10TH E.K.F. EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR REGIONS - MOSCOW, RUSSIA
7TH - 10TH JUNE, 2012

Chief Referees Report, European Regional Championships Moscow

"Things can only get better!!"

Days leading up to traveling was a frantic affair, with visa"s arriving days, if not hours before and one not arriving at all, with Paul having to cancel and having to re-arrange flights.

Day 1
We all arrived in Moscow (except Paul), and after much scrutinising, and at one point I was not sure they were going to let Peter in, we cleared customs, then only to find 3 out of 5 cases were missing, they were in Brussels... and maybe be arriving the next day. We then set off to the Hotel, which took 3 hrs of sitting in the most horrendous traffic and was probably one of the warmest days in Moscow this year, we arrived at the hotel and I was looking at the other 3 wondering..mmm 2 days in the tracksuits, maybe more? So there was a lot of talk about uniform and Gi swaps, but with me and Billy not being the tallest, I could see this could be a problem, so a big shop was discussed.

Day 2
Peter, Brian and Gary went back to the airport early next morning to pick up there cases which thankfully were there and also met with Paul who had just arrived.
Things were starting to look up, registration went smooth and the referees course went to plan, with only a few alterations to the rules.

Day 3
Theory exams...all passed and then the practical kata exams for Brian and Gary, this can be a nervous affair, when waiting around 4hr"s before going in to show your 2 katas and explain the bunkai etc.,
The referees briefing at night at night had a couple of surprises...Billy was told he would be part of the examination board and on as a temporary commission member for the rest of the weekend and I would be part of the referees appeals jury.

Day 4
Competition...Kata and Kumite practical refereeing and judging at the championships.
Each candidate was put into their groups, sent to the areas to be assessed and marked accordingly to whether they were good enough to attain a European qualification.
I was Joint tatami chief on area 2, so my day was very busy, Gary and Paul were also on this area, and from what I could see all the England officials applied themselves well, although a little nervous.

Day 5
Finals and results
Only Referee A"s were used for the finals, Billy had the task of working out the personnel for the each final with the approval of the European Chief Referee , Peter was selected for all the 8 finals as score keeper, and I was involved in either judging or refereeing 6 out of the 8 , with Billy judging one of the kata matches as well as overseeing all the matches. The team match between Bosnia and Azerbaijan was the highlight with a incredible take down by Rafael Aghayev.
The championship was still running while the results for the candidates were being given at the Head Quarters Hotel.. Traveling on the coach back, confusing texts were sent, but it soon became apparent that something amazing was unfolding...
Gary and Brian were passed up kata judge B"s, and also they passed to kumite judge B"s along with Peter who was sat at the side of me on the coach. Unfortunately Paul had just missed out.. 5 out of 6. A fantastic result ! We have now 10 European officials, 9 of which are in both Kata and Kumite, this means we are one of the stronger nations in Europe.
So all the hard work, the dedication, time [and money], team work, each knowing their roles and backing each other up, leading up to this event, paid dividends in the end. "things can only get better"...

Day 5 night
Celebration!!

Day 6
Journey back home...no dramas...

Dale Gamble
Chief Referee

E.K.F. EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR REGIONS - ANKARA, TURKEY
2ND - 4TH JUNE, 2011

This year's European Championships for regions took place in Ankara Turkey, over the weekend of 4th & 5th June. The English Karate Federation was represented by three of its refereeing officials, Tony Dent, Peter Bibby and Brian Jarvis. The trio were due to be joined by Paul Gunn, but unfortunately Paul had to decline the invitation to attend the day before the group set off to event.

The European Regional competition is the one and only time in the year where prospective officials can sit exams within Europe. On this occasion the English trio were to sit a total of four exams between them. Peter was to attempt his Kata Judge 'A' certificate and would also attempt his Kumite Judge 'B' certificate along with Tony and Brian.

Following registration on the Thursday evening and the referee briefing which followed, it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep before Friday morning's written exams. Friday itself was to get off to a less than ideal start, with the taxi ride to the venue being less than five minutes old before it came to an abrupt halt. The car was in a collision with another vehicle and although the group was in the main unhurt, it caused enough of a delay to make the three officials late to the venue. With everyone already seated in the exam hall, the exam was all but ready to start and finding an available seat was the next problem. The only seats available by this time were at the back, a long way from the screen displaying the questions. The problems earlier didn't seem to upset the concentration too much however, as discussions between our three candidates following the exams seemed to be positive and hopeful that successful written papers had been submitted.

