What happens when a wrestler steps off the mat?

The orange zone is the outer metre of the wrestling area. The protection area is outside it.

• Stepping out: The wrestler who steps out first, without a successful hold, gives away 1 point. If both go out together, the referee decides who touched the protection area first.
• A defender on the knees who goes out has also stepped out: 1 point.
• Pushing: A wrestler who deliberately pushes the opponent out with no meaningful action gets no point, only a verbal warning.
• An attacker who steps out first while executing a hold: if the hold is completed in one continuous action, it scores its value. If it fails, the opponent gets 1 point. If the attacker lifts and controls the opponent but cannot finish, the bout is stopped with no point.
• A failed attack that leaves the attacker underneath in the protection area costs 1 point for going out first. Landing there on the back under the opponent's control costs 2.
• Holds from standing begun in the central area are good wherever they end: central area, orange zone or protection area. If one ends in the protection area, the points are given and the bout restarts standing in the centre.
• "Zone": When the defender puts a foot in the orange zone, the referee calls "zone". The wrestlers must work back towards the centre without stopping their action.
• Starting in the zone: A standing hold may not be started in the orange zone, unless the wrestlers in the hold have only two feet in it. Wrestlers who stop in the zone, or drift into it without an action, are taken back to the centre.
• On the ground: Any action from or in the orange zone is good, even if it ends in the protection area. The attacker may keep going while the opponent's shoulders and head are still inside the zone. If the head of the wrestler underneath wholly touches the protection area, the bout is stopped.
• A fall in the protection area is not valid.

The rules say the orange zone is there to detect the passive wrestler and to end wrestling on the edge. The step-out point gives a reason to hold the centre and not back away.