all depends on the teacher running the tourney. Mr. Okazaki usually enforces gloves, mouthpieces during all ISKF tournaments. Others may be less consistent. The written rules require gloves/mouth pieces and do not allow headgear, shin, forearm padding. In practice, sometimes gloves may not be used and mouth pieces are used at discretion of contestant.
Contact is light to none to head, more is allowed to body. JKA kumite is not full contact but light contact for points. As a result, judges are required to see kime in technique before awarding a point rather than rely on proof of kime evidenced by your opponent falling over.
This demands a high level of understanding in judges which makes it tough to get good judges. Plus with only 2 half points awarded in 2 min, if you get scored on once, you can lose when time runs out so a mistake costs big and again emphasis ends up on gyakuzukis.
So Harv, the guys suck too and too often it's gyakuzukis only. What is true is that there are more good guys than good women. Though that doesn't hold as true for the South Americans. One of the fighers with the most beautiful technique ever seen is Edna Limas from Brazil now with ISKF.
Why does the JKA keep to its rules given the substantial downsides and the proven existence of great kumite under other rules? Well it all has to do with kime, and kendo.
M