West Coast Taikai

August 31 & September 1, 2007

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Rules and Regulations

All competitors and seminar participants are required to read and understand these rules. Failure to follow these rules may result in your expulsion from the seminars and tournament.

Seminar Rules

Equipment

To promote a safe atmosphere, live blades will be limited to the Tameshigiri seminars. We ask that participants use iaito or blunted steel blades for all other seminars.
All swords will be subject to a safety inspection. The following may be reasons for failure:
Loose or obvious chips in the edge of a blade
Cracked or bent blade
Loose or defective nakago or tsuba
Loose or missing tsuka-ito
Cracked or defective koiguchi
Excessively cracked saya

440 stainless steel / homemade / replica swords will not be permitted.
All swords should have traditional wood saya, wrapped handle, and tsuba.
All mekugi must be in excellent condition and inspected prior to use.
All participants must wear a full-length traditional hakama, Iai obi, and kendo gi top. Loud fancy colored uniforms will not be allowed.
Shoes are not permitted on the competition floor.

Miscellaneous
All participants should have some prior training in a traditional Japanese sword art.
Each instructor may impose requirements for those who may attend a seminar. These requirements will be listed in the seminar description. These requirements may include rank, equipment, etc.
Tozai International Inc. retains all video and picture rights for the seminars. Seminar video taping has been contracted. No other video taping or photography will be allowed.
A limited number of spectators will be allowed. There will be a $10 spectator fee. All spectators will be expected to follow the rules.

Tai Kai Rules

Etiquette
This is a Japanese-style tournament. American-style behavior and methods will not be allowed. Train accordingly.
Competitors should never approach the Judges during the competition unless asked to do so by the judges. A liaison will be available to bring any problems to the attention of the tournament coordinator, Tony Alvarez Sensei.
Swords must be handled with respect and great care at all times. Improper handling will result in immediate expulsion from the event.
Swords will not be worn unless engaged in or getting ready for competition.
All judging will be done based on Japanese tournament standards.
All competitors must remain quiet and respectful at all times. There will be no loud talking, laughing or improper behavior inside the building.
Any show of disrespect towards a judge or other competitor will result in immediate expulsion from the event.
Each competitor is responsible for being aware and ready to compete when it is their turn.
Competitors should exit the floor quickly and quietly after their turn.
All aspects of the competition are subject to change by the head judges.

Equipment
No shoes are allowed on the competition floor.
Competitors will wear shoes or sandals when not on the tournament floor.
All participants must wear a full-length traditional hakama, Iai obi, and kendo gi top. Loud fancy colored uniforms will not be allowed.
Tabi socks are permitted on the competition floor only.
All competitors need to have tameshigiri swords pass a safety inspection.
No live blades will be used in kata without special permission / approval by the Tai Kai Committee. We ask that participants use iaito or blunted steel blades.
All swords will be subject to a safety inspection. The following may be reasons for failure:

Loose or obvious chips in the edge of a blade
Cracked or bent blade
Loose or defective nakago or tsuba
Loose or missing tsuka-ito
Cracked or defective koiguchi
Excessively cracked saya

440 stainless steel / homemade / replica swords will not be permitted.
All swords should have traditional wood saya, wrapped handle, and tsuba.
WWII military fittings will not be permitted.
All mekugi must be in excellent condition and inspected prior to use. ($10 replacement charge)
Wearing of wakizashi will be limited to Nidan or Higher (excluding the wakizashi tameshigiri event).

Competition Rules

Single Elimination Tournament
Kata and Tameshigiri are all multiple round single elimination competitions. Competitors are paired off for each round. From each pair, one person may advance to the next round. It is also possible for both competitors to be disqualified if both make serious mistakes. One competitor is assigned red and other is assigned white. Depending upon time limitation for the event, the competitors may perform simultaneously, or the white competitor will perform first. Both competitors should enter the competition area when called up. They should then bow to each other. They should also bow to the judges both before and after their performance. They should stand quietly and respectfully when not performing. The officiating team will have 3 judges. They will each raise a red or white flag to indicate the winner. They will raise both flags crossed to indicate that both competitors should been disqualified. The result of the round is the ruling of the majority of judges. The competitors should again bow to each other after the judgment and leave the competition floor. A competitor may be passed through the first round to create the proper number of competitor pairs. They may also be passed through a round if their prospective opponent was disqualified. This process continues until only two competitors remain undefeated. The final round puts these two against each other for 1st and 2nd place. The losers from the previous round face each other for 3rd and 4th place.

Wakizashi, Futomaki, Yokonarabi, and Iai/Batto Dodan will each have a qualifying round. All competitors will perform the first round cutting sequence and get a pass/fail ruling from the judges. You must pass to qualify for the rest of the event. Wakizashi competitors will then move on to a single elimination round. The top four competitors in Futomaki, Yokonarabi and Iai/Batto Dodan will then proceed to a final round on the main floor.