This section of the exam was followed by practical Kata training with senior members of the European Referee Commission. With Peter attempting his Kata 'A' certificate, it was compulsory for him to attend. However Brian had asked Dale Gamble to register him for the Kata training and was also allowed to participate. The training took place for 1 ½ hours up to lunch time and was followed by the practical Kata assessments. Candidates are assessed in numerical order and with Peter's number being in the 40's, it meant he had a long agonising wait for his turn. His turn came however and his performances included Jion from his own Shotokan style, with his alternate style Kata being Bassai Dai from Shito Ryu. Peter's confidence was apparent as he left the Dojo, but you can never tell if your performance or answers offered to the exam board's questions are acceptable. His results along with everyone else's would have to wait until Sunday's briefing following the event. Friday was finished for the group now, all that was left was to go back to the hotel, eat and rest.

Saturday was the main body of the competition, but the second stage of hopeful official's assessments. For those doing Kata exams such as Peter, it was now time to adjudicate over competitive matches. This Peter did with confidence on each occasion he was selected and things seemed to be going according to plan. By the end of the preliminary rounds and as the Kata competition reached the crucial medal positions, all Kata officials stood down and made way for the Kumite assessments to start. Kata would feature again later in the day, as those teams contesting Bronze medals would once again take to the mats.

The Kumite assessments would follow a similar pattern as the Kata, with hopeful officials adjudicating over competitive bouts. Peter was now joined by Tony and Brian at this stage, albeit on different areas. This part of the competition/assessment took the majority of the day and all three English hopefuls were working hard to impress the examiners. It was almost 6.pm by the time the Kumite assessments were complete, but once again confidence was high in the group. Discussions were all positive and the decisions made during the afternoons proceedings were all analysed and dissected, in the hope of trying to pre-empt their chances of success.

Peter would now be back on the area for Kata as he was selected to judge a Bronze medal final. Tony was also to be asked to do the same for two matches on a different area. This would be the end of the main competition day and the end of the assessments as a whole. However all Kata judge 'A's were told to report to the competition areas on the Sunday for the finals. This held the prospect of selections for finals for Tony and Peter as a prospective Judge 'A'. As a result, it wasn't time to relax just yet.

Sunday arrived as did the English delegation and overnight the teams of officials for each final had been selected. It was decided those attempting certificates would officiate over the finals, which meant that Peter would be the lone English official on the mats. He was chosen to judge two of the four Kata finals, with the completion of the second his cue to relax and await the results later in the day.

As the competitive weekend drew to a close, the trepidation and anxiety started to build within the prospective officials. The results were to be given out in numerical order, with this meaning that Brian would be the first of the English officials to get his results. Following his brief meeting with the commission members Brian was to learn that his written exam was successful, as were two of the elements of the practical assessment. Unfortunately Brian fell just short of the mark on other practical areas. Never the less he showed a good understanding of the rules and procedures during the competition. This is sure to stand him in good stead for another attempt next year.

Peter would be next to re-appear from the results area. He had for the second year running managed to pass an exam at such a high level and in doing so elevated himself to European Kata Judge 'A'. Further success was to come in a successful written exam in the Kumite assessment too.

Tony was the only one left now anticipating his results. Following his allotted time with the commission he was to learn that he also, had been successful. This result meant that he has added Kumite Judge 'B' to his European qualifications.

In summary it was a mixture of success and disappointment for the English group. Hopefully the next European Championships for Regions in Moscow 2012 will see another opportunity for Brian and for Paul to attempt a European qualification, along with others who may be selected by Dale Gamble and the English Karate Federation.

June 2011

EUROPEAN KARATE FEDERATION SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS - ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
6TH - 8TH MAY, 2011

In attendance - Dale Gamble, Billy Brennan, Steve Coupland and Tony Dent

Day 1 - No transport issues, arrived on Thursday afternoon as planned! Tony Dent resat his Kata theory exam and passed, this means he retains his qualification for a further two years, well done Tony. With immediate effect the licence held by officials is valid for four years but all officials must take and pass a theory exam every two years and attend one European or World Championships per year

Billy Brennan attended a match area controllers meeting prior to his new role as assistant Tatami Chief. The referees briefing was later that evening and there were no changes to the rules. We were advised that from 2012 medal finals will all be on one day, it was unclear if this will be on an additional day or just incorporated into the championship. We were informed that there are 64 European Karate Referees and 6 of these are from England which is almost ten percent, we were given our Tatami's for the next three days.

Day 2 - Day one of the Championships - Kumite - Steve Coupland judged on a bronze final and I refereed a semi final and judged on a bronze final. Kata - Steve and myself all judged on a bronze final, myself and Steve were selected for the Kata finals, Steve did the ladies final and I did the mens final which included Luca Valdesi from Italy who won.

Day 3 - Day two of the Championships - Kata - I was number one judge on the ladies team bronze final. Kumite - Steve judged two bronze finals, I refereed a womens semi final, judged on two bronze finals and was judge number one on the mens -60kg final.

