Competitions – Why it’s good to take part in a Judo competition.

My personal belief is that competition is the best thing in life. I loved competing when I was a young player and now I enjoy every competition I attend as a coach or as a referee. I have been to many local, national and international competitions including Olympic Games and always enjoyed the competitive atmosphere and challenges facing players, coaches and officials. It's important, valuable, and a critical element of our society. Every child, during the course of his/her lifetime, must compete at home for attention, in school for grades, on the playground for friends, in the work place for advancement, etc. Why then don't we teach our kids better, more empowering philosophies and beliefs about competing?

In our program, we teach self-confidence, self-discipline, self-control, and self-respect. Our vehicle is the sport of Judo and we consider the skills kids learn while practicing judo to be life skills. Theses skills are acquired as a result of an extended participation in our program. You don't learn them in a single season. Anyway, the majority of our parents bring their kids to our club to improve in these areas. One of our core beliefs is that competition is an outstanding means for improving self-confidence and mental toughness. Avoid competition and kids may be missing out on the real lessons judo has to offer.

The song that we repeat like a slow, heavy drumbeat to our kids is this: Forget about winning and losing. Of course you are going to strive to win every match. But give us your best effort, and try to perform the judo skills that we have been teaching you, during a match. If you try your best, in our minds, you won -- whether you got a victory or not. If you happen to win…super…on to the next round. If you happen to lose, bow respectfully to your opponent and come off the mat.

I make it very clear to our athletes, that if they fight a match and do the skills we have showed them, and still lose, it's our fault. It's our responsibility as coaches to figure out why they lost and help them improve. Of course as athletes grow older, this becomes a much more complex team process. This philosophy does two things. It encourages kids to focus on something within their control - their own personal performance - and helps them ignore things outside their control - the referees, the draw, or the opponent's belt colour. It also simplifies expectations and makes it easier for kids, especially the recreational athletes, to be successful.

Competitions are about testing yourself and helping your opponent test himself. Competition isn't about winning. Winning comes as a result of your preparation, your skill level, a little luck, and your attitude. The more you truly desire to fight the best athletes, all the time, and at every camp and competition, the better chance you will have of becoming a world-class athlete.

Judo competition is tough and challenging, physically and mentally. It's important to remember, however, that no one ever developed any real confidence without first having overcome a significant personal challenge. Parents who allow their children to avoid challenging situations, like a tournament, keep their children from developing the very skills they want their children to learn.

By teaching our children more empowering beliefs about competition, we can help them enjoy and benefit from the competitive process. By keeping the bar high and working with them to develop the skills needed to get over that bar, we can help them become more self-reliant, mentally tough, and self-confident.

JUDO COMPETITION RULES FOR SPECTATORS

(courtesy of Mr Rodney Cox)

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 on the back (a throw) or hold the opponent on the back for 25 seconds or obtain a submission by strangle or armlock If this is done fully it is considered a TKO and finishes the bout. How do they hope to do it ?

Who judges success ?

The degree of success in the above actions is determined by 3 referees. 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 is agreed 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.

How can you tell what the score is ?

JUDO has four scores, Ippon, Waza-Ari, Yuko and Koka. Ippon results in an instant win, Waza-Aris may be accumulated (2 off), either from two throws, two holds or from a one hold and one throw combination. Yukos and Kokas do NOT accumulate, but if one of the higher scores has not been awarded a majority win may be obtained from these lower scores at the end of the allotted contest time.

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:

Who is in the lead ?

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

Looked at in this way, white's single throw clearly beats the lesser quality of blue's 3 throws or 10 beats 3. The ippon or complete score is not shown on the scoreboard as it finishes the bout. If a second waza-ari is scored by the same person it is considered that sufficient superiority has been shown to warrant an ippon.

What aren't they allowed to do ?

Because of the escalation of penalties, 4 minor transgressions will result in disqualification.

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.

The explanation above has been updated for the changes introduced for 1998. 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.

IJF Requirements for a Competition Judogi

ARTICLE 3 - Judo uniform (judogi) The contestants shall wear judogi complying with the following conditions: