A Great Championship Comes with Great Responsibility: The Full Combo Paradox

On September 14th, one of the most exciting and high-level trickline championships of the year took place in Obuse, Japan. The Full Combo Championship brought together many of the world’s best trickline athletes, showcasing cutting-edge maneuvers and an impressive competitive setup.

The event featured a high-tension trickline with safety air mats, professional judging systems, complete video recording and live streaming, as well as significant prize money for the winners. Local media coverage contributed to the visibility of what was clearly designed to be a world-class professional trickline competition — a model World Cup by all apparent standards.

However, despite the excellent organization and overall quality, two critical elements were missing — creating what could be called the Full Combo paradox.

  • First, the athlete seeding process lacked transparency and was handled directly by the event organizer. This effectively made the event an invitational competition, which does not meet the ISA World Cup seeding criteria.
  • Second, the issue of gender representation stood out. Among 16 professional athletes, 15 were men and only one woman competed — Miss Kanon Ito, a young Japanese athlete present. From an international standpoint, this imbalance created a challenge for global recognition. According to the International Slackline Association (ISA) rules, for any event to be recognized as a World Cup, there must be at least two gender categories to ensure fairness and equality.

As these requirements were not met, the ISA Sport Commission — after reviewing the case — decided to recognize Full Combo as an international “Master” level competition rather than a World Cup event, meaning the Athletes can not receive the full World Cup ranking points.

The ISA acknowledges and deeply appreciates the tremendous effort, resources, and dedication invested by the organizers to deliver such a high-quality event. We sincerely hope that future competitions will continue to uphold this level of professionalism while also incorporating the principles of transparency and inclusivity — strengthening the synergy with the global evolution of slackline sports.