Day 4 - Day three of the Championship - This was kumite team events day and was for referees only, Steve refereed his first match in Europe and did well, I had a lot of challenging matches which included the mens team second round which was Azerbaijan v Turkey! I refereed the fourth fighters one of which was Aghayev from Azerbaijan who is the current World Champion, it was a good fight resulting in Azerbaijan winning. In the third round of the mens teams I refereed the fourth fighters again, this was France v Azerbaijan and France won, later in the day the ladies bronze final resulted in a draw on wins and points so a fourth fight had to take place which I refereed which went to sai shiai, the Netherlands fighter scored with 10 seconds to go resulting in them winning.

Overall we were all kept busy, Billy had a busy Championship running his areas and personally I had a really good Championship.

Regards
Dale Gamble
Chief Referee

ENGLISH KARATE FEDERATION NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - PONDS FORGE, SHEFFIELD
16TH & 17TH APRIL, 2011

Upgrades and new Judges: Paul Acton, Peter Beeforth, Robert Lamb, Phil Whyte kumite judge B"s
Nigel Blood Kumite judge A and Kata judge B"s
Robert Hardy, Penny Williams kumite referee B"s
Barry Lovett kumite referee A"s

I would just like to thank all judges and referees for all their hard work at the championships, but would like to menition the following for their hard work in keeping the areas going over the 2 days at the nationals. Billy Brennan asst. chief referee, and the tatami chiefs Tony Dent, Vince Parker, Harold stephenson, Dave Robinson, Peter Bibby, Jeff Westgarth, Richard Burridge, Frances Gow, ivor thomas, Mike Tointon and Brian jarvis. It was a very busy championships and the standard of the competitors was high and finals were introduced at the end of the competition days to add sparkle to the days proceedings, i believe this is important in the preparation for competitors and referees in europe. Altogether there was no major injurys and was very please of how the weekend went

Dale Gamble
Chief referee

EUROPEAN KARATE FEDERATION JUNIOR & CADET CHAMPIONSHIPS - NOVISAD, SERBIA

11TH - 13TH FEBRUARY, 2011

In attendance - Dale Gamble, Brian Noble, Peter Bibby

After arriving at Belgrade airport our transfer took us to Novi Sad via the scenic bumpy mountain route and at one point on a steep decline I thought we were on the wrong side of the road but thankfully at the summit the road had split into two earlier and was for descending traffic only!

When we arrived at our hotel they tried to charge us for the full previous week instead of just the days we were staying, after a lengthy discussion and some diplomatic negotiating they finally agreed to just charge us for the days we had booked. Upon reaching our rooms I have to say they were the smallest I have ever seen and they had a large pillar in the middle and the bathroom was a squeeze even for me!

On Thursday we attended the referees briefing and Brian re qualified his kata qualification for a further two years, there was no mention at the briefing regarding the new rule changes.

Day one -

It was good to see all the support for England at the competition, I was allocated to area three and after choosing my seat it the remained mine for the next three days.

First up was kata followed by kumite and I was used quite a lot and was involved in numerous bouts including semi finals and bronze finals.

On Peters area he was involved in the kata and was judge number one for a bronze final which was a first for him in Europe, well done Peter.

Brian was also well used on his area and was chosen for two finals, one kata and one kumite.

England had three finals so we stayed to support them and we secured three silver medals.

Day two -

We all returned to our areas and much the same as yesterday bouts were coming thick and fast, I was chosen for a kata final which is the first kata final I have done, Brian judged a kumite final.

Day three -

We all went to our areas again and I judged on the kumite minus 60kg final this was followed by the referees debriefing and we were praised for doing a good job and only major injury was reported which was in team kata!

My overall view of the is that we as english referees had a good tournament, but for me there was many bouts lost on penalities, and not enough won on scored points

Dale Gamble
EKF Chief Referee

E.K.F. EUROPEAN REGIONALS - WARSAW, POLAND
27TH - 30TH MAY, 2010

PETER BIBBY, BRIAN NOBLE, TERRY POTTAGE, DALE GAMBLE, IVOR THOMAS & STEVE COUPLAND

This is the only chance for prospective candidates to take exams in Europe either moving up qualifications or just starting out, the candidates were myself going for Kata judge A, Peter Bibby going for Kata judge B and Kumite Judge B, Steve Coupland going for Kumite referee A and Ivor Thomas going for Kumite ref B. After registering on Thursday afternoon which took 3 hours and our wallets 250 Euros lighter per exam, we went to the theory briefing which took a further 3 hours.

