PROGRAM AND REGULATIONS

OFFICAL SCHEDULE AND RULES AND PROGRAM OF THE 19th WKC BY ORGANIZER

1. ORGANIZER

Main Organizer: International Kendo Federation (FIK)

Host Organization: Confederazione Italiana Kendo (CIK)

Supporting Organization: City of Milano, All Japan Kendo Federation (AJKF)

2. LOCATION

Venue: Unipol Forum Assago (Milan)

3. DATE

Events Term: Tuesday, July 2^nd – Sunday, July 7^th, 2024

Competition Term: Thursday, July 4th – Sunday, July 7th, 2024

Events schedule:

FIK Reception

FIK Reception

Godo Geiko

Godo Geiko

Godo Geiko

Godo Geiko
Sayonara Party

4. REGULATION OF THE MATCHES

All matches shall be conducted in accordance with FIK’s “The Regulations of Kendo Shiai and Shinpan (July 26, 2023)” and “Provisional Match and Referee Rules as developed by All Japan Kendo Federation (April 1, 2023)”, (Any amendments made to the regulations hereafter shall be included). Any amendment rules as decided and adopted by the FIK BODM shall apply after the approval of this Program and Regulations.

5. COMPETITION CATEGORIES

The category of 19WKC with number of participants from each participating organization is as follows:

• Women’s Individual Championship with maximum 4 competitors.
• Men’s Individual Championship with maximum 4 competitors.
• Women’s Team Championship with teams composed of maximum 5 women out of 7 inscriptions.
• Men’s Team Championship with teams composed of maximum 5 men out of 7 inscriptions.

6. QUALIFICATIONS

Participating Organizations

FIK affiliated organization is eligible to participate in the WKC. A non-affiliated organization, whose FIK affiliation is approved at the BODM in the preceding year of 19WKC, is also eligible.

Competitors

Competitors participating in 19WKC are required to have:

• Officially registered membership of the participating organization.
• Nationality of a country the participating competitor represents at the time of the Final Entry (Presentation of passport may be requested). Competitor who does not have a nationality of the country he/she represents, an official request letter in writing with explanation must be submitted to FIK from a President of the organization concerned. Only those who receive an approval from FIK President before the Final Entry may participate in the WKC.
• Competitors must have been born on and before July 4, 2008.

7. ENTRIES, COMPETITORS’ REGISTRATION

Preliminary Entry

Preliminary Entry is conducted to have a rough estimation in the number of participating organizations as well as a volume and expenses of the WKC. All organizations that intend to participate in the WKC are requested to submit the following information at the FIK member site.

• Intention to participate in 19WKC
• Expected number of the delegation officials (Delegation Leader, Managers and Coaches, up to 5 in total) and competitors (Up to 10 each for men and women).
• Intention to participate in the Competition Categories listed in 5.
• Expected number of competitors to be registered to each Category (Up to 4 for Men’s/Women’s Individual Championship and up to 7 for Men’s/Women’s Team Championship)

Deadline: November 30, 2023

Final Entry (Member list of the delegation and the Competition Category registration)

Each organization shall submit the information of its delegation officials (Delegation Leader, Managers and Coaches, up to 5 in total) and competitors (Up to 10 each for men and women) at the FIK member site. The final entry registration covers the following items.

• Title, Name of all the delegation officials.
• Name, gender, age, dan/kyu and nationality of all the competitors.
• Intention to participate in each Category of the Competition.
• Number of competitors of Individual Championships (maximum 4 for men and women)

Only registered competitors at the Final Entry can participate in 19WKC. No further change of officials/competitors will be accepted after the final entry. For organizations registered to the Men’s/Women’s Team Championships, 5 or more competitors must be registered for each men and women.

Deadline: April 2, 2024

Registration of Competitors to the Competition Categories

Each organization is requested to register the competitors to each Category of the Competition at the FIK member site.

