Foundations

Judging Certification Program

The scorekeeper to international judge certification ladder.

Key takeaways

Certification has four levels: Scorekeeper, Corner Judge, Regional Center, and International.
Each level up requires documented experience at the level below, logged on a signed log sheet.
Certifications expire after 5 years; re-certifying as Center or International requires a completed log sheet again.
Being a certified International Judge is one of the requirements to test for Sah Dan.

Background

The Judging Certification Program traces back to 2002, when the Rules and Judges Training Committee — an ad hoc committee of the Technical Advisory Committee — built the original certification system, mentoring structure, and training materials. In 2009, Grandmaster Shin formed the Judging Certification Committee to keep reviewing and updating the process.

The four levels

Certification ladder and requirements
Level	Eligibility	Requirement to certify
Scorekeeper	Cho Dan Bo at least 14 years old, or 5th gup and higher at least 16 years old	Pass the written test
Corner Judge	Dan member at least 16 years old	Certified scorekeeper with documented experience at 1+ championship (log sheet required); pass written and practical tests
Regional Center	Certified corner judge	Documented experience at 2-3 championships as corner judge (log sheet required); pass written and practical tests
International	E Dan and higher	Certified regional center with documented experience; must have judged a World Championship; pass written and practical tests

Cho Dan Bo members 16 and older can be certified as corner judges, but they aren't permitted to actually judge until they become Dan members.

A World Tang Soo Do Association Judge Certification certificate, listing the International, Regional, Corner, and Score/Time Keeper judge levels. — Judging certifications are valid for 5 years.

Tracking your experience

Serving as a judge, scorekeeper, timekeeper, or arbitrator all count as judging experience. The head table — or whoever is responsible for ring assignments at that championship — signs your log sheet.

Tracking your own participation is your responsibility

Don't rely on the coordinator remembering you were at a championship. Participation at non-sanctioned WTSDA championships does not count toward certification experience — but judging in WTSDA championships in other regions does.

Renewal and upgrades

Certification is valid for 5 years. Once it expires, the judge starts the certification process again.
Re-certifying as a Center or International judge requires a completed log sheet documenting experience.
If a judge can't verify the required experience and other requirements for Center judge, the process restarts from Scorekeeper.
Sah Dan and above are not required to keep a log sheet.
Upgrading to the next level still requires completing the testing process and paying the fee, even if the experience requirement is already met.

A prerequisite for rank testing

Being a certified International Judge is one of the requirements to test for Sah Dan.