The number of attacks does not define everything
Gohon and sanbon kumite commonly organize agreed-upon series; kihon ippon kumite is built around an announced attack. Departure, travel and response details vary by school and level. Their educational interest depends on the question being addressed: trajectory, coordination, distance or control. A series performed quickly without instructions understood can remain a recitation.
Introduce the movement
Jiyu ippon kumite generally introduces a more mobile framework around a defined exchange. Distance is no longer just that of a fixed starting position. The practitioner must find an organization despite this variation. Before you begin, clarify the techniques, roles and announcements. A more mobile form does not mean that the partner must be surprised by an exercise that he did not accept.
Freedom and rules remain associated
Jiyu kumite designates freer work, but it still has a framework in the dojo: intensity, targets, contact, surface and stop signals. Freedom can be about timing, technique, or direction; it is not necessarily total. The teacher chooses the variables adapted to the group. The rules of a study exchange are not automatically those of a tournament.
Choose a passing criterion
Moving to a more open form may require maintaining control when the start becomes less predictable. A useful observation is the reaction to stopping or to a distance error. If one of the partners has to regularly break the exercise to protect themselves, the difficulty deserves to be reduced. The rank provides an administrative benchmark; it does not replace the observation of concrete work.
Check understanding
Does the free kumite mean that all techniques are allowed?
See answer
No. The techniques, contact and targets remain defined by the announced framework.