Rules for Taiji Quan / Internal Forms

Competitor’s Responsibility:

• Familiarize themselves with the schedule of events and location (ring) of competition. It is the responsibility of the competitor to be at his or her event on time to compete.
• Check in at the ring with the scorekeeper or ring coordinator a minimum of 15 min. before the beginning of the competition for the division he or she is competing in.
• Any competitor that has obligation in any other ring(s) must inform the scorekeeper or ring coordinator of possible conflicts at the time he or she checks in at the ring.
  
• Be in uniform and have any equipment needed (weapons) and be ready to perform when he or she is called to compete.
  
• Any competitor that may have issue with the judging panel or any member of the panel must make this known and ask for arbitration before competition begins in the division he or she is competing in.
• Once a competitor has competed, if he or she wishes to ask for clarification or an arbitration regarding scoring it must be done in a respectful manner to the head official immediately at the end of competition of the division in question.
  
  

Standard Ring Procedures:

• All competitors will be summoned to the ring at least 10 minutes before the beginning of the event.
• Should any competitor have any questions as to what category his/her form fits into (i.e.: Long/Short Hand, Northern, etc.), he/she should inquire about this upon checking in with the scorekeeper long before any competitions begin. Do not wait until the event is about to begin.
• When the Chief judge sees that all is ready he or she will have announced the name of the first competitor and then the names of the following two competitors to prepare.
• When the competitor's name is called, he/she will approach the ring and give a right fist and left palm salute (standing vertical with both feet together) to the Chief Judge only. The competitor shall not bow to any other ring official or it shall be considered a violation of protocol and will be dealt the appropriate deduction. The competitor will hold his/her hand salute until permission from the ring official is given.
• Upon receiving the signal from the ring official to enter the ring, the competitor will "march" or walk evenly and directly to his/her beginning position. No more than 5 seconds should be taken for this. At no time should the competitor speak to any officials or judges once his/her name is called.
• Once the beginning position is found, the competitor will stand perfectly still at attention, showing the judges and Timekeepers that the form is ready to begin. The time clock will begin at the first sign of movement from this attention position. This attention position should not be held for more than 5 seconds, however, it should be held for at least 2 seconds.
• The time clock will stop when the form is finished and the competitor returns to a stationary and relaxed position. Upon completion, the competitor will again "march" or walk evenly to the same place he/she entered, turn around, and face the judges and officials once again in a relaxed, upright position.
• After receiving his or her final score, the competitor will acknowledge the score by saluting only the Chief Judge. Now the competitor is finished with his or her form, and may leave the ring area. Departures from this protocol will result in the appropriate penalty being deducted from the merited score of a competitor.
• At the conclusion of the final competitors' performance, the Scorekeeper and Chief Judge shall determine the placing of the competitors for awards. The Ring Coordinator will again lead the competitors into the ring and present them to the Chief Judge, who will, beginning with the lowest place, present the awards to the competitors.
  
  

Division Guidelines:

Costumes/Uniforms

• Tops may either be tournament or event T shirts, school T shirts (unless prohibited by the event promoter), or traditional jackets of any Chinese style and material.T shirts shall be tucked into the pants.
• Pants shall be long and either gathered or open at the ankles.
  
• A sash or belt must be worn, except in internal-style events, where the sash is optional. (no karate-style belts)
• Martial arts style athletic shoes must be worn by all forms competitors. These shoes should be stable and flexible at the ankle and toe, and should have a low profile and good traction.
• Uniforms should be clean and wrinkle free at the start of the competition.
• Uniforms bearing distinguishing school or organization logos may or may not be permitted at the discretion of the particular event staff.

Specifications for Other Weapons
All other Weapons must be Chinese in origin. Weapons not allowed include, but are not limited to nunchuku, katana, manriki-gusari, kama, sai, etc.

Deductions for Non-Conformity of Weapons
In the event that the weapon's length fall short of the stated lengths, a deduction of 0.05 shall be made for each inch outside of specifications. In the event that the weapon obviously does not conform to the standards set out above in any way other than length, a deduction of 0.10 shall be made, at the discretion of the Chief Judge. In the event that the weapon is obviously not of Chinese origin, the performer shall have a total of 0.20 subtracted from the final score by the Chief Judge.

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