Sometimes, Club instructors haven't entered students into a competition because certain referees/ judges were going to be there, and they did not trust their judgement. Coaches and Instructors alike would be more at ease if they knew that their students would not be judged according to which Club/area they came from.  I have seen some terrible decisions given, but I made a point of learning from them and tried to improve my own standards. However it's not simple. As a competitor, you are unaware of what judges and referees are looking for, unless your instructor is a qualified referee/judge, and has passed the information on to you. Instructors should be asked (by their association) to attend referee's/judge's courses in order to help the contestants to understand that before they criticise, they should put themselves in the place of referees and judges.

As part of the training to become a referee/judge, the class is divided into groups and allocated one of the 4 corners of the match area to evaluate/observe during a simulated fight. When the fight is stopped, candidates are asked if there is a score, and to describe what they have seen. You will witness the candidates giving different scores more than once from the same corner. This shows that people with the same viewpoint can have different judgements.

Most of the time, the referee's viewing angle is such that they can see the beginning of a technique but not the end, and they are tempted to reward it. Only if another referee (in mirror judging) sees the end can the point be awarded. At other times, the referee hears a thud and similarly is tempted to award a point, but he/she must consult the other referee or other judges before this can happen.

A contestant is on the area for a minute or two at the most but the referee is there for a very long time, concentrating on each and every move, on every detail, in order to determine the winner/loser; a penalty or even a disqualification: an injury or even a well deserved waza-ari/ippon.  Ippon should be awarded keeping in mind that that technique in a real life situation would have ended the fight, and a waza-ari should be awarded when a technique could have almost ended the fight.

One of the most important things I've learnt is that competitors will try to take advantage of new or inexperienced referees. They will try to outmanoeuvre the ref. by faking an injury in order to have their opponents disqualified, or try to make the ref. believe that they scored. They will even try to convince you that the blood pouring out of their nose is a consequence of lack of control on their opponent's part, instead of them thrusting their fingers inside their nose to restart an old injury. For that reason, a good ref. should always check the competitors before they start to fight. I believe that the timekeeper should record injuries and pass the info to the area where the competitors move, in order to help the doctor, as well as the ref.

Drawing of blood during competition causes considerable arguments. Coaches and competitors alike, think that the moment blood is spilled, the culprit should be sanctioned or disqualified. Experienced Instructors/Coaches know that sometimes things aren't what they seem. On some occasions, the person bleeding has literally walked into a punch, kick or strike, endangering him/herself, or the Karate-ka had been hurt in a previous fight in the same competition or in their Dojo and therefore even a light touch would have resulted in blood being drawn again. An experienced referee should therefore evaluate the situation before and during the fight. Injuries sustained during previous fights should be monitored and reported to other referees in any ongoing competitions (more than anything else to avoid more serious injuries occurring).

To be a referee, you have to have a good understanding of Karate both in Kata and Kumite. Competitors and instructors alike will respect you more if they can trust your judgement. Referees carry a great weight of responsibility and their job shouldn't be taken lightly. Referees are responsible for the safety of the fighters and the standard of both Kumite and Kata competitors. It is for those reasons that I believe that every instructor should attend a course for referees/judges at least every couple of years, and then they can choose whether or not to take the exams. However they should be made to realise that unless they understand the ins and outs of Kumite/Kata competition, they cannot expect their students to behave in an appropriate fashion when their turn comes to compete. Every referee/judge should also attend a refresher course every two years in order to be up-to-date with changes in the rules, but more importantly, to keep themselves at a good standard.

I was lucky enough to learn from some of the most experienced referees in Europe, Charles Naylor and Derek Langham. They are the ones responsible for all the Judges and Referees in England for the Karate Union of Great Britain, and they are fine teachers but not everyone can be like them. I have learnt a great deal since my first competition when I was a judge at the Essex Trophy in Basildon. In those days, Peter Eiffert and his family organised the event and I shall always be eternally grateful to them.

Referees work long hours, are shouted at, unpaid, unloved (hated most of the time)  pleasing only the winners, and for what?