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JUDO COMPETITION IS CONDUCTED IN TWO BRANCHES: SHIAI (FREE GRAPPLING) AND KATA (PRE-ARRANGED FIGHTING DEMONSTRATION)   The rules of Judo competition are not complicated once you get the idea that they are based on "the best" not "the most". Courtesy of Dave Quinn, www.worldjudo.org   You're at the Judo Tournament. What the heck is going on? Hopefully the following will be an easy introduction to the rules that will help you enjoy the tournament; you may even enjoy it so much you will want to get involved. What are they trying to do ? Quite simply they are trying to knock the opponent over so that he lands hard and fast on the back (a throw) or hold the opponent on the back for 25 seconds or obtain a submission by strangle or armlock  (only in senior competition) If any of these are completed successfully it is considered a TKO and finishes the bout. How do they hope to do it ? To throw, they can spin the opponent over his own feet or over the thrower's hips or back. They can sweep the opponent's feet out from under him or they can drop down and spin the opponent over their own fallen body. To pin the opponent, they press down from a face-down or side-down position on the opponent (generally holding the head or a limb) so that the opponent's back or a shoulder is on the mat. To obtain a submission, pressure can be applied directly on the elbow of a straight arm or the arm bent at a right angle can be twisted in either direction. To strangle, pressure is applied to the sides of the opponents neck by one or both forearms or the opponents own collar. The legs may also be used to strangle provided one arm of the opponent is also enclosed by the legs. Who judges success ? The degree of success in the above actions is determined by 3 referees who each have an equal vote. Two sit at opposite corners and the third moves around the mat to observe the players. The centre referee also controls the bout and signals the results. But make no mistake, each decision must be agreed to by at least 2 of the 3, or it is changed. Are there partial scores ? Yes. Partial scores can be obtained for throws and pins. Naturally on submissions it is either success or failure. In each bout, however, it is the highest QUALITY score that wins; they have to be equal quality before number is taken into account. With throws, it can be that they are not sufficiently on the back or not hard or fast enough, but still have some of the required qualities. Pins could be broken before the required 25 seconds, but after 15 seconds. How can you tell what the score is ? Watch the centre referee. Listen to his call, especially the last syllable. The higher his signal hand, the higher the score, thus in order, highest to lowest: ippONNN - hand above the head (ippon) waza-aRIII - hand out at shoulder level (waza-ari) yuKOOOh - hand 45deg up from the side (yuko) Who is ahead ? There should be one or two scoreboards to show the state of play. Because in Judo it is always the highest quality score that wins, the scoreboard is laid out left to right to show the scores like a number (often the ippon column is not displayed as ippon finishes the bout):     ippon waza-ari yuko   osaekomi  BLUE     3     shido   X       shido       X   WHITE   1 0   16 100 Kg 3:26       The state of play indicated by this scoreboard is as follows: Blue has been given 3 penalties (shido) giving White a waza-ari score, but has scored 3 yuko from some techniques, White has been given a free warning (first shido) without penalty. At this point, White is well ahead, 1 waza-ari (even by penalty) beats any number of yuko. This bit is complicated and may be skipped: White's hold-down (osaekomi) has been "frozen" (so-no-mama) at 16 seconds (green "flag" under osaekomi), which means also that - The bout has been paused at 3 min 26 seconds (yellow "flag" on time), White has at least a potential yuko for the hold-down (osaekomi of 16 seconds), Most likely, Blue has a potential penalty (shido).   As Blue is being held,  the referee has "frozen" the hold-down (osaekomi) to award the penalty (shido), but as this is a 4th shido which would be a disqualification for Blue, the referee must also make sure the judges agree with the penalty.   If the penalty was to be for White, the referee would simply have called matte (stop), to stand the players up and awarded the penalty.   If no penalty is agreed upon the hold-down (osaekomi) and contest will be restarted (yoshi) and if the hold-down (osaekomi) time reaches 20 seconds white will receive a second waza-ari (waza-ari awasete ippon) and win the bout by ippon. This shows some of the complexities of refereeing, but all you would see was the penalty (shido) and the resultant win or score from the hold-down (osaekomi).   If the scores are equal (a shido does not count) at the end of normal time, a "golden score" extension is started.   Any score (including that from an additional penalty) will end the bout   If this time expires, the result is decided by a vote of the referees, taking into account the effectiveness the competitors from the start of the bout.   What aren't they allowed to do? There is a fairly long list (35) of things not allowed. It covers such technical and tactical infringements as location (eg stepping off the mat) or disadvantaging the opponent (eg stalling or excessive defensive gripping) - 23 items - and grave infringements which involve the integrity of the players or are against the spirit of Judo (eg dropping directly into a groundwork armlock or derogatory remarks) or for direct arm attacks below the waist - 12 items. The rules are rarely broken except in the tactical areas, such as stepping out or stalling.  Penalties in judo are severe, each penalty (except the first warning shido) results in a score to the opponent, each subsequent penalty being a higher score to the opponent, the previous score-by-penalty being removed. Four infringements means an immediate win to the opponent. A single grave infringement means a disqualification, not only from the match, but in the case of infringements involving the safety of either contestant, from the whole tournament. Again, listen to the referee, especially the last syllable. The signal for a shido is the index finger held up on the side of the offender (a sort of "tut-tut" gesture) and the referee will "demonstrate" the reason for the penalty.  Here they are in order, lowest to highest: shiDOOOh = infringement  (1 shido = free warning, 2 shido = yuko to opponent   3 shido = waza-ari to opponent, 4 shido = hansoku-make = ippon to opponent) hansoku-maKAYh = grave infringement (hansoku-make = ippon to the opponent and removal from the tournament). You can still tell who is ahead because the penalties are converted to scores on the scoreboard, so you only need to look at the total score for each competitor. Competition: Ippon throw Competition: Ippon armlock   Further information By attending more tournaments you will start to recognise some of the more complex issues of a Judo bout and add greatly to your enjoyment. You can attend "level '0'" coaching courses (for Australians) which explain Judo, without ever having to do judo or you can attend referee clinics and buy a copy of the rules - mostly the ones in textbooks are 10 years or more out of date. The explanation above has been updated for the changes introduced for 2008. Volunteering for duty as a time keeper, scorer or score-board operator will also heighten your appreciation of judo and hence your enjoyment of judo contests. A Different Introduction to Judo Rules This links to another introduction to the rules which goes a little deeper.   Full Text of IJF Rules This links to the full text of the International Judo Federation Rules.   At least the 2003 update.   This is only available as an Acrobat (.pdf) file    There were several changes made in 2008.   Latest IJF Rule Changes 2008 - October and 2009 interpretations 2009 - December (apply for 2010, 2011 & 2012) see also:                                                            http://217.79.182.227/intranet.ijf.org/ijf_video.php Unofficial Up-to-date Full Text of IJF rules Here is the British Judo Association version (2011) with latest changes and comments.   Victorian Junior Rules This links to the list of rule modifications adopted by Judo Victoria on 26 June 2011, for the conduct of contests for children under the age of 15.  In order to understand the practical application of the rules you should attend a referee seminar.   See the Events page.   Referee Qualification and Career Structure This page sets out the JVI requirements and procedures to become a referee and advance through the various referee licence levels Referee Application Form     KATA COMPETITION   Kata Competition Rules The IJF has developed a set of specifications where the marks to be subtracted for particular errors are delineated.   Errors are treated very harshly as the intent is to distinguish between world championship performances.   If you can achieve 50% under this system, you are performing a correct kata.   Kata Score Sheets Kata are scored on these sheets in accordance with the IJF rules.