• A competitor may participate in both Individual and Team Championships.
• The maximum number of the registered competitors is limited to 4 for each Men’s/Women’s Individual Championships.
• The number of the registered competitors for the Team Championships must be from 5 (minimum) to 7 (maximum).
• Any team in which the number of registered competitors is less than 5 is not allowed to register to the Team Championship.
• A Referee of the WKC is not allowed to participate as a competitor.

Deadline (Individual Championship): April 2, 2024 (at the same time as Final Entry)

Deadline (Team Championship): June 2, 2024

8. DRAWINGS

After the Final Entry is fixed, drawings for all the Competition Categories shall be conducted in the presence of FIK officials, President of the WKC hosting organization and some observers as appropriate.

The drawing results shall be immediately notified to all participating organizations.

Neither re-drawing nor alteration in the matching shall be made after the drawing even in the case of any withdrawal after the drawing or no-show at competition.

9. METHOD OF INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Match Time

In the preliminary heats the match time will be 4 minutes for both men and women, and in the final tournament it will be 5 minutes. Matches will be sanbon-shobu. In the preliminary heats, if the match is not decided within regulation time, the match will be declared a draw.

In the final tournament, if no winner is determined within regulation time, the match shall continue with encho-sen until the winner is determined by ippon-shobu. There is no time limit.

Preliminary Heats

In the preliminary heats, groups will consist of 3 competitors and matches will be conducted in a round robin format. The 1st place competitor in each group shall progress to the final tournament.

Competitors will be placed into the preliminary heat groups by drawing lots. Competitors from the same organization, however, shall be placed in different groups. In addition, if a complete group cannot be made, a group may consist of 4 competitors.

Method for Determining the Ranking in the Preliminary Heats

• Points will be awarded to competitors depending on the following results.
  Win: 3 points
  Draw: 1 point
  Loss: 0 points
• The competitor with the most points will progress to the final tournament.
• If the points are even, the competitor with the most points (ippon) scored will finish top.
• When two competitors’ the number of the points and the number of points scored are the same, therefore the 1st place competitor cannot be decided, a sudden death play-off by ippon-shobu shall be conducted between the competitors in question. Match time is 3 minutes and will be repeated till the winner is determined.
• When 3 or more competitors are tied for first place in a group, a re-league match will be held between the relevant competitors. Matches will be conducted by ippon-shobu. Match time is 3 minutes with a draw in case of no winner. Determination of ranking will follow a. through d. above. If 3 or more competitors are ties for first place in the re-league matches, the 2nd re-league matches will be conducted between the relevant competitors in the same manner. If 3 or more competitors are tied for the first place even after two re-league matches, the first place will be determined by drawing lots.
• If a competitor in the final tournament is injured before the start of a match and cannot compete, the opponent will win by fusen-gachi.

Commendations

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd (2 people) placed competitors and 8 “Fighting Spirit Awards” shall be commended.

The selection committee members who are nominated by the FIK President shall select the Fighting Spirit Awards.

10. METHOD OF TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

Match Times

In the preliminary heats the match time will be 4 minutes for both men and women, and in the final tournament it will be 5 minutes. Matches will be sanbon-shobu.

To decide the ranking of the teams in the preliminary heats, or the winner of a team match that cannot be decided in the final tournament, there will be a sudden death ippon-shobu play-off. There is no time limit.

Number of Members in the Team Championships

Both the men’s and women’s teams shall consist of 5 members. On the day of the competition, if registered members withdraw making the team short by 3, that team cannot take part in the Team Championships. If 1 member withdraws, that shall be in the Jiho position, and if 2 withdraw, they shall be in the Jiho and Fukusho positions.

Withdrawal from a match for health or other reasons: The competitor will lose the match and their opponent will be awarded 2 points. However, if both competitors withdraw, neither will be awarded a win or loss, nor receive points.

Team Order List

The team members for each match are selected from among the competitors registered for the Team Championships. The team members may be changed for each match.

The deadline for submitting the team order list will be indicated at the managers’ meeting.

