Effective beginning at the upcoming Ocean State Grand Nationals, the North American Sport Karate Association has officially decided to update their rules for the rest of the 2022 season and beyond. Some rule changes were proposed before the AKA Warrior Cup that did not go through due to timing issues, and the updates that are now official include a few of those prior proposals.

The most notable rule changes that have been approved are in the point fighting divisions. All sparring matches are determined by one point, meaning that there is not a "win by two" requirement at any level of competition. Every sparring match is one round except for the overall grand championship, which is two 2-minute rounds. All sparring matches are now determined by a 10-point spread, eliminating the previous 7-point spread rule. All point sparring matches are now two minutes, eliminating the 90-second rounds in team sparring.

The definition for a fighter being "out of bounds" has also been updated. A competitor is out of bounds when one foot steps off the sparring area (mat). If a competitor steps out to avoid contact, their opponent will receive a penalty point without warning. To clarify, if a competitor is actively fighting out of bounds (NOT avoiding contact), no penalty applies. If the out of bounds fighter was pushed out of bounds, the out of bounds fighter will not be penalized. A fighter who is still in bounds can score on an out of bounds opponent.

There was a lot of discussion about the creative forms division following the proposed rule changes back in January, but the NASKA promoters have voted to keep the creative rules the same for at least the remainder of this season.

Click this link to access the full 2022 NASKA rulebook.