Updated 25/09/2026
The following information is for the 2026 World Kuk Sool Association U.K. Competition in Liverpool on 27th & 28th November.
On competition day, we recommend that you arrive early and find the rest of the Widnes team. Team leaders will be available throughout the day to help with questions, ring locations, practice and nerves.
PSBN Sarah is the team captain on the day. Any major concerns that cannot be answered by other team members can be addressed to her.
More accurate timings for each age and rank will be published during the week before the competition.
On the day
All students require a full Kuk Sool Won uniform with the correct badges and a black T-shirt.
T-shirts, badges, uniforms and sparring equipment are available from the dojang office.
Students must compete barefoot.
On arrival, please report to PSBN Sarah and find the rest of the team. Please do not sit separately from the team. You or your child may be the falling partner for another competitor, so everyone needs to know where their partners are.
PSBN Sarah has one of the busiest jobs of the entire weekend, coordinating competitors, ring announcements, practice, falling partners and the team as a whole. Please help by paying attention to announcements and making sure competitors are at their competition area in good time.
We need students, parents and families to play their part to make the day run as smoothly and stress-free as possible.
The competition schedule will normally be released during the week before the event. However, as with most large tournaments, timings can change as the day progresses.
Please arrive early, establish where you need to be and allow enough time for a proper warm-up and practice with your team members.
You only get one opportunity in front of the judges, so please don’t miss your event because of lateness, inadequate practice or simply missing your group announcement. Much like a plane at the airport, the competition will not be delayed because someone isn’t at the ring when their group begins.
Timings vary between tournaments. Adult Black Belts normally compete on Friday evening, with Junior Black Belts and coloured belts competing on Saturday. Specific timings will be sent out once they are confirmed.
Once your competition group has finished, you are free to leave the building and enjoy the day, or stay and support the rest of the Widnes team. All Black Belts and DBNs should remain in the building at all times to assist the team.
Saturday evening
Saturday evening includes the Master’s Exhibition, Black Belt promotion ceremonies and the presentation of Winning School and Grand Champion awards.
This is the part of the weekend that everything builds towards and is definitely worth coming back for.
The evening programme normally begins at around 16:00 and becomes very busy. We ask that Widnes students and families sit together so we can properly support our team as Grand Champion awards and school placings are announced.
At the UK tournament, Widnes Martial Arts is responsible for helping to pack down the competition and demonstration setup at the end of the evening. Because of this, we no longer take a full team photograph at the end of the event.
We now take individual photographs at the end of the evening instead.
Any Black Belt who believes they may have won Grand Champion should have their General’s Uniform available for the presentation.
Tournament format
We will cover tournament preparation extensively in class during the weeks leading up to the competition, but the following gives you a basic idea of how everything works.
Coloured belts aged 4+ can compete in up to three categories:
- Traditional Forms
- Techniques
- Sparring
Brown Belts and DBNs may also have the option of Staff competition.
During tournament preparation we will involve parents where appropriate and may give students practice assignments to work on at home, particularly for forms and techniques.
The minimum entry for our coloured belts is Forms & Techniques. Sparring is optional, but highly recommended for students who are comfortable taking part.
Traditional Forms
Competitors perform the required sections of their form in front of three judges. The aim is to perform to the highest standard possible, with a score awarded once the competitor has finished.
Techniques
The instructor team will choose three techniques for each student and assign them a suitable falling partner.
Parents should familiarise themselves with both the falling partner and their parents before tournament day. It is very important that competitors can find their partners quickly when their division is called.
Sparring
Sparring is taught during our Wednesday evening sessions and is open to students preparing for competition.
WKSA tournament sparring uses a controlled light-to-no-contact format. Very little previous sparring experience is required, so please speak to the instructor team if you would like to know more.
It is always a shame when a student misses an additional medal opportunity simply because they didn’t enter sparring.
For each scored event, competitors will introduce themselves, bow, perform their event, bow again at the end and then await their score. The entire process often takes less than two minutes per competitor.
Cost of entry
Correct at the time of writing. Please check the official UK tournament entry information when it is issued.
Under Black Belt
- 1 division: £45
- 2 divisions: £50
- 3 divisions: £55
- 4 divisions: £60
Black Belts
- 1–2 divisions: £60
- 3–4 divisions: £65
- 5–6 divisions: £70
Entry for the 2026 competition is now open.
We will run dedicated tournament-training sessions during the weeks leading up to the competition. The full training schedule will be published separately.
Our tournament preparation will also include our annual charity baking competition, with proceeds supporting Halton Cancer Support Centre.
Physical paper entry forms are not required for Widnes students, although we recommend keeping a copy of the official tournament information for your own reference.
Spectators
Adults: £10.00
Children: £5.00
Under 5s: Free
Spectator entry includes the Saturday evening Master’s Exhibition and presentations.
Awards & Medals
Medals are awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th places, subject to division numbers and scoring criteria.
Trophies are awarded to the Grand Champions.
Grand Champion divisions
Grand Champion divisions are now completely fluid and are created on the day according to the number of Black Belt competitors entered.
