One of the newest ATA Corner Judges is...

ME!

I don't tend to go to the ATA on Saturdays much anymore. 1st degree classes are WAY too early in the morning on a Saturday for me, for sure, hence why I tend to cram so many during the week. But today was a long overdue seminar that had a good turnout. It was a Chevron Clinic. What is that, you non-ATA people are asking? In tournaments, you have to have judges, of course, who know the rules. Not just anyone can be a judge. You have to be at least a black belt of a certain level, a certain age, and you have to complete clinic/certification seminars on a yearly basis to certify or re-certify your status. Well, the age thing isn't a problem, but the rank level and having taken a clinic was the only thing in the way before. But now, I am a black belt, and having passed my first levels, I am now a corner judge for color belt matches. Hooray! What does that mean? First of all, you have to understand how the scoring works, how points are awarded, and all the other main rules that apply. One of the things that SW can tell you confidently, is that as the RCT (Regional Chief of Tournaments) for our area, she makes sure she attends all the seminars on judging and forms and ATA rules so that she is completely up to date. It turns out, too, that students who compete in weapons can only compete in weapons that their instructor are certified in, and she's certified in ALL of them. There are even Masters who don't recertify to judge or keep up their teaching certifications as well as they should, and she said it shows. But anyway, as a corner judge, you do not have to necessarily know the forms, but you do have to understand techniques. As a corner judge, you are assigned to only judge just hands or just feet. Center judges, which you can't do right away (I think I might be eligible next year) look at forms and overall performance of techniques. So, even if I know the form, and someone is supposed to do a sidekick but they do a roundkick, and it's a really well done roundkick, I am supposed to give them the point. The center judge will take off points for incorrect form.

So anyway, once you pass your clinic, to show your designation, you get to wear a special chevron patch on your lower right sleeve. The more things you certify to judge, the more chevrons you get, but there are only so many of them. But I got my Level 1 today, and that's pretty cool.