Entry Fees: £40 per competitor (AETA Clubs) / £45 per competitor (External Clubs)
Entry Is Open
Main Entry will close on June 16th at midnight
Late Entry will close on June 17th at midnight (with a £10 additional fee per late entry)
Please direct any queries to: competitions@aeta.uk
Age Categories
Child – Born in 2017 or after
Cadet – Born in 2014, 2015 or 2016
Pre-Junior – Born in 2011, 2012 or 2013
Junior – Born in 2008, 2009 or 2010
Adult – Born in 2007 or before
When you enter the date of birth of the competitor during entry the Age Category will be displayed.
Divisions will be called using these Age Categories and they will remain consistent throughout the 2026 season.
Venue and Directions
Sunday June 21st – Angel Leisure Centre, Tonbridge
Child and Cadet Registration from 8:30AM, Competition from approx. 9:30AM
Pre-Juniors, Juniors and Adults may register later from 12:00PM, Competition from approx. 13:30PM
Angel Leisure Centre, Angel Lane, Tonbridge, TN9 1SF
Competitor Protection Requirements
This is mandatory for each age category. Groin guards are compulsory for male competitors over 135cms. Glasses cannot be worn during the Sparring event unless they are specific sports glasses for contact sports.
Child, Cadet, Pre-Junior: Mouth Guard, Head Guard, Closed fingered gloves, Groin guard (Male), Feet Pads, Shin Guards
Junior and Adult: Mouth Guard, Head Guard, Closed fingered gloves, Groin guard (Male), Feet Pads
Closed fingered gloves: The thumb must be securely attached to the rest of the glove and not float free.
Spectators
Spectator Fees
There will be no spectator fees.
Spectator interference and behaviour
To ensure smooth running of the competition if any spectators or competitors are rude towards the organiser, referees or other competitors, then they will be asked to leave the competition venue immediately and risk that the competitor may be disqualified from all events including future AETA Competitions until further notice.
Furthermore spectators acknowledge that they will not post or distribute any videos or photos of any competitor who is being/has been treated by medical staff.
Spectators who post or otherwise distribute such videos, clips or photos of this nature could be subject to sanctions within AETA events.
Coaches
To ensure fairness there will be no coaches allowed. All Black Belts are asked to umpire to ensure fairness and a smooth running of the event. Colour belt students may cheer and support their team members from the spectator areas.
Pattern
Two competitors of the same belt colour will go up against each other performing one designated pattern.
YELLOW BELTS/GREEN TAGS
2 x Yellow Belts = Dan-Gun, Yellow Belt v Green Tag = Dan-Gun, 2 x Green Tags = Do-San
GREEN BELTS/BLUE TAGS
2 x Green Belts = Won-Hyo, Green Belt v Blue Tag = Won-Hyo, 2 x Blue Tags = Yul-Gok
BLUE BELTS/RED TAGS
2 x Blue Belts = Joong-Gun, Blue Belt v Red Tag = Joong-Gun, 2 x Red Tags = Toi-Gye
RED BELTS/BLACK TAGS
2 x Red Belts = Hwa-Rang, Red Belt v Black Tag = Hwa Rang, 2 x Black Tags = Choong-Moo
For white belts and yellow tags they can perform an optional pattern between Saju Jirugi (4 Direction Punch), Saju Makgi (4 Direction Block) or Chon-Ji.
In the case a competitor moves down a belt division they must perform the pattern of the lowest grade they compete against. If a higher colour belt is merged with the white belt category then the lowest pattern they can perform is Chon-Ji (a white belt can compete with Saju Jirugi or Saju Makgi). In the case a competitor is moved up a belt division then they will still perform their grade pattern.
After both competitors have performed their pattern the five referees will then vote which pattern was the best based on technical content, power, breath control, rhythm and balance. The winner goes through to the next round, the loser will go into the Bronze medal draw for another match. Once a competitor has lost two matches then they are out of the event.
Sparring
Two competitors in the same height category and similar belts will be drawn against each other (depending on numbers, belts colours may be mixed together). They must do their best to score with controlled punches and kicks to the front of the body, face and head guard in a round of 60 seconds for Child and Cadet categories, 90 seconds for Pre-Juniors and Juniors and 120 seconds for Adults. They score 1 point for any punch, 2 points for a kick to the body and 3 points for a kick to the head. Competitors can pick up warnings if they fall down, go out of the ring or kick an illegal target. For every 3 warnings, that competitor will lose a point from each umpires score. If the competitor uses excessive contact then they will get a foul where they instantly lose a point from each referee. Three fouls and the competitor is disqualified. The centre referees job is to keep the bouts safe and ensure it is touch/controlled contact only. The winner goes through to the next round, the loser will go into the Bronze medal draw for another match. Once a competitor has lost two matches then they are out of the event.