If a competitor’s order is different from the one described in the submitted order list is noticed during a match: If it is noticed before the declaration of “Hajime” by the chief referee (Shushin) to start the match, the order can be changed without any penalty. However, if it is discovered after the declaration of “Hajime” by the chief referee, the referees of that match will immediately stop the match. For the competitor whose order is incorrect in that match, and consequently another competitor whose order is incorrect due to that error, they shall both lose their matches and their respective opponents shall be awarded 2 points. If an error is confirmed after the end of all the matches in which the wins and losses of all competitors have been determined, but before the final bow by both teams at the end of the match (Sogono-rei), all competitors whose orders were incorrect shall lose their matches and their respective opponents shall be awarded 2 points. If the error is confirmed after the bow by both teams at the end of the match (Sogo-no-rei), the result shall not be changed.

Preliminary Heats

As a basic rule, in the preliminary heats groups shall consist of 3 teams and shall be contested in a round robin format. The teams in each group shall be decided by drawing lots. A group of either 4 or 2 teams can be made depending on the number of participating teams.

For each group, the distribution and arrangement of teams shall be decided by the drawing of lots.

However, the four teams that finished from 1st to 3rd place in the previous WKC shall be treated as seeded teams and shall be placed in groups so that they cannot face each other until the semifinal.

Method of Matches in the Team Championship Preliminary Heats

In each individual match of the team championships, if there is no result within the allotted time, the match is declared a draw.

The winning team and losing team in a preliminary heat match is determined in the following manner:

• The team with the higher number of individual winners is the winning team.
• If the number of the individual winners is even, the team with the higher number of points scored is the winning team.
• If the number of individual winners and the number of points scored is even, a draw shall be declared. A play-off between representatives shall not be conducted.

 Method for Determining the Ranking of Teams in the Preliminary Heats

• Points will be awarded to teams depending on the following results.
  Win: 3 points
  Draw: 1 point
  Loss: 0 points
• The team with the most points will be ranked higher.
• If the points are even, the team with the most individual winners will be ranked higher.
• If the points and number of individual winners are even, the team with the most points (ippon) scored in their matches will be ranked higher.
• If the points, individual winners, and points (ippon) scored are even and the team that will progress to the final tournament cannot be decided, a play-off match will decide the ranking:
  1. The final ranking will be decided by a representative of each team.
  2. The manager of each team will inform the Presiding Referee (Shinpan-shunin) of the name of the representative player.
  3. The match to decide the winner between two teams shall be decided by a sudden death playoff (ippon-shobu) by a representative of each team with no time limit.
  4. When 3 or more teams are tied for first place in a group, a re-league match will be held between daihyo-sha. Matches will be conducted in the same way as described in 9. (3) e. If 3 or more daihyo-sha are tied for the first place even after two re-league matches, the first place team will be determined by drawing lots.

Method for Determining the Teams that Progress to the Tournament Stage

• In each group of both the men’s and women’s preliminary heats, the team that finishes 1st shall progress to the final tournament stage.
• There is a possibility depending on the total number of the participating teams that a team that finishes 2nd could progress to the final tournament stage.
• In that case, the focus shall be on teams that finished 2nd in a group that has a seeded team. When there is more than one 2nd place team that could progress to the final tournament, ranking shall be allocated in the order that the seeded teams within their group finished in the previous WKC (in this order: 2nd place team in the number 1 seeded team’s group; 2nd place in the number 2 seeded team’s group).

Method of Matches in the Final Tournament

Winning and losing teams in the final tournament of the team championships shall be determined in thefollowing manner.

• The team with the higher number of individual winners will be declared the winner.
• If the number of individual winners is even, the team with the most points scored in matches will win.
• If the number of individual winners and the number of points scored is even, a play-off between representatives of each team shall be conducted.
• The manager of each team will inform the Presiding Referee (Shinpan-shunin) of the name of the representative player.
• The play-off will be sudden death (ippon-shobu) with no time limit.

Commendations

In both the men’s and women’s competitions, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd (2 teams) place teams and 8 Fighting Spirit Awards shall be commended. The selection committee members, who are nominated by the FIK President, shall select the Fighting Spirit Competitors.

