Tenkaichi Budokai (Kousen)

The Tenkaichi Tournament or Tenkaichi Budokai refers to the special world-spanning fighting tournament created by the Earth's World Peace-Keeping Taskforce, AIDD.

Rules & Characteristics
The Tournament was created by AIDD in Age 430 at the behest of the League of Nations Committee to quell the people's fears of unnaturally strong people on their planet & give them a sense of security. It also had the secret purpose of identifying any potential threats to the planet amongst its competitors. It consistently features the world's most powerful warriors, who compete not only for pride & the title of World's Greatest Warrior, but for the monetary reward of 1 million dollars of their chosen currency. The other top five finalists get prizes of 500,000 (2nd place), 250,000 (3rd place), 100,000 (4th place), & 50,000 (5th place). During the 100th Anniversary, the top prize was actually the dragonalls, while the top six finalists received the monetary prizes. It was not uncommon for competitors to be offered positions in AIDD or even as a country's general for the abilities displayed in the Tournament. The use of weapons or armor are allowed so long as the competitor registers the weapons & armor in question as part of their fighting style when they register.

According to the Tournaments rules, in order to qualify a competitor must first win a series of mini-fights (usually four of them, although there could be more depending on the number of contestants) with a time-limit of three minutes. Matches that last longer are determined by points. .

Afterwards, the remaining 256 competitors battle each other in randomly-selected one-on-one contests held across the planet at predetermined locations. The competitors fight each other with a time limit of one hour & after one hour has expired, if no clear winner is declared, a winner is determined by the referees, who watch the battle both live & via satellite. There is a week in-between fights to give the competitors time to recuperate, train, & study their next opponent, except for the finals in which there is a two week period between the semi-finals & the finals, causing the Tournament to last an average of five months. There are no rings & thus no out-of-bounds elimination rules, as some matches are staged in the jungle or on a mountain, but any competitor who surrenders, is killed, or is seen to be unable to continue the fight by the team of referees who watch the contest both live & via satellite will lose. Because killing is allowed, competitors are required to sign liability waivers when they sign up to release AIDD, the Tournament's officiators, & the other competitors from responsibility for any injuries or deaths. Also, although killing is allowed during the Tournament, this only applies to the regulated matches & killing in-between matches is prohibited & will result in arrest.

Location
The actual location of the Tournament refers to the place where the competitors gather initially, qualify for the Tournament, & the finals are held. The location of the Tournament works much like the Super Bowl with each city across the planet lobbying for their city to be chosen. The finals are traditionally held in a specially designed arena, although there is still no out-of-bounds rule & its not uncommon for the ring that they fight in to be destroyed or rendered useless (especially after Goku & the others began entering).