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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 20 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 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. In local matches two sit at opposite corners and the third moves around the mat to observe the players. In International matches, only one referee is on the mat the other two are at matside with a video monitor to review any decision they doubt and communicate by radio with the referee on the mat. 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 20 seconds, but achieve some score after 10 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 shido osaekomi  BLUE     3 3   WHITE     0 1 16 100 Kg 3:26       The state of play indicated by this scoreboard is as follows: (This "state of play" is the same as in previous versions, but is updated with the latest rules) Blue has been given 3 penalties (shido)' but has scored 3 yuko from some techniques, White has been given one shido. At this point, Blue is well ahead with 3 positive scores. 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 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)   If the hold-down (osaekomi) is broken before 20 seconds, white will be ahead with a waza-ari.   If the time reaches 20 seconds white will 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 at the end of normal time, the shido will be taken into account and the competitor with the least shido will win.   If the scores and penalties are equal, a "golden score" extension is started.   Any score or penalty will end the bout.   The bout will not finish until there is a score or penalty   What aren't they allowed to do? There is a fairly long list 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) 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. The rules are rarely broken except in the tactical areas, such as stepping out or stalling.  Penalties in judo are severe, 4 penalties will result in disqualification, but 1 in the golden score extension wwill lose the bout.  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 hansoku-maKAYh = grave infringement (hansoku-make = ippon to the opponent). You can still tell who is ahead because the penalties are not counted unless the scores are equal, 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 2014. 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, up to the 2012 modifications.   This is only available as an Acrobat (.pdf) file    Additional changes were introduced in 2013.       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.