This applies across 1st Dahn to 4th Dahn. The number and makeup of the divisions may change depending on the entries received, so there are no fixed Grand Champion divisions that can be published in advance.
Rank and gender may be combined or separated where necessary to create suitable competition divisions.
The fixed separation is between the three main age categories:
- Junior
- Youth
- Adult
Junior, Youth and Adult competitors will never compete against one another for Grand Champion.
Black Belts wishing to compete for Grand Champion must enter all of the competition divisions available to their rank.
Grand Champions are determined through overall point accumulation. To be eligible for a Grand Champion award, a competitor must achieve at least one gold medal and have the highest qualifying overall points total within their Grand Champion division.
Winning Schools
The school accumulating the most points receives an award and an embroidered World Kuk Sool Association (WKSA) flag.
The winning school keeps the flag until the following year’s tournament, when it is presented to the next winning school. A school winning the flag for three consecutive years retains it permanently.
Awards are given to schools finishing from first through to fifth place.
General information
Any Black Belt who would like to judge must have completed the WKSA Judges Qualification Course and must be approved to judge by KJN Karl.
Approved judges must report for the judges’ meeting at the required time on competition day.
All competitors must wear a complete Kuk Sool Won uniform with authorised markings only.
Officials and judges must wear their General’s Uniform.
The tournament is governed by WKSA Tournament Rules and Guidelines and is open only to members of the World Kuk Sool Association.
Safety equipment is required for all sparring competitors.
Mandatory: headgear, mouthpiece, boots, gloves and protective cup for male competitors.
Optional: shin guards and breast protectors.
Tournament officials reserve the right to combine divisions. In divisions other than sparring, male and female competitors below Black Belt may be combined.
Tournament Guidelines
Divisions
There are no longer fixed age groups for every competition division.
Competition groups are created in a way intended to provide a fair and even split of competitors. The exact divisions therefore depend on the number of entries at the tournament.
Divisions may be separated by age, gender or both, and there must normally be at least three competitors to create a competition. Conversely, very large divisions may be split into multiple groups.
It is therefore essential that competitors and parents remain alert for ring assignments.
Ring assignments will be announced over the PA system and, where available, displayed on screens around the venue.
Medals are awarded from 1st to 4th place. In particularly large divisions, multiple 2nd, 3rd or 4th-place medals may be awarded, but there will only ever be one 1st-place winner in each division.
Where fewer than four competitors are entered, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th-place medals are not automatically guaranteed. Medals may instead be awarded according to the competitors’ overall scores against the tournament’s gold-standard scoring system.
Sparring
Contact in WKSA sparring competitions is classified as light to no contact.
A competitor may score without making physical contact if the judges believe the technique could have landed but the competitor demonstrated sufficient control not to make contact.
Scoring areas include the front of the body and the padded areas around the front and sides of the head.
Strikes to the face, back of the head, arms, back or below the belt do not score.
When a potential scoring technique is seen, the centre judge will call “break”. A point is awarded where two of the three judges agree on the scoring area and technique used.
Kicks to the head score two points.
Depending on the number of competitors, byes may be chosen at random.
Where a division contains only three competitors, a round-robin format may be used.
Judges will make every effort to avoid competitors from the same school sparring against one another during the early rounds.
Sparring safety equipment is mandatory. Competitors require headgear, mouthpiece, boots and gloves, together with a protective cup for male competitors. Shin guards and breast protectors are also recommended where appropriate.
Board Breaking
Board Breaking competition is for adults aged over 18 only.
For JKN competitors, the high board must be positioned at a minimum of face height. For competitors aged 40+, the top of the board may be positioned at chin height.
The low board must have the top of the board positioned no higher than knee height.
The number of boards successfully broken is the first criterion used for placing competitors.
If competitors break the same number of boards, style and execution are then taken into consideration.
Techniques
- A falling partner may only be one rank above or below the competitor. For example, a White Belt may partner a Yellow Belt but not a Blue Belt. A Red Belt may partner a Blue or Brown Belt but not a DBN.
- Black Belts cannot act as falling partners for DBNs or coloured belts. For example, a KSN cannot fall for a JKN.
- Adults cannot partner children under the age of 12.
- When an adult partners a youth competitor aged 13–17, there must be no more than six inches difference in height.
Weapons
Only WKSA-approved weapons are permitted in competition.
Judges will check weapons before the event begins and will ensure suitable equipment is available where a competitor does not have the required approved weapon.
Dropping a weapon during competition results in automatic disqualification from that event.
Spectators
Please remember that tournament judges are unpaid WKSA practitioners who give their time to help provide high-quality judging and ensure their rings run as smoothly as possible.
Despite everyone’s best efforts, issues can occasionally arise.
If you believe something needs to be addressed, please speak to one of the tournament officials around the venue rather than approaching the judging team directly. Tournament officials are there specifically to deal with any issues that arise.
Thank you for your cooperation and for helping us make the tournament an enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
Disclaimer
This page is intended as a practical guide for Widnes Martial Arts students and families. It is not a complete list of World Kuk Sool Association tournament rules. Official WKSA tournament rules, entry information and instructions issued for the event take precedence where applicable.