FIGHT GLOVES

MANDATORY
AMATEUR FIGHT GLOVES
All fighters BELOW 147 lbs will wear 10 OZ. Fight Gloves.
Fighters ABOVE 147 lbs will wear 12 OZ. Fight Gloves.
If a fighter is above 147 and one is below 147, both will wear 12 Oz.

HEADGEAR

MANDATORY
Fighters are required to bring their own Headgear.
Fighters Will Be Allowed To Use Other Headgear as long as it is Competition Headgear as used in USA BOXING with NO FULL JAW BAR

GROIN PROTECTION

MANDATORY
ANY Style Groin Protection Will Be Allowed For All Fighters.

SHIN PADS

MANDATORY
Fighters are allowed to wear any
brands of shin pads if they desire.

HANDWRAPS

MANDATORY
ANY Style Handwraps Will Be Allowed For All Fighters. No Tape over the knuckles. WHITE Athletic tape only. No Duc Tape or Packaging Tape.

MOUTHPIECE

MANDATORY
*Wipps
(*) However fighters are allowed to use their own
brand of mouthpiece if they desire.

FOOT PADS
Full Contact Rules Only

MANDATORY
ANY Style Footpads Will Be Allowed For All Fighters. They must cover the toes, the heel and the instep and be secured to the fighters foot by WHITE Athletic tape.

MANDATORY
DRESS CODE

MANDATORY
Long Full Length Full Contact Style Pants.

SEEDING & Placement

1. *PREVIOUS CHAMPIONS: All previous IKF USA North American Champions Will Automatically attain the number 1 seeding among "ALL" the fighters. They are not required to attend the USA National Finals Tournament, only be required to register for the North American Championship Tournament.
   • (*) If you are a previous years Champion and you plan to attend this years North American Tournament, you must defend the title in the same weightclass and the same rule style as the title you won last year. Otherwise, you will not attain your number 1 seeding for the Finals.

BOUTS

• BOUT LENGTH: ALL "PRELYM" BOUTS Are 3, 2 Minutes Rounds . ALL North American Championship Bouts are 5, 2 minute rounds.
• DRAWS: If a bout ends in a draw or majority draw after the scheduled 3 rounds, the fighters will fight 1 more round to break the draw and continue this if necessary until 2 of the 3 judges determine a majority winner or all 3 judges pick the same winner.
• PROTESTS: There will be NO PROTESTS OF ANY BOUTS ACCEPTED. This rule has come from the fact that in the first 3 years of the IKF USA National Amateur tournament, EVERY Protested bout that was either reviewed by video or had a scheduled "EXTRA ROUND FIGHT", ALL of them came out with the same winner.

REGISTRATION
AND OTHER INFO ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT...
The registration fee for This Event is $45 per fighter.
This fee is paid directly to the IKF At;
IKF
P. O. Box 1205 - 9385 Old State Highway - Newcastle, CA, 95658, USA
To Register - CLICK HERE

TRAVEL EXPENSES
Since this is a TOURNAMENT and not a General Event, all fighters are required to pay their own travel expenses. We suggest each fighter to seek SPONSORS to pay for their travel expenses and in return, list these sponsors on fight clothing, warm up robes, cornermens jackets trainer T-shirts, hats or other areas you feel you can offer your sponsor exposure. The Promoter of this event will negotiate special rates with hotels and restaurants in the event area to attain special discount rates for the incoming fighters and trainers. We appreciate your work in this MUCH NEEDED AREA.

RULE STYLE
All Bouts for this event will be fought under the IKF Full Contact Rules Division
All Kicks ABOVE THE WAIST, 6 Kick Minimum, Must Wear Long Pants
To Read All Full IKF Full Contact Rules & Regulations Please Click
HERE!

WEIGHT CLASS REQUIREMENTS

• Unless a fighter already won to qualify for this event (EX: IKF USA National Amateur Championships) All Fighters must choose a WEIGHT CLASS to Fight in when they register for this Event.
• Fighters CANNOT change their weight class at the North American Event UNLESS there are no fighters in or close to their weight-division. Otherwise, they MUST Compete in the SAME Weight Class as they Won or registered for.
• If a fighter weighs-in heavier than their registered fight weight division they will be given "2 HOURS" to LOSE the Weight to make their Registered weight class.
• NO FIGHTER MAY "GAIN" Weight to make their weight class. If a Fighter weighs-in UNDER their weight class, they will be automatically disqualified from competition without any refund of any registration fees.
• If after 2 hours, the fighter is still unable to make their registered weight, they will be disqualified from competition without any refund of registration fees.

