Excerpts from Officiating, from where have we come, and where do we go?

by Shihan Tom Lapuppet, Chairman of USA Karate of New York, Treasurer USAKF, Head Coach, USAKF -Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame This was written about 1990

It is our responsibility to first maintain the safety of the athletes, which will then conclude in a satisfactory result and stronger support for our program. Some of the basic examples of neglect displayed by some of the officials demonstrates the need for two types of officials in the program, one for sport karate and the other for international selections.

There is no question that officiating is a thankless job-but-however thankless it may be, we have a responsibility as officials to perceive or approach with caution all actions which are about to take place in a match.

As I review the past National events, I feel there are a several elements which are colliding and cause safety problems for many of the athletes.

The first of the elements is style deference and the individual beliefs of the traditional karate community and those of the sport karate practitioner. While each of us must render our own opinion as to which is what, when the two elements clash in the ring (in the form of officials) the traditional officials will often require a much more rigid method of scoring a point than the sports minded one!

This unyielding method of officiating often borders upon the very edge of serious injuries, and is apparent in all divisions. The point that must be considered is that many of the younger people in the lower divisions will not be around when they're old enough for the kilo (World Championship) activity, and that "fun and safety first" for these young athletes is the key to keeping them involved in the future of the program.

While many of the students who do not return are a part of a natural turnover, a great many will not because of an imbalance in the application of responsibility by the officials.

A second consideration is the presence or the power of an observer.

It is clear that official cannot do there best while being subjected to deriding or snide remarks but they must be made aware of any safety violations which appear. There are times when the senior official on the floor leaves to attend to other business, at this time the tournament operations are the responsibility of the National Committee and other duly appointed members of the executive group. The main reason why officials fail to heed these representatives is that they have a fear of not passing the floor examination, and/or they refuse to believe that they are just plain bad officials !

Also, new officials are often waved off (by senior instructor in the ring) when they give points which are clearly seen by them only, and could in no way have been seen or evaluated by the referee or the arbitrator.

The program must look at the officials the same way we look at the international team members. Many of our officials, like our athletes, do not want to go any further than to be a national or state official, and an undue burden placed upon them to perform as though they were being graded to determine if they will live up to international pressures, causes many of them to sit back when they are most need.

Third: Selective Availability

The noticeable absence of many senior officials from our regional and national events presents a major problem for our junior officials is ability to advance in seniority. When a senior official who has prior notice of our national activity fails to show up--why are these same officials used to select the national team? We advise all officials to attended the clinics to keep abreast of the changes, but many senior officials are missing and many of the junior officials who make all of the tournaments and work for the duration of these events are not used for major selection purposes--and the United States team once again is selected by what seems to be a special interest group!

Fourth: Locality Discrimination

There is within most people of the USA a Loyalty Discrimination Attitude. The very nature of where an athlete lives can often alter the results of seemingly an impartial match. This negative process restricts calls on their behalf, making them the recipients of a few extra an unneeded kicks and punches. This lack of concern for fair match and safety leads to confusion in the ring and the ranks of the general viewing public. The confusion from outside of the ring adds to the Irritation of the official toward members of the dissenting group, as well as increasing the vocal abuse directed toward the official.

In our highly visibility program, the actions of officials must be brought within due bounds of their accepted responsibility, and all athletes must be viewed as though they were personal wards in our charge until the match is completed.

Fifth: Lack of Required Training

The subject speaks for itself! Many of our RSOs only exercise one event during the season. This event is called their State Championship. Many of the officials come to the Regional lacking in the experience needed for the total commitment to the program on this level. Naturally, more events at the local level leads to more experience, and more experience results in more sensitivity an less recklessness attitudes.

In closing, I have grouped some other topics together. We have come far enough in our program to deal with the realities of proper procedure. We must give every group of the sport an equal chance to win under our system. This alone will truly keep us in the forefront of karate innovation.

It is our duty to make sure that one group of athletes will not have to fight harder and longer than another group because of where they live, the color of their skin or the origin of the teacher. While karate for many of us may be a financial way of life, to most of the athletes it is a place for them to have fun and enjoy themselves in the process, and only we the Committee can decide if the Way will be soft or hard !Congratulations to all champions of USA Karate and of the United States of America.

Tom Lapuppet, USAKF