The competition will be set-up in the order in which competitors register. A competitor should not face a member of their dojo in the first round. A graphical representation showing each round in an event will be available. The competitors may be broken into two groups to facilitate a large event. Two panels of judges will be used until the final round is reached.

Tameshigiri Competition

The Tameshigiri event is a single elimination competition (Single Elimination Description). There will be separate iai-do, and batto-do events. The batto-do and iai events will broken into three categories. Shodan and below, Nidan and Sandan, and Yondan and above. A competitor may enter a higher category, but never a lower one. Each competitor will perform a series of cuts on one to three targets per round. The cuts are described below. A sequence of cuts may be started from the left or right. The targets will be single tatami mats. Judges will base their decision on such aspects as performing the proper sequence of cuts, angles of cuts, cleanness of cuts, and over-all presentation. Competitors may face disqualification for missing the target, not cutting all the way through a target, knocking the target off the stand, knocking over the stand, or hitting the peg in the top of the stand. The Judges may direct a competitor to stop and not continue if they have been disqualified. A competitor should never touch the target or stand. This includes adjusting the target or righting a stand that has been knocked over. Judges will penalize a competitor for not making cuts in the proper sequence, bad cutting angles, having a cut pass through a previous cut, having a cut pass through the top of the target, and shaving off too thin a piece of the target. Competitors are being judged for proper attitude and decorum the entire time they are on the competition floor. All aspects of the competition are subject to change by the head judges.

Division cutting patterns
Batto - Shodan and below
Round 1	Round 2 up to Semifinals	Finals
Batto - Nidan/Sandan
Round 1	Round 2 to Semi Finals	Finals
Batto - Yondan and above
Round 1	Round 2 to Semi Finals	Finals
Iai - Open round - First cut from the draw
Round 1	Round 2	Round 3
Wakizashi
Qualifying Round	Rounds to Semi-Final	Final Round

Iai and Batto Dodan

The Dotan event is a single round competition based on how many horizontal targets can be cut with a single vertical cut. The targets may be single or double tatami mats. The cut must be made at a 90-degree angle to the targets. Whole and fractional targets will be counted. Each competitor should advance to the dotan stand when directed by the Judges and then draw their sword. The targets may be touched ONCE with the sword to judge distance. If the target is touched more than once the competitor may be disqualified. After making a single cut, the competitor should remove their sword from the targets and back up about five steps before performing chuburi and noto. If two competitors tie for one of the top places, they will both make another cut to determine their placement. All aspects of the competition are subject to change by the head judges. Iai dodan must be performed from seiza. competitors who jump up from their knees prior to cutting will be disqualified.

Yokonarabi

Yokonarabi is a single kesa through multiple single mat targets staked vertically in a single line. During registration, competitors were asked how many targets they wished to cut. This will be the number presented to that competitor. The competitor will then attempt to cut a single kesa through all targets. A successful cut will be recorded. An unsuccessful cut will be eliminated.

Judging

Judging is based on the whether a competitor successfully cuts through the number of targets he or she claims they can cut. Competitors will annonce, prior to the event, how many targets they will cut throughSuccessful cuts through more targets will rank a competitor higher in the standings.

Scenario 1:

Big Tony claims he can cut through 8 targets
Tom Smyth claims he can cut through 6 targets
Big Tony cuts through 7, but not through the 8th – he is disqualified
Tom Smyth cuts through all 6 – his cut is ranked

Scenario 2:

Big Tony claims he can cut through 10 targets
Bob Elder claims he can cut through 8 targets
Both have successful cuts
Both will be ranked, however Big Tony will be ranked higher.

Scenario 3:

Big Tony claims he can cut through 10 targets
Bob Elder claims he can cut through 10 targets
Both successfully cut through all targets.
Judges will then look at the cuts using the same criteria as the Tameshigiri competition.

In this competition it is very possible that cutting more targets doesn’t guarantee a win. The top four competitors will move on to the final round later in the day. The final round will ask the competitors to again choose the number of targets. Judging for the final round will be the same as for the qualifying round.

Futomaki

the Futomaki competition is identical to Yokonarabi with the exception that the target is multiple mats rolled into a single target.

Tai Kai Rules - Miscellaneous

Competitors must be students of a sword style recognized in Japan or have permission from the Tai Kai Committee to compete.
Tozai International retains all video and picture rights for the Tai Kai..
In the case of disqualification or expulsion from the event, no entry or spectator fees will be refunded.
All events must have at least 5 competitors entered. Any event with less may be subject to cancellation. Competitors who have registered for that specific event (This does not include those who have registered for the Package price for all events) will have their registration fee for that event refunded.
All events are subject to cancellation due to time restriction for the Tai Kai. Competitors who have registered for those specific events (This does not include those who have registered for the Package price for all events) will have their registration fee for that event refunded.