Judo from A to Z: Useful Information for Beginners

Judo (figuratively meaning “a light path”) is an Olympic kind of sport, in which athletes are allowed to perform throws, painful and submission holds. As for the painful holds, they can be applied only to the opponent’s hands. Various kicks and a number of the most dangerous holds appear only in a form of kata. In the given kind of sport, dexterity is of key importance. In addition, it is necessary to know how to correctly use the opponent’s strength against him.

There can be individual and team judo competitions according to their nature. It is personal results that determine an outcome of individual judo competitions; in team events, however, the results of individual events are summed up to identify a place of a team in the general list. Depending on a way of how a competition is organized, there can be various kinds of formats. The most common of them are the challenge system with consolation matches between the semi-finals losers, the challenge system without the matches already mentioned, and the mixed system.

Equipment

When it comes to the given kind of sport, every athlete should have a special uniform called judogi (it can be sometimes abbreviated as “gi”) consisting of a jacket, trousers, and a belt. As for the belt, however, it can be of different colors, and it is this color that can tell a lot about the judo player’s abilities and previous results.

To explain, an athlete basing on his qualification can get either a beginning (kyu) or master (dan) grade. Beginning students typically wear a white belt, progressing through descending kyu ranks until they are deemed to have achieved a level of competence sufficient to be a dan grade, at which point they wear the black belt. In some cases, however, the most skillful judokas can get read-and-white and red belts. This is done to honor this contribution to the development of the sport. If these athletes want, they are allowed to use the black belts during training because it is the black belt that is a common symbol of the success in the given sport. The kyu-dan ranking system has since been widely adopted by modern martial arts. In modern judo, however, there are 6 kyus and 10 dans.

As it has already been mentioned, every grade has its corresponding color of the belt. With this, the connection between a grade and a belt color can be different for various countries and judo federations.

Speaking of the judogi, the athletes are allowed to wear it only of two colors – blue and white. With this, the blue judogi is given to a judoka who is the first to appear, and the white one is given to the second athlete. This uniform is made of cotton or any other similar materials. When it comes to female judokas, they must wear a white T-shirt under the jacket.

Apart from everything mentioned above, each piece of the judo equipment should meet a few additional requirements:

1. Jacket. It should be wide enough to make it possible for a judoka to cover the right flap with the left one for at least 20 cm at the level of the lower part of the chest. In addition, the jacket sleeves should be of a particular length. Thus, they should be maximum wrist-long and minimum 5 cm above the wrist. There should be a 10-15-cm space between the sleeve and jacket along the whole length of each sleeve.
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2. Trousers. They should be long enough to reach the athlete’s ankle-joint but they should not be shorter than the point that is 5 cm above this joint. There should be a space of 10-15 cm between the leg and the trouser leg along its whole length.
3. Belt. It should be 4-5-cm wide; it should wrap the jacket twice, and a flat knot should be made on the waist. The belt should be long so that its free ends should be 20-30 cm long.
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If it happens that at least one of the equipment pieces fails to meet the necessary requirements, the referee can make a judoka either put his uniform in order or change it at all.

The Match

Every match begins with the competitors standing straight after the referee command “Hajime”. If there is a need to stop a match, the referee announces “Mate”. Where there has been a signal ending a match, the referee should announce “Soromade”.

In addition to what has just been mentioned, the referee should also escort almost every judokas’ actions with corresponding announcements and signals. As a result, there is a certain set of scores, each of which has its own importance and meaning. Now, let us look closer at each of them.

“Ippon” is the highest judo score meaning a direct victory given to a corresponding judoka. This score is awarded if happens one of the following:

• an attacking judoka throws his opponent on a significant part of his back with enough power and speed almost completely controlling a defensive athlete;
• an attacking judoka manages to control his opponent in a submission hold for over 25 seconds;
• a defensive athlete taps the mat twice or more times with his hand or foot or says “Maitta” as a result of a submission or painful hold correctly performed by his opponent.
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“Waza-ari” is the second highest score a judoka can obtain for performing corresponding actions. In other words, it is also known as a half-victory. It can appear in the following scenarios:

• an attacking judoka throws his opponent controlling his body but the throw lacks one of the three important elements for the “ippon” score to be announced;
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• an attacking judoka manages to control his opponent in a submission hold for over than 20 but fewer than 25 seconds.

When the score of “Waza-ari” is given to the same judoka twice over a single match, the referee should announce the command of “Waza-ari-awasete-ippon” meaning the judoka is a winner of the match.

“Yuko” is given for performing one of the following holds:

• an attacking judoka exercises control and throws an opponent on his side;
• an attacking judoka manages to control his opponent in a submission hold for over 15 but fewer than 20 seconds.

“Koka” is given if one of the following cases appears:

• an attacking judoka exercises control and throws an opponent on his shoulder, thigh or buttock;
• an attacking judoka manages to control his opponent in a submission hold for over 10 but fewer than 15 seconds.
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If it happens when the judokas have managed to earn the same scores or a match ends without any scores at all, an additional match called “Golden Score” should be announced. This match should end after the first score. If the “Golden Score” ends without any judoka’s advantage, it is a jury of referees who determine a winner of the match. When it comes to team competitions, however, the matches with equal scores or without scores at all end in a draw that is called “Hiki-wake”.

Alongside the scores, the judokas can also get punishments for violating the official judo rules.

Judo Mat (Tatami)

Judo matches take place on a special surface that is called a judo mat. It consists of separate mats with the dimensions of 1 meter long, 1 meter wide, and 4 cm thick; or 2 meters long, 1 meter wide, and 4 cm thick. These mats should be made of polymer materials.

The tatami includes two areas of different colors. In its center, there should be a square with minimum dimensions of 8×8 meters and a maximum of 10×10 meters. It is called a working area and it consists of separate mats of the same color. The outside part of the tatami is called the safety zone, it is of a different color, and it should be approximately 3 meters wide.

Within the working area, and at a distance of 4 meters between them, the white and blue lines of 10 cm wide and about 50 cm long are drawn. These lines are for the judokas to occupy their positions before a match begins and after it ends.

Officials

As it has been mentioned, every single judo match is served by a team of referees, and this team is represented by the following officials:

1. The referee. He is responsible for managing a match and expressing his attitude towards judokas’ actions. It is the referee who is express the final decision of his team.
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2. Corner judges. A corner judge should express his opinion if it is different from that of the referee when it comes to announcing scores and punishments to the athletes. This can be done with the help of official signals. The corner judges occupy their positions in the opposite corners outside the working area.

History

According to the official Japanese qualification, judo is one of the modern martial arts. It was created by Professor Jigoro Kano in 1882 when the man opened the first in the world judo school. It was in Tokyo. In a year, he developed the system of grades; the judo technique was finally articulated in 1887. The first World Championships in judo was held in Tokyo in 1956. After that, similar competitions were being organized on a regular basis across the whole world.

Over many years, there had not been any weight classes in the world of judo. According to Japanese specialists, it is the art of mastering the technique that is the most important thing, not power. Those classes, however, were designed after Japanese athletes had lost the fourth World Championships. Judo became a part of the Olympic games in 1964.

1980 saw the first judo World Championships among female judokas. In addition, it was in 1992 when these competitions among women were included in the schedule of the Olympic Games.