Dear Fellow USITF Members:

From my work as a senior tournament official, and from my
discussions with fellow TKD competitors, coaches, and instructors
throughout the USA and the world, it is apparent that the level of
refereeing is very high. It is also apparent that we need more work
on tournament judging. (Everyone has seen the bouts where the four
cards are 3-2, 7-6, 7-8, and 29-27, yes?)

Accordingly, Master Wheatley has asked me to conduct a workshop on
judging before the IIC in Reno. We will hold the workshop on Thursday
afternoon or evening, July 30, 2009, exact time and venue to be
announced later.

Time permitting, we will also discuss patterns judging, but the main
focus will be on sparring (so everyone needs to being their gear, so
we'll have plenty of fighters to be "scored").

The format will be old-fashioned "stop-time" point sparring; the less
experienced judges will have an opportunity to discuss what they saw,
and then have the benefit of the experience of our most senior
officials to suggest whether they might need to (as we used to say
when we judged for the old PKA) "lighten up" a bit (the (3-2 score
above) or "tighten up" a bit (the 29-27 score above).

For those who are able to arrive early enough to participate, we
promise an educational experience--and for those fighters who just
don't get enough opportunity to "go waltzing Matilda" with fighters
outside their own locales, plenty of sparring time.

Further details will be announced when available; please feel free to
email me directly with any questions.

Cordially,

Master Terence Geoghegan

VII Dan ITF/US-ITF
Vice President and General Counsel, US-ITF