The
view from the desk - a table official’s view of the Selby Competition
As someone who does not do, and never has done karate, it
can be very daunting helping out at karate competitions. I was roped into helping at the Selby
Competition about 3 years ago and before I knew it ended up attending a Referee
and Table Officials Course (I even had to take a test!). Geoff Dixon Sensei who
runs the JKS Judge and Table
Recorder Development Programme made what could have been a boring course
into one of the most interesting courses I have ever attended. Since doing the
first course last February I have helped out at the 2014 Selby Competition, JKS
Nationals, Children’s Competition in March and this year’s Selby Competition.
As with most things there is lots of paperwork and Sensei
Paul and Sensei Geoff provided very clear draw sheets for me to work from. They
take a bit of getting used to.Unfortunately there were only 3 table officials at the
competition to cover 3 areas. This meant that things had to go at my pace to
prevent mistakes happening (sorry if you were watching and thought the
competition took a long time). Luckily I had Sensei Steve Carless as the Chief
Judge on my area who was brilliant at making sure I had enough time to write
down who had won that round and waited for the scores to be calculated.
Kata is always easier to record and didn’t seem to take
too long. Watching from the table is completely different to watching from the spectator’s
area, something I have done lots watching my 2 daughters and husband at various
competitions over the last 7 years. I have become very good at shouting and
cheering inside my head something I did lots as Jonathan and Adam were doing
their Kata on my area.
A lot of competitors find Kumite the most frightening and
that is the same from my point of view. This year it was even worse as I was on
my own and Sensei Geoff had introduced a computer into the mix, something I
hadn’t used before. Despite all the stress (and an incident where someone
unplugged the cable, switching off the computer system half way through a
fight) I really enjoyed it.
I can highly recommend getting involved with table
recording as it brings a whole new perspective to karate competitions. The more
officials we have the easier it will be for us all and the shorter the day! For more information about the JKS Judge and Table Recorder Development
Programme please email Geoff Sensei at jksreferees@btinternet.com .
visit www.haxbykarate.co.uk to find out more about our Club. For more information email info@haxbykarate.co.uk
