Selby Competition

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