The guiding principles of our training practices prioritise safety, fairness, student development, and uphold neutrality and integrity.

Our primary areas of risk include sparring, power tests, and special techniques. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to conduct a thorough warm-up in each training session, considering any medical conditions and making necessary allowances.

Instructors are expected to have completed a regular instructor course and familiarise themselves with the instructor code of practice to ensure proficiency in contemporary safe training practices. The knowledge and experience of instructors play a crucial role in injury prevention.

Ensuring Safety in Sparring:

1. Teach students according to the curriculum, starting with basic step sparring to ensure proper control before advancing to free sparring.
2. Allow contact with blocking tools to attacking tools in both step sparring and free sparring.
3. Control any contact to vital spots, ensuring it is dynamic and executed with correct technique.
4. Provide supervision to students during sparring sessions.
5. Teach students the main rules of competition sparring, emphasising that excessive contact, biting, scratching, attacking a fallen opponent, and the use of illegal techniques are fouls.
6. Use approved safety equipment, including sparring gloves, boots, and headguards. Headguards are compulsory for juniors.
7. Focus on point scoring, discouraging excessive contact.
8. Check any student who receives an excessive blow to the head for concussion, and do not allow them to spar again until they have medical clearance.

Compulsory Safety Equipment:

For ITF Competitions:

• Red or Blue Sparring Gloves, Boots, and Headguard

For DE SILVA Competitions:

• True Warrior Gloves and Boots (Any colour)
• Groin guard (males – worn under dobok)
• Head guard
• Mouth guards