Sparring Contact Rules
Child, Cadet and Pre-Junior
Controlled contact to the body and head-guard will be allowed. Punches and kicks are allowed to the body and head-guard. Excessive contact will be penalised and may result in disqualification. For Child and Cadets no straight kicks to the face are allowed, Pre-Juniors still need to use controlled contact to the face.
Junior and Adult
Controlled contact to the body, the face and head-guard will be allowed. Punches and kicks are allowed to the body, face and head-guard. Excessive contact will be penalised and may result in disqualification.
Fouls (minus points) and Warnings
Fouls (1 minus point per foul) (3 fouls = Disqualification)
-Heavy Contact
-Attacking a fallen opponent
-Leg sweeping
-Holding/grabbing
-Intentional attack to an illegal target
Warnings (3 warnings = 1 minus point)
-Pretending to have scored a point by raising one or both arms
-Stepping completely out of the ring
-Falling down
-Faking a blow
-Intentionally avoiding sparring
-Adjusting equipment during the bout without the Centre Referee’s consent
– Unintentional attack to an illegal target
Power Test
This event is for all Adult competitors. Two techniques will be performed, one hand and one leg. Each competitor will choose the number of boards they wish to attempt for each technique and tell the referees prior to the event.
The competitor’s choice of techniques from the selection below.
Hand Techniques: Elbow or Knifehand
Foot Techniques: Side Kick or Side Back Kick
In the event of a draw, competitors will have to do the techniques that they have not chosen in the first round and again tell the number of boards to the umpire. Both techniques will be required.
Medals can only be given out to competitors who have gained some points. 2 Bronzes will only be awarded if the competitors are on the same number of points. If there is only one competitor in the division then they must score points to win the medal.
3 points for a broken board and 1 point for a bent board.
Special Technique
This event is for all non-Adult competitors.
Each competitor will have two attempts at performing both the flying high kick and flying side kick (the foot needs to be sideways for Flying Side Kick and with the Ball of the Foot for Flying High Kick, although some allowances will be given for younger competitors). For the flying high kick those who are in the Child, Cadet or Pre-Junior categories just need to make contact and touch the board to go through the next round. For Juniors, the board must either reach the 1 point (half flipped back) or 2 point position (fully flipped back), if the competitor misses the first attempt they will get another straight afterwards.
For the flying side kick if the bar falls off on the first attempt then they will get a second attempt straight afterwards. Points from both the flying side kick and flying high kick will be added together to decide the winners. Each round competitors will perform both kicks until the winners are decided with the heights of the holders or bar being raised each round.
For Pre-Juniors the special technique divisions will be split into 3 height categories. For the Child and Cadet categories it will be split into each height category.
For the flying side kick the starting height for the bar for Child, Cadet and Pre-Junior categories is half of the height category they are in. For Flying high kick it will be the upper end of the height category plus 5cms for Child and Cadet categories and plus 10cms for Pre-Juniors.
Medals and/or Trophies and Draw System
We are using a re-qualification system that means if a competitor loses a round then they will compete again in the Bronze medal draw where two bronze medals will be up for grabs. In the case of 3 competitors in a draw it will be a round robin, with four competitors it means after losing the first round they will still compete for Bronze.
In the case of 5 competitors once the two finalists are decided the remaining 3 will compete in a round robin to decide the two bronzes. This means they may do more rounds than those going for Gold/Silver. Whilst competitors continue to win they remain in the Gold/Silver Draw.
Only medals that are won can go towards points for competitors and Clubs. Medals will still be handed out though in categories of 4 or less that will not count towards overall points. In the case there is more than one Overall Champion we will add up the number of competitors they have had in each of their categories and the one with the most will win. Overall Grand Champions with the most points over the year will be invited to the AETA Gala at the beginning of the following year to receive a special overall trophy.
There will be up to 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals available for each division unless in special technique or power test less than 3 are successful in passing the first round. These special medals are custom made, exclusive AETA medals.