UNAA Comps Australia follows UNAA's rules which are set out here.

The UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship will use a point system for scoring. Some obstacles are worth 1 point for full completion. More difficult obstacles can be worth 2 points and have a halfway point, which must be clearly marked with a tape mark or other marking. Completion of halfway is worth 1 point and is NOT considered a fail, but a 1-point completion.

 

Scoring

There is a maximum of 3 fails per course. After 3 fails, the athlete's run is over. They keep going until a time limit is reached, but will not receive a score for the remaining obstacles. Their time will end with the last obstacle completed. 

 

Score is then determined by points gained, and time of full run. Points are the highest priority when determining final score with time being second priority. Most points, with fastest time wins. Finish or fail an obstacle and move on to the next.

 

Examples of halfway mark worth 1 point:

Salmon ladder- 3 rungs out of 6 rungs

Peg Board- Peg in the 10th hole out of 20 holes

20 ft Rope Climb- hand goes past 10ft mark

 

It is up to the discretion of the gym to determine 2-point obstacles, but we highly recommend trying to incorporate as many as possible, up to 50% of the course, to create boundaries of Fair Play and more opportunities to incorporate harder obstacles without worry of all athletes failing harder obstacles. If an athlete wishes to skip an obstacle, they must first go to the starting platform/line/etc. of the obstacle before continuing on. Skipping an obstacle results in a fail of that obstacle.

​

If athlete times out before completing last obstacle, time is reverted to last obstacle completed (Ninja Master does this automatically).

​

ALL athletes must begin at the starting point of each obstacle (i.e. trampoline; box; platform; starting line) before moving on to next obstacle.

​

In case of obstacle failure, the run will be stopped. The athlete on course will have a rest before re-running the course. The athlete will start at the beginning of the course and attempt all obstacles until the point of obstacle failure unless they did not attempt a particular obstacle the first time. From the obstacle failure point, the run will continue as normal.Their original point score up to the obstacle failure point will stand regardless of how they do in the rest of their second run. The athlete can't attempt to get a faster time by deliberately failing and/or skipping obstacles until they get to the obstacle failure point. If the athlete fails obstacles they did not fail the first time, had a significantly faster time up to that point, and if the judge thinks the failure was deliberate, a panel of 3 judges will deliberate over a video of the athlete's run. If it is decided the athlete deliberately failed an obstacle to get a faster time, the athlete's first run will be counted rather than the second which means their points and time will only be up to the obstacle that failed.  

 

What is a Fail?

If it is a 1-point obstacle, and they do NOT complete the obstacle, it is a FAIL.

If it is a 2-point obstacle, and they do NOT get to the Halfway Mark, it is a FAIL. If they get to or surpass the halfway mark and fall before completing obstacle it is NOT a fail, it is awarded as a 1-point completion. Complete the entire obstacle, and get 2 points.

 

In the Event of a TIE, all athletes in a qualifying position will move on and those that move into a qualifying position because of the TIE will also move on.

​

If an athlete has already qualified for worlds 2026 and places in the top 3 at the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship, a world qualifying spot will roll down to the next in line.

​

Competitors must be 6 years or older as of 1 January 2026 to compete in the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship. The age date coincides with UNAA's Season 11 age date to ensure athletes are able to compete in the same age class at the UNAA World Series Finals as they competed in at the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship.  All athletes shall compete in their appropriate class. Any athletes in the age classes may move up to the next age class if they so choose.  Once they have moved up to that class, they MUST remain in that class for the duration of the year. Each course is age appropriate and if an athlete chooses to compete up, no accommodations will be made for height adjustments.

 

Athletes must choose a class to compete in based on their age and/or skill level. Athletes can choose to move up to the next class, but once an athlete moves up, they must remain in the higher class for the duration of the UNAA season. Athletes 13+ may compete in amateur, intermediate or pro class if they so choose but will HAVE to remain in the that class for duration of season.  

 

CLASS LIST

7 and Under Boys

7 and Under Girls

9 and Under Boys

9 and Under Girls

11 and Under Boys

11 and Under Girls

13 and Under Boys

13 and Under Girls

15 and Under Boys

15 and Under Girls

(16+ must go to adult classes. 13+ may go to adult classes if they choose)

Amateur Men

Amateur Women

Intermediate Men

Intermediate Women

Pro Men

Pro Women

Masters Men 40+ (limited to only competitors age 40 and over)

Masters Women 40+ (limited to only competitors age 40 and over)

Masters Men 50+ (limited to only competitors age 50 and over)

Masters Women 50+ (limited to only competitors age 50 and over)

Open kids (age 6-13) (male and female)

Open adults (aged 14+) (male and female)

​

Pro

Any Adult (13 or older) may compete in Pro class, Intermediate class or Amateur class but MUST compete in PRO but MUST compete in PRO if athlete in the last THREE years has been to the National Finals on ANW, been in the Top 10 Pro class at UNAA Finals, WNL Finals, FINA Finals, or NSN Finals. If you meet any ONE of these requirements you are considered PRO. For INTERMEDIATES in Season 10 that place TOP 10 in UNAA World Finals 2025, must move up to PRO Class.

​

INTERMEDIATE

This class is for those who are more skilled than amateurs, but are less skilled than those competing in the PRO class. 

For INTERMEDIATES in Season 10 that place TOP 10 in UNAA World Finals 2025, must move up to PRO Class. Age Groups- If you are 16 as of Jan 1, 2025 and have placed Top 10 in 15U age group at UNAA Finals, you must move up to Intermediate or you may move up to Pro, but must remain in that class for the duration of the Season.