MATCHMAKING CHAMPIONS

1. In Divisions where there IS a existing/current IKF Amateur North American Champion:
   • All CURRENT IKF North American Champions regardless of what country they are from (USA, Canada, Mexico) will be given the number 1 seed in their weightclass division.
   • The Current Years IKF USA National Amateur Tournament Champion will be given the top seed among the remaining fighters.
   • The second place finisher of the USA National Amateur Tournament in the division will be allowed to register but will be seeded among all remaining fighters.
2. In Divisions where there IS NOT and existing/current IKF Amateur North American Champion:
   • If there is no existing/current North American Champion in a division then the winner of the Current Years IKF USA National Amateur Tournament will be the number 1 seed in their weightclass division.
   • The second place finisher of the current years IKF USA National Amateur Tournament in the division will be allowed to register but will be seeded among all remaining fighters. They will enter the tournament within the mix of other fighters from Canada and Mexico.
3. We will only Accept the first "8" Amateur Fighters for each weightclass for this first year of the Tournament. With this in mind, we suggest those interested to send in their registration forms as quickly as possible. This is because we cannot have a fighter fight more than 3 times in 1 day, as in any tournament style fighting event. We will keep you posted as to WHO has registered in what weightclass as we have done with the IKF USA National Amateur Tournament.
4. WALKOVER CHAMPIONS: There will be NO NORTH AMERICAN WALKOVER CHAMPIONS. "HOWEVER", IF Your confirmed with a scheduled opponent BEFORE the weigh-in date and your opponent doesn't show up for some reason at the official weigh-ins of the Event, you will be awarded the title by walkover if there are no other opponents in your division. If this happens, you are also allowed at this time to switch rule styles or weight divisions so you can at least have a fight, and a chance at winning "2" North American Titles.
5. If we discover that there are no CONFIRMED Opponents for a fighter to fight in their weight class PRIOR to the date of the Event Weekend, they will have several options.
   • SWITCH to a WEIGHT CLASS above or below them to be matched.
   • Not attend the Event and receive a full refund of registration fees.

FIGHTER SEEDING

In Divisions with an EVEN Number of Fighters:

• In Divisions of "2" Fighters
  1. FINAL: Seed #1 will fight seed #2 for the IKF North American Title.
• In Divisions of "4" Fighters:
  1. ROUND 1: Seed #1 will face seed #4 and seed #2 will face seed #3.
  2. FINAL: The winners of these 2 matches will fight for the IKF North American Title.
• In Divisions of "6" Fighters:
  1. ROUND 1: Seed #1 & 2 will have a bye. Seed #3 will fight seed #6. Seed #4 will fight seed #5.
  2. ROUND 2: The winner of #3 & #6 will fight seed #2. The winner of #4 & #5 will fight seed #1.
  3. FINAL: Winners of last 2 bouts will fight for the IKF North American Title.
• In Divisions of "8" Fighters:
  1. ROUND 1: Seed #1 will face seed #8. Seed #2 will face seed #7. Seed #3 will face seed #6. Seed #4 will face seed #5.
  2. ROUND 2: Winner of 1 & 8 will fight winner of 3 & 6. Winner of 4 & 5 will fight winner of 2 & 7.
  3. FINAL: The winners of the last 2 matches will fight for the IKF North American Title.

In Divisions with an ODD Number of Fighters:

• In Divisions of "3" Fighters:
  1. ROUND 1: The #1 seed will receive a bye. Seed #2 will fight seed #3.
  2. FINAL: The winner of 2 vs 3 will fight seed #1 for the IKF North American Title.
• In Divisions of "5" Fighters:
  1. ROUND 1: Seed #1 will receive a bye. Seed #4 will fight seed #5. Seed #2 will fight Seed #3. The winner of 2 vs 3 will advance to the Final.
  2. ROUND 2: Winner of 4 vs 5 will fight Seed #1.
  3. FINAL: The winner of 4 vs 5 vs 1 will fight the winner of 2 & 3 for the IKF North American Title.
• In Divisions of "7" Fighters:
  1. ROUND 1: The #1 seed will receive a bye. Seed #7 will fight seed #6 in the first fight. Seed #2 will fight Seed #5. Seed #4 will fight Seed #3.
  2. ROUND 2: Winner of 7 & 6 will fight Seed #1. Winner of 2 & 5 will fight winner of 4 & 3.
  3. FINAL: Winner of 7 vs 6 vs 1 will fight winner of 2 vs 5 vs winner of 4 vs 3 for the IKF North American Title.

CHAMPIONS & CHALLENGES

Each winner of an IKF North American Amateur Kickboxing Tournament Title will become the ONLY TRUE NORTH AMERICAN Amateur Kickboxing Champion. Each Champion will hold their title for a period of 1 year, or until the next years tournament. Champions CANNOT lose their title during the year by a challenge. This is what the tournament circuit is for. If an Amateur Kickboxer wants to be a TRUE NORTH AMERICAN Amateur Kickboxing Champion, they must enter the OPEN (Any amateur can enter) Tournament. Each year the title automatically becomes vacant and any fighter has an opportunity to win it for the new year. This will prove that there is only "1" True NORTH AMERICAN Amateur Kickboxing Champion in each Fighting Division and Weightclass...
The one who made the sacrafices to "Walk The Walk" and attend the IKF NORTH AMERICAN Amateur Tournament.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Fighters and Trainers. For event logistics info, please make all contact inquiries for the
2003 IKF North American Championships to Event Promoter:
Upstate Karate, Inc. Ray & Gloria Thompson or Becki Halloran at (864) 967-3930, Cell (864) 505-4237, e-mail- tetsushin2@aol.com. Thank You.

IKF CONTACT
Phone: (916) 663-2467 - Fax: (916) 663-4510 or E-MAIL at: USAN@IKFKickboxing.com
E-Mails are much easier for us to respond to than Phone Calls. Thank You...