The
WKA World Tournament—A Commitment to Excellence
By Lindsey MacMhaolain
Having
officiated my share of events as a full-time
WKA USA employee,
notably shows in Delaware, Virginia, Tennessee,
Kentucky, and New York, I was bursting with curiosity
and excitement to see how the WKA, as the largest
international organization of its kind, operated
worldwide. When I got to Spain, I enjoyed the pleasure
of meeting many new people from all different countries,
with experience in all of the disciplines encompassed by
the WKA, including many I have had little to no
experience in, such as forms, weapons, and Knockdown
Karate. I met Klaus Nonnemacher, the current WKA world
president, and his predecessor, Paul Ingram, as well as
the country representatives of many nations.
As WKA USA
had been pushing for the inclusion for MMA as a
division in the WKA’s amateur
World Championships, the burden was on us to
educate our
fellow officials using the experience we have gained
during our previous six years of sanctioning MMA in
the US. On the first day at the officials’ seminar,
WKA USA representative
Brian Crenshaw gave an overview of Mixed Martial
Arts and our activities concerning MMA in the States.
He then turned the presentation over to me and I gave
a briefing on the WKA’s amateur rules for MMA as well
as guidelines for refereeing and judging MMA bouts.
Later, when the matches began, I refereed some and
supervised the refereeing of the rest of the bouts so
that the chief Ringsports referee, Abdul Rahman El
Rayess (Lebanon), could gain experience in officiating
MMA. Despite the fact that this was the first year and
there were a few “learning” hitches, the division as a
whole went off smoothly, and competitors were prepared
to fight and all fought well.
What
impressed me most about the whole tournament was the
lack of complacency. Though not a morning
person,
I was each morning at the daily officials meeting, the
theme of which was always, “How did yesterday go and
what can we do to make today better?” Officials and
representatives expressed their opinions and concerns
in turn, and fruitful discussion ensued as to how
problems could be resolved both for the duration of
the 2009 tournament as well as how larger aspects of
the tournament could be improved for future years.
With WKA Administrator Zuzana Valuchova (Slovakia)
coordinating these meetings, she provided the
invaluable forum for these discussions. In addition,
she invited each official to a one-on-one sit-down
with her at the tournament’s end to discuss
observations, concerns, and potential improvements.
The length of time each official was given to discuss
his or her opinions on the tournament left me no other
conclusion but that the head officials of the WKA
Amateur World Championships are one hundred percent
committed to making theirs the best tournament out
there—and if it happens to be that already, there is
no complacency on anyone’s part. The pervasive
attitude was, “however good it is, we can make it
better.”
I was also
impressed by the competitors themselves. Naturally, as
all competitors had to qualify in their home countries
in order to attend this world-level competition, I
expected to see some excellent fighting. But it was
the attitude of sportsmanship, of professionalism,
despite their amateur status, that really impressed
me. Competitors did not merely touch gloves, hug after
a match, and greet the opposing coaches as a
formality, a procedure, but with heartfelt feeling. No
matter how vicious and brutal a fight, at the end,
fighters sincerely thanked each other and each other’s
coaches for the opportunity and the fight. With so
many competitors in one hotel complex, it was
impossible for people who had fought each other to
avoid running into each other in the streets. There
were no glares, no stare-downs—only friendly smiles
and an obvious, sportsmanlike respect. When the fights
were over, former opponents could even be seen in the
local bar buying each other drinks and making friendly
conversation.
All in all,
from both the perspective of a competitor, a WKA
employee and fan, and an official, I was exhilarated
to have been able to witness this high level of
excellence in a tournament and look forward eagerly to
next year’s WKA Worlds, whether I qualify to fight or
merely go to work and to officiate. With all the
judging of Full Contact, Kickboxing, K-1, and Thai
Boxing I did (long tedious days) and the overseeing of
the MMA, I missed the opportunities my teammates had
to sightsee and souvenir-hunt—but I can honestly say
that I do not regret it a bit.
