The battle is the format that fills a room and it is also the one that produces the most disputes. The reason is simple, there is no number to point at. In endurance you count reps, in streetlifting you look at a load. In a battle you watch two turns and you decide.
Scoring and deciding are not the same act
In classic freestyle each judge awards a score per criterion and the scores add up. In a battle the judge answers one question, which of the two was better. They do not fill in a grid, they raise a hand, or in practice they tap a button on their phone.
That choice has a direct consequence on the panel. An even panel can deadlock two against two. Three judges give a majority in every case, five give a firmer majority and dilute the weight of an outlier. Beyond five you gain little and you complicate recruitment.
Criteria, written and published in advance
A judge deciding without written criteria decides on taste, and athletes feel it immediately. Three criteria are enough and are easy to remember, the difficulty of what was attempted, the cleanliness of the execution, and the originality of the sequence.
Add the failure rule. Should an athlete who attempts a very hard move and misses it beat one who lands an easier move. There is no universal right answer, but there is an answer to write down before the event. Most rulebooks favour the landed move, while rewarding the attempt inside the difficulty criterion.
How a duel runs
| Step | What happens | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| The draw | The bracket fills from the qualifier | Separate athletes from the same club in round one |
| The turn | Each athlete gets their time, alternating | Call the remaining time out loud |
| The vote | Each judge picks a winner | Votes stay hidden until everyone has voted |
| The call | The majority wins | Announce the result, not the split |
| Moving up | The winner goes to the next round | The next duel slots into the running order |
The hidden vote, and why it matters
If judges vote by raised hand one after another, the third vote follows the first. That is human and it has nothing to do with honesty. A vote that stays invisible until the whole panel has decided removes that pull.
The supervisor does see the split before the call. That is what lets them spot a judge who is systematically out of line and act on it for the next edition, without ever exposing them in front of the room.
Ties and disputes
With an odd panel a strict tie cannot happen, but a duel can be too close to call cleanly. The clearest answer is an extra round, shorter, often thirty seconds. The crowd understands it, the athletes accept it, and nobody argues with a table decision.
For disputes, one rule holds. It goes to the supervisor, not to a judge, and it is handled between two duels. The decision is justified in one sentence and stays written down. An athlete takes a decision badly, they take not knowing why far worse.
Frequently asked questions
- Three for a local competition, five as soon as a title or a qualification is at stake. Always an odd number, and a supervisor above the panel.
- It is common in a small scene and it is not disqualifying, as long as it is declared and they do not judge their own club's duels. The bracket is built to avoid that case.
- No. Announce the winner, not the three to two. The split feeds argument without adding anything, and it exposes the judges.
- Write the sanction before the event. The most common is that nothing done after the buzzer counts, rather than an elimination that ruins the duel.
