Kumite

Kumite (Japanese: 組手, literally "grappling hands") is one of the three main sections of karate training, along with kata and kihon.

Karate training is designed to give its practitioners the ability to deliver devastating power through techniques like punches and kicks.

All types of sparring allow the martial artist to develop both control and experience in delivering powerful strikes against an opponent.

In full contact karate, punches are often "pulled" to some slight extent in training, to minimize the occurrence of injuries that would interrupt practice.

However, some karate schools use protective gear in free sparring, so that strikes can be delivered closer to their full power.

Except for a life or death self-defense situation, the spirit and power of the single lethal strike can only be achieved when a karateka does not have to avoid injuring their training partner.

In some forms of competition kumite, punching ("tsuki") and kicking ("keri") techniques are allowed at the head ("jodan") and abdomen ("chudan").

Kumite is an essential part of karate training, and free sparring is often experienced as exciting, because both opponents have to react and adapt to each other very quickly.

Many international tournaments use a "point sparring" form of kumite that requires control ('pulling punches') and therefore warnings can be dealt for excessive force on techniques to the head, or sensitive areas.

Pulsing is where the karateka remains almost bouncing on the balls of their feet to maintain minimal frictional contact with the ground, allowing them to move quickly.

The tournament rules of full contact or "knockdown" styles of karate often don't award any points for controlled techniques delivered to the opponent.

When a competitor turns 16 years old, then they will be allowed a "skin touch" (light contact) to the opponents head for both punches or kicks, which stays the same from this age upwards.

If a (legal) punch or kick is delivered to the body, and causes an athlete to forfeit the bout (as they cannot continue), then the opposition is announced as the winner.

There are a list of 15 possible fouls or penalties recognised by the WKF; should a competitor receive a total of four of these warnings, then they will be disqualified from the match, or (depending on the severity of the offences) perhaps even the whole competition by the referee.