Kicking to the Head

[HM2PAC]

Last night, the wife and I finally got to attend the adult class. We intend to start doing the adult class now after the beginners/kids are done.

So we got to spar. I have not sparred in over 15 years. I've been working on my heavy bag religiously anticipating this. It was great.

I have a question though....

If I can get my opponent turned around, is it legal/ fair game to kick at the back of his/her head?

I know the back itself is out of the game, but what about the back of the head?

 

[Deaf Smith]

HM2PAC,

Is this for tournaments? If so, I doubt if the back of the head is legal.

If it's for self defense.... thunderdome rules apply. That is, there are no rules and only one leaves (if they are lucky.)

Deaf

 

[Kacey]

It depends on your organization's rules. In my organization, the back of the head is a legal target; in other organizations, it's not.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ti Kwan Leep. Approach me that you might see.

 

[mango.man]

WTF/USAT rules are no kicks to the back of the head. Ears forward only.

 

[celtic_crippler]

Last night, the wife and I finally got to attend the adult class. We intend to start doing the adult class now after the beginners/kids are done.

So we got to spar. I have not sparred in over 15 years. I've been working on my heavy bag religiously anticipating this. It was great.

I have a question though....

If I can get my opponent turned around, is it legal/ fair game to kick at the back of his/her head?

I know the back itself is out of the game, but what about the back of the head?

In competition it is usuallyt 99.9% of the time not a legal move to strike the back of the head.

However, in terms of self defense please feel free to strike your attacker in the back of thier head.

 

[terryl965]

It is about a 50/50 shot for us alot of the tournaments allow and a few do not.

 

[TKDHermit]

WTF doesn't allow it I guess. Other organizations I don't know. Check with your instructor?

 

[HM2PAC]

This is ATA.

I figure if I'm not supposed to punch the head or strike the back, the back of the head is probably a No-Go as well. However, I'll ask our instructor today.

There should be a published ATA Tourney Rule Book somewhere, right?

 

[terryl965]

This is ATA.

I figure if I'm not supposed to punch the head or strike the back, the back of the head is probably a No-Go as well. However, I'll ask our instructor today.

There should be a published ATA Tourney Rule Book somewhere, right?

ATA does not allow it, and yes they have a book.

 

[fireman00]

ITF - head shots are legal.
WTF- sides of the head (from the ears forward) no shots to the face.

 

[terryl965]

ITF - head shots are legal.
WTF- sides of the head (from the ears forward) no shots to the face.

Face contact is legel in the 14 and up divisions Black Belts.

 

[TKDHermit]

if i didnt rmb wrongly WTF allows kicking to head level at 18 and above. I don't know but the STF [affiliated to WTF] which is the governing body for the sport and competition in Singapore dont allow headshots 14-17 YET, but are contemplating to. Decision isnt out. Althugh i dont know why the duration for both junior and senior males and females are all 1min 30s per round with 30s break for 3 rounds in STF tournaments

 

[Kwanjang]

I do teach kicking to the back of the head. Of coarse control is always a concern and should be used ALWAYS!

 

[mango.man]

if i didnt rmb wrongly WTF allows kicking to head level at 18 and above. I don't know but the STF [affiliated to WTF] which is the governing body for the sport and competition in Singapore dont allow headshots 14-17 YET, but are contemplating to. Decision isnt out. Althugh i dont know why the duration for both junior and senior males and females are all 1min 30s per round with 30s break for 3 rounds in STF tournaments

The rules on head shots have not been anything I have had to concern myself with for sometime, so this may have changed but, as of a couple of years ago at least,

According to the WTF Black Belts are allowed full head contact from the ears forward only, including the face.

WTF does not have rules posted by age or belt colors. Therefore I have always presumed that if younger kids or color belts are fighting in a truly WTF sanctioned event that they will play be the same rules as everyone else which would be full contact to the head/face. 99.9 percent of events that bill themselves as WTF sanctioned though are full of it and the WTF knows nothing about the event. Those events also put their own rule set into place with regards to head shots. I can't think of any WTF sanctioned events that allow color belts.

Keep in mind also that you compete at the age you will become during the calendar year. Also, once you are a poom or dan, rank is irrelevant in competition. So if you are 13 year old 1 Poom turning 14 on Dec 31st and you enter a competition on January 15 (11 1/2 months before your 14th B-Day) you must fight in the 14-17 and / or 14-32 division, where you may very well find yourself fighting someone who is 17 years old and 3 dan already in the 14-17 group or someone in their 20's or early 30's and 5th dan if you are fighting in the 14-32 division.

USAT's modifications to the rules for head contact are the Black/poom belts 8-13 are allowed light / controlled contact to the head / face. Color belts over 12 are allowed light / controlled contact to the head / face. Black belts 14+ are full contact to the head / face.

 

[jks9199]

Generally, I don't think you're going to find a lot of competitions that allow contact to the back of the head. It's a safety thing; it's really easy to get hurt real bad with shots to the back of the head.

 

[tko4u]

I have always used the back of the head as a striking area. I use control though. BUT, if we cant kick the back of the head, where would a hook kick go? We do not learn to strike to the face (Obvious control issue there and we all have to go to work the next day) so the open area is the back of the head. Good question though. I would always use control

 

[HM2PAC]

Terry wrote:

ATA does not allow it, and yes they have a book.

That's what I would have thought too, but today our instructor said that the entire head, including the back of the head, is legal contact in tournament.

I'll need to get a copy of the tourney rules.

 

[mango.man]

Terry wrote:


That's what I would have thought too, but today our instructor said that the entire head, including the back of the head, is legal contact in tournament.

I'll need to get a copy of the tourney rules.

According to the ATA rules (https://secure.ataonline.com/pdf/FinalRules2008.pdf) the entire head, including the back of the head as well as the base of the neck are valid targets.

 

[terryl965]

Well I was going by the ATA school here they do not allow it. So I fuess they are different.