11. APPOINTMENT OF 19WKC OFFICIALS AND REFEREES

• 19WKC FIK Shiai and Shinpan Director shall be appointed by FIK BODM and shall oversee all matches, referees, and general management of the championships.
• Appointment of the WKC officials is entrusted to the FIK headquarters as in the case of the former Championships.
• Referee Group shall be composed of one (1) referee director (Shinpan-cho), six (6) presiding referees (Shinpan-shunin), and forty-two (42) or more referees (Shinpan-in), Forty nine (49) or more referees in total.
• Assignment of Referees.
  1. Recommendation of referee candidates
     The President of each FIK affiliated organization shall submit the recommendation letter to the President of FIK for 6 or less candidates of the WKC referees who satisfy the following requirements. The selection committee entrusted by the FIK President shall select the WKC referees from among the recommended candidates and some other candidates recommended by the FIK President.
     The requirements for the WKC referee candidates are:
     1. Member of a FIK affiliated organization, and in principle, having the nationality of the country of the organization concerned.
     2. Age between 35 and 70 years (as of January 1, 2024).
     3. Kendo 7-Dan or above, in good health, and practicing Kendo regularly.
     4. Thoroughly familiar with the Shiai and Shinpan rules described in Article 4 “Regulation of the Matches,” and competent in refereeing as proved by sufficient experience at international competitions or equivalent competitions.
     5. Having participated in the FIK Referee Seminar in a zone at least once after the previous WKC (18WKC, which was cancelled). Those who can participate in both the WKC Referee Seminar held in Japan several months before the WKC competitions and the WKC Referee Seminar held at the WKC city during the event term without fail.
  2. Referees Selection Committee
     A 19WKC Referee Selection Committee, appointed by the FIK President in accordance with the 19WKC referee selection procedure approved by the FIK BODM in July 26, 2023, shall select WKC referees, including Shinpan-cho, Shinpan-shunin, from among the candidates from each organization and a few more candidates recommended by the FIK President. The selection committee shall include the evaluators of the FIK zone referees seminars.
  3. Appointment of the referees
     The FIK President shall notify the Presidents of the FIK affiliated organizations of the appointees. The Presidents of the organizations to which the appointees belong are requested to send, in writing, the confirmation of acceptance of the appointment to the FIK headquarters, immediately.

12. FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• All participants must bear their expenses of travelling between their own countries and the venue, also the expenses for accommodations and meals during their stay. Details of the expenses, how to make reservations and payment for accommodations and meals shall be informed by the hosting organization.
  Therefore, all participating organizations and the participants are requested to follow the instructions given by the hosting organization.
• FIK shall pay for the hotel expenses of the referees for the day before the referee seminar. Each referee and/or the organization he/she belongs to shall bear the expenses of all other hotel expenses.
• Concerning the expenses of 19WKC and the related events, the FIK headquarters and the hosting organization discuss and determine how to shoulder the expenses between them.

13. OTHERS

• All participants including the delegation members, the referees and the FIK officials are requested to report his/her arrival in the hosting country to the WKC headquarters of the hosting organization for sure. They are also requested to receive a welcome package that includes the documents and the materials from the WKC headquarters of the hosting organization.
• A competitor who does not show up at the court within 5 minutes after the caller called out his or her name is regarded as default and disqualified.
• A competitor who is judged to be under the influence of illegal drugs (alcoholic beverages included) shall be disqualified by Gogi of the referees, shall be ordered to retire from the match and shall lose the match by Fusen-make. In case a dope test is conducted during or before/after the Championship period, it shall be conducted according to the FIK Doping Rules and the World Anti-Doping Code of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In case of disqualification by anti-doping violation, the shift of the rankings method, which was determined at the previous WKC, shall be applied.
• All participants including the delegation members, the referees and the FIK officials must insure themselves against diseases and accidents during the travel including the WKC period.
• ‘Godo Geiko’ is for those who desire to participate in but must be WKC participants.

In case there are any contradictions between the Japanese and the English of the Program and Regulations of The World Kendo Championships, the Japanese version supersedes.

For any question please contact Organization Commeetee using contact page