Friday morning theory papers for Kumite and Kata were passed successfully by all of us, myself and Peter then went to the Kata practice which involved Kata been taught by the European commission members including our own EKF commission member Terry Pottage, who showed Annan. Then later that afternoon the practical exams began, we were joined by Rab McQueen from Scotland who was there to take his Kata judge B. Myself, Peter and Rab had to perform two Katas each one from our own style and one from another, answer all aspects of questions relating to the two katas and general kata judging.

We went to the referees briefing that night were we met up with the others and Brian was informed he was part of the appeals jury for the competition the next day.

Saturday
At the competition Kata teams were on first and myself and Peter were involved in judging these as part of our exam. To mine and Brian's great delight we were selected to be in charge of an area a piece as match controllers. Peter, Steve and Ivor were on the other areas doing their practical examinations. The competition went well with teams from all over Europe competing.

Sunday
This is finals day and English officials were involved again, Brian judged on the womens team kata and Steve on the men's team kata finals. Brian was again part of two more finals, the womens junior cadet teams and womens senior team and was a referee on the deciding bouts on both occasions. I was part of the refereeing panel for the men's final between France and Turkey and I was the referee for a quite exciting 2nd bout with a winning jodan kick from France
This could be the last occasion any of us referee a final in this format, due to the new rules that come in effect in November regarding refereeing/ corner judging.

Crunch time - exam results;

Peter Bibby passed up to Kata Judge B
Steve Coupland passed up to Kumite Referee A and is now a Karate Referee in Europe
I was passed to Kata Judge A so I am now a Karate Referee in Europe
Ivor unfortunately did not get through but retained his qualification as Kumite Judge A for a further 3 years
[ Rab from scotland passed to Kata Judge B ]
All in all this was good championship with good exam results for England and everything went well, the same can't be said for my journey home due to Warsaw airport being closed because of thunder storms , I missed my connecting flight in wroclaw which resulted in me staying overnight in a hotel and getting another flight home on Monday.

Dale Gamble
EKF chief referee

EKF National Championship 2010 Chief Referee's Report

We had an excellent turn out of 31 officials on day one plus time keepers which enabled us to constantly operate six areas, an outstanding 47 officials plus time keepers attended on day two again ensuring six areas were smoothly operated.

For the first time at a National event we were able to run full bout times and repechage in accordance with WKF rules. The overall standard of fighting was excellent which makes the refereeing easier, there were no major injuries reported and no official complaints received.

A good standard or rapport was achieved with most of the coaches there were a couple of queries about scores. A mention must go to the Tatami chiefs Tony Dent, Harold Stevenson, Peter Bibby, Dave Robinson and Gordon Harrison who worked tirelessly over the two days and gave feedback to new officials, judges and referees, also special thanks goes to Billy Brennan for his contribution on Sunday as my assistant. A thank you goes to everyone who, as always, played their part including all the time keepers who helped make this event a success. A special mention goes to Paul Campbell and Sarah Knight who, as organisers, kept the competition running smoothly.

The following officials were awarded the the following qualifications;

Dale Gamble, EKF Chief Referee

NEW E.K.F. REFEREE PROGRAM 2010

The Chief Referee will now have the option of having up to 5 assistants.  The assistants will have input into courses and will also be able to make recommendations. A payment will be made to 2 assistants at each course from the Chief Referee's fee. These payments will ensure that Referee's Assistants will get paid for attendance ensuring that courses will always have adequate cover.

A new group of Elite Referees will be created.  Referee 'A*', Assistant Tatami Chief and Tatami Chief Qualifications.  There will be approximately 18.

These Elite will be invited onto Elite courses for Tatami Chief training and also for European/World preparation.  Everyone invited will have to pay for these Elite courses although European and World qualified officials are not required to pay on regular Referee courses.

There will be 6 Open Kumite Referee course, 2 Kata Judge course and 2 Elite courses per year.  These will be held at various venues in the North, Midlands and South esuring that everyone has access to them.

For details on Qualificatons and Requirements, please go to our QUALIFICATIONS page.

BRITISH KARATE FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIPS
MEADOWBANK
EDINBURGH
SCOTLAND
5TH & 6TH SEPTEMBER, 2009
 
NEW QUALIFICATIONS
ANTHONY COTTER - BKF KUMITE REFEREE
GEOFF MARKS - BKF KUMITE REFEREE
BILLY BROGAN - BKF KUMITE REFEREE
PETER BIBBY - BKF KUMITE REFEREE / BKF KATA JUDGE
BRIAN JARVIS - BKF KUMITE REFEREE / BKF KATA JUDGE
GARY HOYLE - BKF KUMITE REFEREE / BKF KATA JUDGE
GORDON HARRISON - BKF KATA JUDGE
MARK SYMONDS - EKF REFEREE 'B'
DONALYN MARSHALL - EKF REFEREE 'B'