual and Team events (male and female) will count except for Individual and Team Overall Winner. In the case of the Team it will be counted as a single Gold and not multiplied by 6, for example the winning Team for Pattern will have only one Gold added to the overall total and not 6 gold. The first classified Nation will be awarded with one trophy.

Article 16. OFFICIAL TERMINOLOGY
A. CHA RYOT - attention
B. KYONG - bow
C. JUN BI - ready
D. SHIJAK - begin
E. HAECHYO - separate
F. GAESOK - continue
G. GOMAN - end
H. JU UI - warning
I. GAM JUM - deducting points
J. SIL KYUK - disqualification
K. HONG - red
L. CHONG - blue
M. JUNG JI - time stop

Article 17. DIVISION OF COMPETITION
Competition is divided into INDIVIDUAL and TEAM match and will be decided by the pyramid tournament system.
INDIVIDUAL JUNIOR
Individual match is divided into:
Pattern Male/Female - I, II, III Degree divisions
Sparring Male/Female - Micro, Light, Middle, Heavy & Hyper weight divisions
Power - Male/Female
Special Technique - Male/Female

SENIOR
Individual match is divided into:
Pattern Male/Female - I, II, III, IV Degree divisions
Sparring Male/Female - Micro, Light, Middle, Heavy & Hyper weight divisions
Power - Male/Female
Special Technique - Male/Female
N.B.: Individual competitors may enter all items.

TEAM JUNIOR AND SENIOR
Team match is divided into:
Pattern - Male/Female
Sparring - Male/Female
Power - Male/Female
Special technique - Male/Female
Each team may perform Pattern, Sparring, Power and Special Technique. In Sparring competitors may be any weight.

Article 18. COMPETITORS NUMBERS - INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM
INDIVIDUAL
The number of individual competitors who may enter each item is restricted to 1 person from each country. These competitors may be individuals or team members.

TEAM
Team (NOT NECESSARILY CHOSEN OUT OF THE INDIVIDUAL COMPETITORS) must consist of 5 competitors + 1 reserve (optional) and the same must be used for all events. Any 5 may perform in Pattern. Any 5 may perform in Sparring. Any 5 may perform in Power. Any 5 may perform in Special Technique.

Article 19. ORDER OF MATCH
Pattern, Sparring, Power, Special Technique. This should be followed where possible but is subject to the requirements of the time, and schedule, of the tournament overall.

Article 20. WEIGHT CHECK
Checking the weight of competitors will not be earlier than 24 hours and not later than one hour before competition.

Article 21. DRAW FOR ORDER OF COMPETING
Competitors and Teams are drawn publicly. Medals which count towards the overall trophies cannot be won without at least 4 competitors or teams for the event. None of the competitors or teams can win 2 rounds one after another without competing unless it is due to the withdrawal of their opponent due to previous injury. Bye will be decided at the draw. After the drawing of the competitors or team numbers is completed, then registration will be closed.

Article 22. ANNOUNCEMENTS
It will be announced in which square an event will take place and it is the responsibility of the competitor/team to be close to the square so that they may compete without delay when called upon to do so. The individual/team number and country will be called and they must go to the side of the square complete with any equipment (such as safety equipment) which they require. Should they not come forward immediately then the number, name and country will be called for a second time. Should the individual/team still not come forward to the square then they will be disqualified.

Article 23. EQUIPMENT CHECK
The Referee will check to ensure that doboks, equipment, etc.. are of an officially approved type and that they are not defective. Should any item(s) not be satisfactory then they must be changed and the competitor/team has a maximum of 3 minutes in which to do so following which he/they will be disqualified and the match points awarded to the opponent where appropriate.

Article 24. COURTESY
Competitors must at all times bow to the Jury and also to each other at the beginning and end of each performance/match.

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Rome, Italy, 1994 - Amended October 2000