In an attempt to test the conceptual model by Lane and Terry, the purposes of this study were 1) to assess mood states in non-depressed and depressed young karate athletes; 2) to assess mood states in relation to performance in young karate athletes. The participants were recruited from the 2004 Malaysian Games (72 males, 19.20 ± 1.16 years; 37 females, 18.78 ± 0.88 years). The athletes were divided into winners (medalists) and losers. The Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) was administered prior to the start of competition. MANOVA was employed to treat the data, while Pearson correlations were calculated for mood states in each depressed mood group and by gender. In terms of non-depressed and depressed mood, tension in the females was higher in the depressed group (5.61 ± 3.02 vs. 3.11 ± 1.90, p = 0.026, eta(2) = 0.133), as was fatigue (3.64 ± 2.61 vs. 0.89 ± 1.69, p = 0.006, eta(2) = 0.199). Tension in the males was higher in the depressed group (4.41 ± 2.52 vs. 1.50 ± 1.55, p < 0.001, eta(2) = 0.215), as was anger (1.43 ± 1.88 vs. 0.25 ± 1.00, p = 0.019, eta(2) = 0.076). The highest associations among mood subscales were between anger and depression (r = 0.57), and between depression and fatigue ( r = 0.55) in depressed males. The female winning karateka scored higher on anger (3.08 ± 2.96 vs. 1.29 ± 2.24, p = 0.046, eta(2) = 0.109). The highest correlations between mood dimensions in depressed females were between depression and anger (r = 0.85) and between depression and confusion (r = 0.85). Contrary to previous research on the influence of depression on anger, only the female winners scored higher on anger. Several negative mood dimensions were higher in both male and female depressed groups, lending some support to the conceptual model advanced by Lane and Terry. Key PointsTo date, there is no information about the relationship between mood and martial arts performance in Malaysian athletes.There might be cultural differences in the way Malaysian athletes respond to psychological questionnaires.The mood-performance and depressed mood-non-depressed mood relationships might be mediated by age.