The following rules reminder was recently sent out by the US Open promoters. Please take note so that you are prepared when you arrive to compete at the US Open. And don't forget that SportMartialArts.com reporters will be in attendance covering this event - perform at your best because you may be shown online for all the world to see!

FACE SHIELDS MANDATORY FOR ALL UNDER-ADULT COMPETITORS

NASKA and ISKA rules now require that face shields, as well as chest protectors, be worn by all under-adult (17 and below) competitors in both point and continuous fighting divisions. This applies to both Black Belt (BB) and Under-Black Belt (UBB) divisions alike. There are no exceptions to this rule. Competitors should already be aware of it, as face shields have been mandatory since last year at NASKA events, and have been mandatory on most regional circuits for several years. Chest protectors have been mandatory for the last six years. Notice of the face shield and chest protector requirement has been prominently displayed on the NASKA and US OPEN websites since last year, so even those who have not been competing should have become informed as they visited the website for information or to register. The US OPEN will not be supplying face shields or chest protectors. All under-adult competitors must have their own face shield and chest protector when called to compete. The US OPEN strictly enforces the NASKA “Delay of Time” penalty: if a competitor (including an under-adult competitor) is not ready to compete when called, a warning is immediately given, and a penalty point is assessed for each minute the competitor is still not ready to compete. After three minutes (three penalty points), the competitor is disqualified. Face shields and chest protectors will be on sale at the AWMA equipment booth in the Veracruz Exhibit Hall lobby.

“ELITE 8” WILL BE USED IN ALL INDIVIDUAL BB DIVISIONS

In all BB individual divisions, the US OPEN uses the “Elite 8” competition format, as follows: The four top NASKA and/or ISKA seeds will not compete in the regular division.  All other registered competitors will compete as usual, without any seeding, and 1st through 8th-place trophies will be awarded.  The top four finishers will then have the option of being seeded into the Elite 8 round against the four top NASKA/ISKA seeds.  In forms and weapons forms, the Elite 8 competitors will perform with the fourth-place finisher from the regular division going first, third-place going second, second-place going third, and first-place going fourth. Then the four NASKA/ISKA seeds will run in reverse order of their ranking (the top seed is the last to run). All competitors on the Elite 8 round will run their forms before anyone is scored. In fighting, the two third-place regular-division finishers will be randomly matched against the number one and two seeds, the second-place finisher will fight the third seed, and the first-place finisher will fight the fourth seed. In both forms and fighting, if there are less than four seeds present, or not all of the four regular division finishers choose to enter the Elite 8 round, then there will be less than eight competitors in the Elite 8. NASKA points and prize money will be awarded in the Elite 8 round only.

MAXIMUM DEVIATION RULE WILL BE USED IN ALL UBB DIVISIONS

All divisions will have three officials, with the exception of some team events and the inter-divisional run-offs. Since high and low scores are not dropped when three officials are used, the US OPEN has adopted the Maximum Deviation Rule, which has the similar effect of limiting the impact of a judges' score which is significantly higher or lower than the other judges. When a form or other performance is ready to be scored, the Chief Official will say "Ready," then "Check," at which point the three judges show their scores to each other only.  If a judge has picked a score that is more than .02 higher or lower than the next highest or lowest score, that judge must adjust his score to be at the .02 limit.  Other than this mandatory adjustment, a judge may not change his score.  If no score is more than .02 higher or lower than the next highest or lowest score, then there is no adjustment. The Chief Official then says "Score," and the scores are shown to the audience, the competitors, and the scorekeeper.  This rule prevents a single score from being so high or low as to alone control the placing order.

MANDATORY AVERAGE RULE WILL BE USED IN ALL UBB DIVISIONS

The US OPEN will also be using the Mandatory Average Rule, which helps insure that all three judges begin their scoring in each division using the same general range of scores. The first three competitors are always run first before any are scored (if there are five or fewer total competitors, all are run before any are scored).  If there are twenty or more, five are run before scoring. After the first three (or five) are run, the Chief Official will inform the other two judges as to what score he will be giving to the competitor he feels is in the middle of the three (or five). He does not reveal who that competitor will be, only what the score will be. That score becomes the Mandatory Average Score, and the other two judges MUST give that score to whichever competitor they each are placing in the middle. They are free to give the other competitors as far above or below this average score as they wish, subject only to the Maximum Deviation Rule.

PROTEST PROCEDURE AND OTHER RULES

The US OPEN uses NASKA rules for all BB and UBB divisions, except World Championship Breaking, Self Defense, and Continuous Fighting, which use ISKA rules. ISKA/USBA rules will apply to the Friday breaking divisions. US OPEN supplemental rules also apply to some divisions. A complete set of rules are given to each competitor when they pick their competition materials, and extra copies are available at Registration and Sales and are on the US OPEN website. These written rules copies also include the US OPEN protest procedure and the NASKA and ISKA No-Tolerance Policy, whereby rules violations regarding safety or sportsmanship may be penalized without an initial warning.