Alot of times its hard to get judges, and sometimes guys with little experience (fighting) are put in. Sometimes the judges have limited exposure to other styles, and can’t tell what is really happening in the match. Ive seen countless hand hits not called by judges, simply because they are in a style that doesnt practice that style of targetting/hitting. Or judges that will null a strike, if a blocking motion is made, even when the strike still lands (which will wreak havoc on your score if you are style that likes to draw blocks and wrap your counter around the block). And sometimes its simply just the angle from which the judges are sitting, that prevents them from seeing the actual events.

A good center/ref also goes a long way into keeping the pacing more realistic. Even wekaf rules require a show of defense and fighting skill, but without a good ref to break overly mutually killed exchanges (e.g. both fighters simply wailing away at each other), no matter what the rules say it will continue to happen. I know for myself it is hard to let a hit go un-answered, to keep to the spirit of a rule, when the other guy isnt paying attention to it, and the ref isnt breaking us up.

Though, ultimately going back to the days of no armor and live sticks, or closer to those days as we can get, may be the only way around the un-realism of matters.

I’m in favor of keeping the kata (anyo or sayaw) because I believe it’s traditional, and part of the art. And that’s the key –I don’t think spectators at the tournament are seeing art, or skill.

The naginata competition and French la canne are on the right track. Even if I don’t know how it’s scored, I can see defenses and when someone gets hit. I’ve seen eskrima point sparring that looks good. But the go-for-broke headhunting without any regard for defense just looks like a mess

The Naginata looks nice, but might get more from it if I knew what was legal/illegal, and how points were scored.