 

Any athlete who placed top 10 in their age class at the UNAA World Series and is moving up to an adult class (due to aging out, or for those 13+, deciding to move up) MUST compete as an Intermediate or Pro (they CAN'T move into amateur). 

​

Once an athlete chooses to compete in PRO they must stay in PRO for the duration of the season. Those who are in PRO CLASS and have not qualified for a UNAA World Finals in the previous years or placed in the lower 20% at UNAA World Final Prelims, may move down to INTERMEDIATE CLASS if they choose. In these circumstances, athletes may move down immediately following worlds. If an athlete in the bottom 20% at worlds competes as Pro at a competition after worlds, they are choosing to compete as Pro and must remain in the Pro class for the duration of the season.

 

If any qualified PRO or INTERMEDIATE athlete violates these rules and is “competing down” in the amateur classes, they will be disqualified from the competition and required to forfeit all prizes.

​​

Amateur class

The Amateur class exists to give new ninjas and ninjas who have a much lower skill level than those in the Intermediate and Pro classes a chance to compete against others of a similar skill level. It is quite disheartening for amateurs when they compete against someone who should be competing as an Intermediate or Pro, and can make them feel like they are not good enough to be a ninja and/or to compete. This even leads to ninjas dropping out of the sport altogether. 

 

If you are a skilled ninja, capable of completing many technically challenging manoeuvres such as coffin laches, flow lines, cane laches (bar to bar, ring to ring, etc.), 1cm cliff hangers, flyaways, and/or other challenging skills, you should compete as a Pro. If you are a skilled ninja, capable of doing the salmon ladder, laches over 2m, and other skills that are between the amateur and pro skill level, you should be competing as an Intermediate. Amateurs do not have such skills.

 

Coaches, we encourage you to chat with your ninjas about their skill level and which class they should be competing in. We don't want to see athletes competing down just to win against less skilled competitors. 

 

If you are unsure if you should be in Amateur, Intermediate or Pro, please contact us and we can advise you which class you should be competing in based on your skill level.

 

Open class

*Please note, we have not decided if we will host the open classes at the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship. IF we do, the below rules apply.

 

This class is for both males and females. If an athlete qualifies in any class for the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship, they may not compete in this class at the championship. 

 

Those that place Top 3 in the Open Class at UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship qualify for UNAA World Series Finals in the Open Class. This gives those who may have just missed out on qualifying to UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championsips another chance to try to qualify for the UNAA WSF in the Open Class.

​

Gym Personnel & UNAA CA Personnel

Gym personnel (owners, and employees) can compete at the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship at their own gym if they qualified to do so. UNAA CA personnel can compete at the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championships if they qualified to do so. Any gym personnel and UNAA CA personnel competing MUST run FIRST in their class AND must not test design their class's course.

 

Transgender Policy

Transgender athletes are welcome in UNAA Comps Australia.  Any transgender athlete competing in UNAA Competitions must compete in their gender assigned at birth, or compete in the applicable Open class and follow The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act:  461. 

 

The Act requires that athletic teams or sports be expressly designated as for males, men or boys; females, women or girls, or co-ed or mixed. It also requires that teams or sports designated for females must not be open to “students of the male sex.”

 

Judges

All UNAA gyms will have at least 2 judges on hand for each athlete’s run. One Judge (Head Judge) will have a reliable timer and focus on the athlete’s full completion of each obstacle. The other Judge will be responsible for keeping time and score using Ninja Master. Head Judges can pause runs for emergencies, course malfunctions, or equipment malfunctions only.

​

UNAA Comps Australia will have obstacles marked clearly with a marking device to determine the start and finish of each obstacle and halfway mark (on two point obstacles), to ensure competitors full knowledge of the course. UNAA CA will also provide a walk-through of each course. Athletes will need to CLEAR the end-marker - this decision resides with the Head Judge at each qualifier.

​

UNAA World Series Finals

World Finals (held in the USA) will be judged by designated personnel of the UNAA.

Note for UNAA Head Judges: A head judge's purpose is primarily two tasks - ensuring athletes complete the obstacle in a fair manner and to determine if an athlete “clears” the end marker. A head judge may make a call at any time utilizing the “ask it or risk it" rule. The “ask it or risk it” rule means the responsibility of asking if something is legal is on the athlete or the athlete risks being called for it. Judges also do not have to allow a loophole once it is found. Judges reserve the right to make any call they deem necessary in order to complete the obstacle as it was intended.

​

Competition structure

There are two levels of competition - WNAG and state international qualifiers (both of which are run by gyms directly through UNAA (USA)) and the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship.

​

Compassionate entry to UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship

UNAA Comps Australia may grant compassionate entry to the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship on a case by case basis when a competitor is unable to compete at a qualifier due to an extreme unforeseen circumstance such as a death within the family or an injury in which a doctor has rendered the competitor unable to ninja for a time period including WNAG AND their state's international qualifier. We value the health and safety of our ninjas and do not want them to attempt competing at an event with such injuries just because they want to qualify the UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship. The Compassionate Clause enables our ninjas to rest and recover rather than competing against the advice of doctors.

​

Wildcard entry to UNAA CA Asia Pacific Championship

Wildcard entry may be accepted for the UNAA Asia Pacific Championship for reasons not already stated on a case by case basis, such as if a ninja resides in a location within Australia that is not within a commutable distance to a qualifier. For example (but not limited to) a ninja that resides in NT or TAS may receive wildcard as there are no ninja gyms within 500km or less.